Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 13

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Publication date: 1972
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 776

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INDER, JACOB, Farmer of North West Fork hundred, was born in that locality, near Horsey's Crossroads, December 16, 1808 The family ge- nealogy is given in the sketch of his elder brother, Warren Kinder. He attended winter season only, being engaged on the farm during the summer, till he was about twenty- two years of age, and had acquired a very and Jakes. This business was carried on very good education. In January, 1833, having successfully for two years, when Mr. Jakes dis- | married, he rented a farm and began life on posed of his interest. He was appointed Agent his own account. In 1836 he removed to the for the Delaware Railroad Company, at West farm on which he still resides, having pur- Camden, now called Wyoming, in 1851, and chased it the year previous. It was sold at a filled this position with credit for eleven years, low price, the land being well worn out, but when he resigned. In 1858 he again embarked he commenced at once to improve it, and has in mercantile pursuits at Wyoming, which he | now brought it up to a high state of cultiva-

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Pancoast Allen

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BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

tion. It is divided into three farms, principally [ county, N. Y., and after examination was ad- devoted to cereals, but peaches, apples, and pears have also been raised very profitably. At different times Mr. Kinder has owned other tracts of land, but disposed of them again. He was a member of the old Whig party till 1860, when he became a Republican, and was a strong Union man and patriot during the war. In his nineteenth year he united with the Methodist Church, in which he has been a trustee and class-leader for many years, and of which he has always been a liberal sup- porter and a leading member. He joined the Patrons of Husbandry in 1877, and is a mem- ber of Sunnyside Grange, No. 7. He was married, December 20, 1832, to Mary, daugh- ter of Wingate and Sallie (Wilson) Cannon, of the same hundred, and has had seven children, six of whom are living. They are Charlotte Clay, wife of Samuel H. Melson, farmer of Caroline county, Maryland; Lewis Wright, farmer, married Catherine Ross; John Henry, married Maria Melson, and is a farmer in Sea- ford hundred; Elizabeth, married James M. Hollis of Greenwood ; Stephen Warren ; Wes- ley Spry, and David Bates Kinder. Mr. Kin- der is a gentleman of intelligence and un- questioned integrity, and is a leading citizen of Sussex county.

LLEN, PROF. PANCOAST, Dealer in Pianos and Organs, Wilmington, was born in Gloucester county, N. J., Nov. 12, 1834. His parents were Garrett G. and Rachel Allen. He was sent to school at an early age, attending the academy in Glassboro, and received a good English edu- cation. At the age of sixteen years he was apprenticed to the trade of glass-blowing and worked at this business as a journeyman for several years. Very early in life Mr. Allen manifested a great fondness for music. In those days the country afforded but poor facilities for a musical education, but he availed himself of such instruction as was given in the old-fashioned singing schools of those days and embraced every opportunity to cultivate his musical taste. In the fall of 1862 he removed to Salem, N. J., where he con tinued to follow his trade, devoting all his leisure to the study of music. In the spring of 1865 he determined to enter the Normal Academy of Music, at Geneseo, Livingston

mitted as a pupil in that institution, then under the direction of the celebrated Italian voice trainer, Carlo Bassini, and the distin- guished organist, John Zundel. Mr. Allen applied himself diligently to vocal culture, and received a very complimentary endorsement from the president upon his leaving the academy. Immediately upon his return to Salem he was appointed master of the choir of South Street M. E. Church, which position he held until 1868, when he removed to Millville, N. J., and engaged in the confectionery busi- ness. After conducting this business success- fully for a year he disposed of it and entered fully upon the profession of music. He was appointed professor of music for the public schools by the Board of Education, and also was called to the position of organist in the First M. E. Church. Mr. Allen held these positions until the summer of 1870, when, at the solicitation of his friend, the late J. E. Gould, of Philadelphia, he removed to Wil- mington, Delaware. and entered upon his present business, at No. 107 West Seventh street, where he devoted what time he could to teaching vocal and instrumental music. His increasing business demanded a more com- modious building, and in October, 1876, he removed to his present location in Masonic Temple, Market street, where he has the finest musical establishment in the State. In December, of the same year, he took into partnership Mr. F. G. Smith, of Brooklyn, N. Y., manufacturer of the celebrated Bradbury Piano. The firm was known as Smith and Allen, and this partnership continued for one year, when Mr. Allen assumed full control of this extensive business, in which he has been very successful. In 1877 Mr. Allen received a call to the position of chorister in the Dela- ware Avenue Baptist Church, under the pas- torate of Rev. Isaac M. Haldeman. Being elected by a unanimous vote of the church, he accepted, and at once organized a large chorus choir of some forty voices, and he still continues the conductor of this choir. As a teacher of music, Professor Allen has been very successful, and has a large number of pupils to whom he devotes his excellent in- structions. Unlike many of his profession, he has given his time and talent to the churches gratuitously, and was the first to introduce the

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

cornet into church music in Wilmington. | when but a lad of 12 years; and is now connected Professor Allen was united in marriage, July, 1859, to Miss Martha, daughter of Mr. Jonathan Wallen, of Millville, N. J.

TAATS, HON. JOHN FLETCHER, Ex-Auditor of Delaware, was born at Fieldsboro, January 9, 1835. His father was Elias Naudain Staats, who was by occupation a school teacher. He was a gentleman of excellent education and un- blemished character. The mother of the sub- ject of this notice was Martha, daughter of John Weldon, a farmer of Appoquinimink hundred. After the death of Elias Naudain Staats, which occurred in 1835, she married John Lynam, and after his death became the wife of John Naudain. She is now a widow and resides near Odessa. John F. Staats at- tended the school at Fieldsboro until 17 years of age, when he obtained a clerkship in Odessa, with Beaston & Watkins, which he continued until 1854, when he went West. Upon his return he began the mercantile busi- ness, locating at Blackbird, which he con- ducted for two years. His business at first was a success ; he sold his goods for cash only, but afterward began a credit business and lost everything. In 1862 he returned to Fieldsboro and purchased the estate known as the "Old Staats Homestead," where he has continued to reside ever since." This farm consists of 236 acres, and at the time of his purchase it contained an orchard of 1,000 peach trees, the number of which he increased until he had 6,000 in bearing. It proved a paying invest- ment until 1880, when nearly all his trees were destroyed by a heavy storm. Mr. Staats devotes his farm to grain, and through his management it has become very productive. In politics he is a Democrat, but has never been a politician. He was Commissioner of Public Roads for his district for four years, from 1870 to 1874. He was elected State Auditor by the Legislature in 1879, which position he filled with credit for two years. He is Secre- tary of the State Board of Education, having held this office for two terms. Mr. Staats is an enterprising citizen and a gentleman of intelligence and character, a strong temper- ance advocate, honorable in all his dealings and a man of great energy and industry. He is e member of the M. E. Church, which he joined

with St. Paul's, Odessa, to which he is greatly attached. He was united in marriage, March 31, 1858, to Miss Martha R., daughter of Mark Davis, a leading farmer of New Castle county. Four children have been born of this union: Clarence D., Martha E., Mary E. and John M. Staats.

AULSBURY, HON. ELI, United States Senator from Delaware, was born in Kent county, December 29, 1817. Sketches of his brothers, Governor Gove and Chancellor Willard Saulsbury, with some account of this gifted family, and their antecedents are included in this volume. His father appreciated the advantages of educa- tion for his children, and sent them to school whenever they could be spared from the labors of the farm, but these often detained them at home both in the summer and the winter. Such opportunities as he had his son Eli eagerly improved, and these were supplemented by the reading and study of after years. The study of the law early possessed a fascination for him, and he became well read in legal lore long before entering the profession. He finally studied with his brother, the Hon. Willard Saulsbury, and was admitted to the bar in 1857. His abilities were already well under- stood, and he at once entered the foremost ranks of the profession, having a good practice from the beginning. He was admitted to practice in the Superior Court of the United States, December 17, 1873. Mr. Saulsbury was always a Democrat. Personally popular, easy and fascinating in conversation, and de- cided and logical in the expression of his views, he wielded no small influence long be- fore entering the arena of public life. In the years 1853 and 54, he served his party in the State Legislature. Elected to the United States Senate, he took his seat March 4, 1871, succeeding his brother Willard Saulsbury. He was re-elected in 1876, and his term of service will expire, March 3, 1883. The great popu - larity of Senator Saulsbury, and his continu- ance in this high position, leave nothing to be said of his character and abilities. He possesses great suavity of manner, and inspires the warmest personal friendship. He has been an office bearer for many years in the Methodist Episcopal church, with which he united in 1838

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BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

OWLER, EDWARD, M. D., a leading | Physician of Laurel, was born in Wicomico county, Md., at Spring Hill, July 3, 1835. His father was Edward Fowler, who was a leading farmer of that county. The father of Edward Fowler, Sr., was also Edward Fowler, who was a farmer and resided at Spring Hill, which estate he purchased after the death of his father. He removed to a farm which he owned on Dame's Quarter, near Deal's Island, but after a few years returned to Spring Hill where he contin- ued to reside until his death. He was the eldest son and inherited the estate of his father who settled on the Wicomico River near Green Hill or White Haven, owning lands at both points. The presumption is that most of the Fowlers north and south sprang from this source. The mother of Doctor Fowler was Matilda, daughter of Benjamin Dashiell Esq., Attorney at Law, of the well known Dashiell family of Somerset county, Md. ,When twelve years of age he began attend- ance at the Salisbury Academy under the charge of Col. S. A. Graham. After leaving school his purpose was to enter upon the study of law. He entered the office of Hon. L. T. H. Irving, but in consequence of ill health he was complled to abandon it. He returned home for the purpose of recuperating his health by out-door exercise, fearing to engage in a seden- tary profession. After a short time, however, he began the study of medicine in the office of his brother, Dr. John E. Fowler. He matri- culated at the University of Maryland and graduated from that institution in 1858. Im- mediately he began the practice of his profes- sion in partnership with his brother, which continued until 1862, when he removed to Sharptown and was there for three years. At the solicitation of citizens of Laurel he took charge of the practice of the leading physi- cian, who had removed to the city of Phila- delphia in 1865. The field upon which he now entered was a laborious one, but his skill and devotion have succeeded in building up a large and lucrative practice. As a physician Dr. Fowler stands as a representa- tive of his profession in the State. In 1881 he was appointed by Governor Hall a member of land most of which was worn out. For this the State Board of Health. From early life he has been a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and has filled many offices

in the church and has been frequently elected to the Diocesan Conventions of that church. In politics he is a Democrat and frequently vindicates his party's cause on the hustings. He is a fluent and effective speaker,and has al- ways refused to allow his name used for any office of trust or honor in the State. Dr. Fowler was united in marriage in April 1861, to Miss Ellen, daughter of John E. Harris, of Wicomico county, Maryland. She died in July, 1869, leaving two children, a son and a daughter. He was again married in 1870 to Miss Kate Harris, a sister of his former wife. Three children survive of this marriage; two girls and a boy. He was made a Mason in 1871, and stands connected with Hope Lodge, No. 4. He has served his lodge in the capacity of Senior Deacon,Junior Warden, Senior Warden, and Master.

OURSEY, THOMAS BOON, was born December 14, 1806, in Camden, Del. His father was Thomas Coursey, a car- penter and builder of Camden, who died in 1838, a member, leader and steward of the M. E. Church. His mother was Mary Boon, of Caroline county, Md. She was a consistent christian woman and died in 1806. Thomas Coursey Sr., had been married three times. His third wife was Margaret Vincent. Four of his children lived to reach maturity. The educational advantages of Mr. Coursey were limited. There were no public schools in his neighborhood, and until his fif- teenth year he attended a private school, during the winter months, when he began to learn the business of a carpenter. He followed this occupation for years, devoting his leisure mo- ments to study. His mind was of a high or- der, his natural intelligence great, and these, with his devotion to books, have enabled him to acquire an unusual amount of information on most subjects. In 1838, he became inter- ested in the milling business at Wyoming Mills, near Camden. In 1860 he purchased the prop- erty where he now resides. At that time it was known as Spring Mills, and consisted of a grist and bark mill, both of which were in great need of repair, and two hundred acres of tract, mills, etc., he gave four thousand dol- lars. He here devoted himself to hard labor, rebuilding and repairing the mills, and at the

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same time often grinding grain through the delegates to the General Conference of the night. He had built, in 1838, a wool carding M. E. Church which convened at Cincinnati in May, 1880. Mr. Coursey was married to Sally A., daughter of William and Ruth Wilson of Kent county, the 26th of January 1832. Her grandfather,the immigrant Wilson from Great Britain, settled in Kent county near Milford. Mrs. Coursey died in the sixty-first year o her age, the 13th of December, 1871. She was a remarkable woman, wholly devoted to the comfort of others, especially the poor and suffering. Of the marriage,eight children were born, five of whom died in childhood. The children : Mary Elizabeth, deceased, was the wife of John Harrington of Kent county : Ruth Ann, wife of Dr. Dawson, of. Frederica, and Sallie, residing with her father at Spring Mills. mill which, after enlarging and improving, he removed to Spring Mills, and it proved a suc- cessful venture. His mill carded the wool for the farmer's wives of the neighborhood who manufactured the wool into fustain, or hand made kersey. But cloth manufactories soon became established, wool found a better market, and Mr. Coursey sold his carding machinery. In 1870 he set out two thousand peach trees for market purposes, which paid handsomely. Mr. Coursey has delivered addresses in various parts of the State before agricultural clubs and societies, and has been an active, intelligent and able promoter of the interests of Delaware farmers. He was among the earliest to use guano as a fertilizer.and upon hearing Dr. Gov. Emerson tell of its effect upon worn out land, he sent to Philadelphia for three hundred pounds of Peruvian guano. That fertilizer could not be found in the city and two barrels . of Icabo guano were forwarded. This was the first brought below Dover. His land. when purchased would produce no wheat, and very little corn. It has since grown an average of seventy-five bushels of corn and twenty bushels of wheat per acre. Mr. Coursey has been a large contributor to the public press, and has written with remarkable ability upon all the leading subjects of the day, moral, political and agricultural. In early life he espoused the Democratic side of politics and acted with that party until 1848 when his moral convictions made him a legal suasionist and party affinities a prohibitionist of the strictest school. Upon the organization of the American party he acted with it and also with the People's Union party, and gave to President Lincoln's measures an un- wavering support. He was active in the canvass which resulted in the election of Gov. Cannon as the war Governor of Delaware. In 1870 Mr. Coursey was nominated by the Republi- can Party of Delaware as their candidate for Governor. Although they were in a hopeless minority the canvass developed the fact of Mr. Coursey's wide popularity. In 1838 Mr. Coursey became a member of the M. E.Church, and was Conference steward of the Philadel- phia Annual Conference and since the organ- ization of the Wilmington Conference, has been continuously a member of its Board of Stewards. He was elected one of the lay

IDGELY, NICHOLAS, one of the early Judges of the Supreme Court, was descended from a wealthy family in England, a younger branch of which arrived in this country the last of the 17th century. Judge Ridgely was the son of Henry, whose father, Colonel Henry Ridgely, was born in Anne Arundel county, Province of Maryland, February 2, 1694. His mother was the daughter of Colonel Nicholson Green- berry, of that county. In 1711 Nicholas Ridgely married Sarah, daughter of Col. John Worth- ington, of Anne Arundel county, he being seventeen, and his child-bride fifteen years old. He was a father at eighteen, and they lived happily together nine years, when she died, March 16, 1721. The Worthingtons then, as now, occupied a high social position in Mary- land. He became a resident of Cecil county, Maryland, and married the widow of James Gordon, at her home, on Elk river, December 5, 1723. His wife was twenty at the time of her second marriage, and had married Mr. Gordon when but fifteen. She was the daughter of Robert and Mary French, of New Castle, Del. Robert French was a man of great in- fluence a't that day, and letters are yet pre- served from William Penn to him. He was, in 1699-1700 and again in 1707, a delegate from the three lower counties to the Pennsylvania Colonial Assembly, and was commissioned Associate Judge of the Court of Pennsylvania, August 20, 1701. He, with Jasper Yates, was mainly instrumental in securing for the three lower counties a separate Assembly. Nicholas

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Willard Saulobury

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BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

Ridgely came to reside in Delaware in 1732.| His mother, had married Robert Gordon, Chief Justice of the three lower counties. Soon after coming to the State Mrs. Ridgely died. As foreman of the Grand Jury his name is found on a petition to the King against granting to Lord Baltimore privileges in abrogation of the rights of the Penns. On December 26, he married Mary, daughter of Judge Hugh Middleton, of Salem, N. J., and widow of Captain Benjamin Vining, of Salem, N. J., and after marriage resided near Salem for several years on an estate of Mrs. Ridgely. Here Charles G. Ridgely was born ; in 1740 he removed to Kent, Del., with his family, and resided on the farm contiguous to Dover, now in the pos- session of his great-grandson, Dr. Henry Ridgely. He was appointed Treasurer of Kent county soon after his coming, and then Clerk of the Peace, Prothonotary and Register in Chancery. In 1746 he was commissioned Judge of the Supreme Court of New Castle, Kent and Sussex, and enjoyed that honor to the close of life. Subjoined is an entry copied from his book of entries in his hand. New Castle Co. Dr. to Nicholas Ridgely

"To attendance and holding Supreme Court at New "Castle, with Rives Holt, and John Curtis, Esqs., on "Sat., ye 5th and Mon., ye 7th days Oct. at 30s 3d a day "as allowed by law. To milage New Castle and back "92 miles at 6d a mile as allowed by law.

5£ 6s od.

He was selected by Cæsar Rodney as his guardian, February 27, 1745, and his papers show his great interest for, and warm attach- ment to a ward who grew to be the most intense and distinguished patriot of the State. He also had charge of the rearing of his step- son, John Vining, who shared a father's solicitude with his half-brother Charles. To Nicholas Ridgely's teachings we, perhaps, owe the production of three noted men in Dela- ware history. Cæsar Rodney, John Vining, who became distinguised in the State, and Dr. Charles G. Ridgely, of each of whom see sketch. Mary, sister of John Vining, married Rev. Charles Inglis, missionary in Kent, sub- sequently rector of Trinity Church, N. Y., and finally Bishop and member of the Provincial council of Nova Scotia. Nicholas Ridgely died on the 18th of February, 1755, full of years and of honors. This was said with truth of him, in the biographical notice after

his death: "Charitable without ostentation, and religious without bigotry; his country celebrated his obsequies with tears, and em- balmed his memory with praise and ap- plause."

AULSBURY, HON. WILLARD, Ex- United States Senator, and now (1882) Chancellor of the state of Delaware, was born in Kent county, June 22, 1820. An account of his parentage will be found in the sketch of his brother, Governor Dr. Gove Saulsbury. He received part of his education at Delaware College, and also studied at Dickinson College. He pursued the study of law, first with James L. Bartol, now Chief Justice of Maryland, and afterwards in the office of Martin W. Bates, United States Senator from Delaware, and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1845. He soon be- came the leading lawyer in Georgetown, in which place he settled in the practice of his profession. His character, learning and talents, commanded general confidence, and scoured him an immense practice. His clients came from all parts of the state. In 1850 Mr. Sauls- bury was appointed Attorney General of the state, by Governor Tharp, an office he filled with great distinction for a term of five years. In January, 1859,he was elected by the Demo- cratic party to the United States Senate, and took his seat on the fourth of March following. To this high office he was re-elected in 1865, and held it till 1871, a continuous period of twelve of the most important years in the his- tory of the nation. To preserve that nation intact, Senator Saulsbury believed to be our highest duty. He could not tolerate aught that savored of secession. At the completion of his senatorial career he was appointed Chancellor of the State, November 3, 1873, which office he still fills with great ability. His powers of mind are as remarkable as the amount of labor he can accomplish. As an instance, he has been known to dictate to two persons at the same time, on difficult and intricate questions of law, and keep both writ- ing with rapidity. Chancellor Saulsbury, when at the bar of this state, had but few equals before either Court or jury. In the lat- ter case, his fine person, magnetic force and an exuberant fancy, capable of investing the dryest details of evidence with a vivid realism

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of the facts and circumstances, impressed the ; been principally occupied with the rearing of juror and made him to see, especially in crimi- nial cases, almost with the eyes of the advo- cate, until the class of damaging facts on the other side were either forgotten or dwarfed in the juror's mind. Aa a statesman and party leader, he was on the conservative side in the Senate, and while he was an outspoken opponent of the folly of secession and all its measures, was during all his time in that body compelled to a defensive rather than aggres- sive attitude. Had it been otherwse, and had his party been in power, his fine mind, great- heartedness, and eloquence would have made him second to few men in that body. In the state, while a leader of his party, he had a following which always won success. Mr. Saulsbury was married, in May, 1850, to Miss Anna M., daughter of Hon. John Ponder of Milton, and has had three children ; John Ponder, a lawyer in Dover; Margaret who died in January, 1875, at the age of nineteen, and Willard Saulsbury, Junior.

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Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 13

Author: Publication date: 1972 Publisher: Number of Pages: 776

Author:
Publication date: 1972
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 776