Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 19

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Publication date: 1972
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 776

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386

HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

rity and a noble christian character. He par- ticipated actively in the earlier movements to- wards forming the Central Presbyterian church, but did not live to see it in successful opera- tion. He was killed by being thrown from his carriage, in October, 1855.

BUSH, DAVID, Second son of David and Martha Bush, was born in 1810, educated in Wilmington, and received his early training for business in his father's office. Upon attaining his majority he was admitted to a partner- ship in the business, taking the place of his uncle George, and the firm name was changed to David Bush & Son. He, however, was not satisfied with the business, thinking it did not offer sufficient opportunity for enlargement, and after two or three years, concluding to try his fortune in the South, he went to Mis- sissippi and established himself in mercantile business in Port Gibson. He was very suc- cessful, and afterward opened a house in New Orleans. The depression, from 1837 to '40, caused the loss of much of his fortune, and leaving the mercantile business, he established himself upon a plantation in Tensas parish, Louisiana, the centre of the best cotton grow- ing district. At the breaking out of the war he had a large interest in land and slaves, but was, at all times, opposed to secession, and in the Louisiana convention, to which he was a delegate, protested, to the last, against the in- sane movement. He remained on the planta- tion during the war, and after the opening of the Mississippi river by the Federal fleet, a large force was sent to his plantation, who confined him in his house and carried off his store of cotton valued at $100,000, for which he received about fifteen per cent from the government. In February, 1864, he came 'home was taken with pneumonia and died at the house of his brother George. In 1839 he married Matilda S. Frazier, of Wilmington, who survives him and still resides on the plantation in Louisiana. They had no children.

BUSH, LEWIS POTTER, M. D., fourth son of David and Martha Bush, was born in Wilmington in 1812, and is the third of the name since the family became residents of that city. He commenced his education in the Davenport Academy, Wilmington, prepared for college at the academy of the Rev. Francis Latta, D. D., in Lancaster county, Penna., and finished his classical education at Jefferson

College, Penna., graduating in 1831, Dr. Mat- thew Brown being then the president. Choos- ing the profession of medicine, he studied with William Bowen, M. D., of Bridgeton, N. J., and graduated at the University of Pennsyl- vania in 1835. After six months of dispensary practice, he entered Blockley Hospital, re- maining there sixteen months, and commenced, in 1837, the practice of medicine in his native city, where he has since continued, and where he has always maintained an honorable posi- tion. He became a member of the Delaware State Medical Society in 1839, and soon after read before it a paper upon typhoid fever, which was much noticed and commented upon. In 1850 he prepared a paper for the Society upon the epidemic of typhoid fever which pre- vailed in Wilmington from 1847 to 1849, the substance of which was afterward incorporated in a report made before the American Medical Association upon the climatology and epi- demics of the State of Delaware, which embraced the history of the diseases of the State as far as known. In 1877 he read before the State Medical Society a paper entitled "Some Vital Statistics of the City of Wilming- ton," the object of which was to trace the mortality of a few of the most important diseases in that city from the commencement of the city registration of deaths in 1847, up to the present time, and also to show the importance of a perfect system of city and State registration, not only of deaths, but also of marriages and births. This paper was also published by the society. For many years he has been one of the trustees of Delaware Col- lege, and an active member of the Delaware Historical Society, before which he has read several valuable and interesting papers. Dr. Bush was elected an elder in the Hanover Street Presbyterian Church in 1850, and was one of the active movers in the establishment of the Central Presbyterian Church in 1855. At its organization he was made an elder, and has always taken a great interest in its affairs. He is well-known throughout the State, and is honored and respected by his brethren in the profession, and by all who know him, not only for his skill as a physician, but for his unwavering integrity, his high christian prin- ciple, and his amiable character and disposi- tion. In 1839 he married Maria, daughter of Morgan Jones, Esq., and granddaughter of

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BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

William Hemphill, one of the earliest and | his beautiful residence, "Greystone," on the most successful merchants and shippers of Wilmington. They had a family of seven children, of whom three are now living.

BUSH, WILLIAM, fifth son of David and Martha Bush, was born in 1821, and is the third of the name since the family have resided in Wilmington. He was educated in that city, and at the age of sixteen years com- menced his business life in the office of his brother Charles who was then largely engaged in the manufacture of iron at his new estab- lishment in Wilmington, and there he received that careful business and mechanical training which has made him successful where so many others have failed. In 1844 his father estab- lished him in the lumber business in the yard at Market street wharf, where he carried on an active trade until 1859, when he became con- nected with George T. Clark and I. F. Vaughan in the manufacture of morocco, then a new business in Wilmington, and only in its infancy in the country. At that time all the processes of the manufacture were performed by hand, in a very crude manner, and the man- ufactured article found a market almost exclu- sively in Boston. His mechanical training in the establishment of his brother was of great value to him, and he soon began to apply ma- chinery to many of the processes of the man- ufacture. So successful was he in reducing the cost, while improving the quality of the manu- facture, as to be able to build up a large busi- ness, extending to all parts of the country. There is now scarcely a town of any size in the country where the goods made by the firm of William Bush & Co. are not well and favor- ably known. In 1845 he married Mary Ann, a daughter of Thomas C. Alrich, Esq. She died in 1847, leaving one child, a daughter. In 1849 he married Susanna Canby, a sister of his first wife. They have no children living. Mr. Bush was identified with the formation of the Central Presbyterian Church, was one of the largest contributors to the cost of its erec- tion, and a member ofthe building committee. He has always taken an active interest in its welfare, being for some years President of the Board of Trustees of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association, and teacher of the Bible Class He is well known in the community in which he lives for his benevolence, integ- rity and substantial business character, and

borders of his native city, of which there is a fine steel engraving in this volume, is an evi- dence, not only of his success in business, but of his taste in choosing a site and in building and adorning a home which, with all its architect- ural elegance, still retains a homelike air.

BUSH, GEORGE WASHINGTON, young- est son of David and Martha Bush, born in 1824, was educated in Wilmington. After fin- ishing his studies he entered his father's office and soon after becoming of age, took his father's place in the business at French street wharf with his uncle, George Bush, as part- ner, the firm name being G. & G. W. Bush. At the death of his uncle, in 1863, he took the whole business, which, under his management, made rapid developments, until it has reached a magnitude that twenty years ago would have seemed fabulous. He is also President and a large owner of the stock of the Electric Line of Steamers, the first direct freighting line be- ween Wilmington and New York ever estab- lished. This line has proved a great convenience to the merchants and manufacturers of Wil- mington, as well as a success to its owners. Mr. Bush has for many years been one of the most active and successful business men in his native city, and has taken an active part in many of its leading benevolent and business interests. He was one of the original subscribers to the stock of the First National Bank, and has al- ways been a director in that institution. He is President of the Artisans Savings Bank, a director in the Delaware Fire Insurance Com- pany and other institutions. He has always been one of the most active members of, and for years an officer in, the Central Presbyte- rian Church, and has, perhaps, done more to . forward its prosperity than any other member, contributing largely of his means to its various benevolent institutions, as well as to the other charitable objects of the city. By his exer- tions the Gilbert Chapel was built, and a Sun- day School, of which he is the superintendent, successfully established. He also had a large share in building the Monroe and Rodney street mission chapels of that church, and placing the schools upon a permanent basis. He is an untiring worker, self-reliant, ener- getic and possessed of remarkable executive and administrative ability, and few men of his native city are more highly regarded. In

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

1850 he married Emma N., daughter of the Rev. Joshua N. Danforth. They have a family of six children, of whom five are now living.

ATES, DANIEL MOORE, was born at Laurel, Del., January 28, 1821. His father was Rev. Jacob Moore, distin- guished in the early days of Methodism for piety, intellectual force and untiring zeal ; while his mother, and indeed her family through three generations, were remarkable for similar traits. Thus were blended two currents of earnest, homely Christian life which were transmitted to their only child, named Daniel Elzey Moore. While an infant, his mother died, and when but cight years old, his father was stricken down at the house of the Hon. Martin W. Bates, in Dover. Mr. and Mrs. Bates, having no children, adopted the son, and he afterwards bore their name, (his own being changed by Act of Assembly,) and no relation, by birth, was ever deeper, stronger, or more tender than this, by adoption, became. Prepared by the Rev. John Patton, D. D., he at fourteen entered Dickinson College, and was graduated in 1839. He always retained a lively interest in his Alma Mater, receiving from it, in due course, his degree of A. M., and long afterwards, in 1869, that of LL. D. He studied law in Dover, was admitted to the bar in 1842, and entered at once upon the active duties of his profession as the partner of his father. In November, 1844, Mr. Bates was married to Margaret Handy, daughter of the late Isaac P. Smith, of Snow Hill, Md., and adopted daughter of her uncle, the late George Handy, of Philadelphia. From January, 1847, Mr. Bates was Secretary of State, for four years, and in May, 1849, he removed to Wil- mington, where he continued the active duties of his profession. His close attention to his legal practice from this time, for sixteen years, was scarcely interrupted except by a short trip to Europe, for his health, in 1855, which greatly invigorated him. Despite the draw- back of physical weakness, his thorough legal training, well balanced judgment and method- ical habits of business all dominated by a con- scientious faithfulness to duty a marked characteristic of his life-enabled him to ac- complish more than most men of good physical powers He was distinguished as a lawyer for the thoroughness of preparation with which

| he always came to the trial of a cause. He possessed to a notable degree the confidence of the courts, of his professional brethren and of the people at large, and during a considera- ble period of his active practice he appears from the reports to have been engaged in almost every important case tried in the courts of his own county or before the Court of Errors and Appeals. Under a resolution of the Gen- eral Assembly, passed February 28, 1849, he was associated with the late Chancellor Harrington, and the present Chief Justice Comegys, in the revising and codifying the public laws of the State, and their fidelity and ability was acknowledged by resolu- tion of the General Assembly. In 1852 Mr. Bates was appointed by President Pierce, U. S. District Attorney for Delaware, and reappointed by President Buchanan, holding the office until the close of his administration. In 1861 he served as one of five Commis- sioners from Delaware to the Peace Conven- tion at Washington, and was a member of the Committee of Nine, which prepared the plan of adjustment reported to Congress. Mr. Bates continued to practice his profession until the death of Chancellor Harrington, in November, 1865, when, upon the earnest recommendation of the entire Bar of the State, he was appointed by Governor Saulsbury to the high place his lamented death made vacant. His appoint- ment called forth a general expression of approval from the press and people, as well as from the Bar. He received his commission as Chancellor, December 12, 1865, and entered at once on the duties of his office. He imme- diately revised the rules and practice of the Court, preparing a manual of the rules of prac- tice and statutes relating to his court, with practical forms, which proved of great assist- ance to lawyers engaged in chancery practice, and gave uniformity and technical accuracy to the business of the Court. In January, 1868, the Chancellor removed to Dover, but returned to Wilmington, in May, 1870. On October 2, of the same year, his wife died. They had five children, four of whom are living. As a judge, Chancellor Bates brought a judicial temper, an instructed mind and conscientious care and attention to the hearing of causes and the preparation of opinions in all mat- ters, great or small ; and his term of office was marked by a large increase of the business of

Ali Bates ,

BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

the Court, making his labors constant and se- [ sented Wilmington Conference in the General vere. He had personally the confidence of suitors in the Court, and to a remarkable de- gree of the members of the Bar, and when fail- ing health and the imperative advice of his physicians, compelled him to resign the office on October 15, 1873, to take effect on the Ist of the following month, this was amply shown in the expression of popular regret through the press, and in the resolutions of the Bar spread on the minutes of the Court in each county in the State. November 1, 1873, Mr. Bates, accompanied by his family, sailed for Europe and spent nearly two years abroad, returning in September, 1875, greatly improved and with better prospects of health than ever before. Before his resignation he had been engaged in collecting and publishing the decisions of his predecessors previously unreported. This work he resumed and pub- lished two volumes (Ist and 2nd Delaware Chancery Reports), bringing the cases up to his own time, when the work was interrupted by his death. This was his last service to the State. Its statute law was shaped in practi- cal, convenient and permanent form largely by his hand. The reports of the courts of law are witness of his unremitting contributions for over twenty years to the administration of justice, and the practice of its Court of Chan- cery, only existing before in the records of distinct cases and in the traditions of the court and bar, were by him wrought into a consistent and intelligible system, of which the youngest practitioner might avail himself. The decis- ions of the same court he rescued from moul- dering manuscripts and handed them down in enduring form, and in his own judicial opin- ions he added to them a large body of equity law, thorough in the treatment and extended in the scope of the questions involved. At the beginning of the year 1877, improved in health and scarcely beyond what should have been the years of his prime, with intellectual powers unimpaired, and impatient of illness and almost of leisure, Mr. Bates returned in some degree to the practice of his profession, though not engaging largely in business in the court. He also increased his interest in all useful activi- ties, in which he had borne such a part as his delicate health and busy life permitted. He was from childhood a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church. In 1872 he repre-

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Conference at Brooklyn. For many years he was an active member of the Delaware State Bible Society and of the Delaware Historical Society, and succeeded the venerable Judge Hall in the presidency of these societies. While in active practice his office was much sought by young men preparing for the bar, and many who became leading members of the Delaware bar pursued their studies under his direction. In politics he was a Democrat, thoroughly believing in the cardinal doctrines of the Jeffersonian idea of government, though indisposed by mental and physical conditions to enter active political life. In March, 1879, Mr. Bates was professionally called to Rich- mond, Va., where, having been in apparently his usual health for nearly two weeks, he was taken suddenly and severely ill, and rapidly growing worse, he died on Friday, March 28, in his fifty-ninth year. This event called forth universal and unfeigned expressions of sorrow throughout the State on the part of the bench and bar, the press and the people at large. This sense of loss and popular es- timate of his character was thus expressed, and perhaps nowhere more tersely, by a lead- ing journal of the State, immediately upon the announcement of his death : "Here was a man who impressed all who came near him with a sense of both strength and sweetness ; who walked uprightly without scorning those who had fallen ; who hated sin and loved sin- ners ; who had strong convictions, and yet gave, in his large mind, hospitable reception and courteous consideration to the thoughts of those who differed with him ; who had con- scious ability without the pride of intellect, and who lived an active, useful and, to a great extent, public life, doing his duty without wavering or yielding one jot or tittle of prin- ciple or conviction, and yet, incurring no man's hatred, and dying, we verily believe, without an enemy-a Christian gentleman whose life was a revelation of the practicabil- ity of that Christianity which the people of the world are apt to regard as an enthusiast's dream of the impossible."

ANDEGRIFT, JAMES M., Farmer of McDonough, New Castle county, was born, June 15, 1813. His father was Jacob Vandegrift, also a farmer of the same county ; he was a man of

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

great integrity of character, and a member of | now wife of William P. Mifflin, an Attorney at the Presbyterian Church. He died, very highly Law, Philadelphia. He was again married, October 31, 1872, to Miss Angeline, daughter of Joseph Cleaver. respected, February 1, 1845, in the eighty- second year of his age. The Vandegrifts were originally from Holland, and came to this country among the earliest settlers. The UDSON, JOHN POLK, Farmer, near St. George's, was born in Sussex county, February 27, 1805, and was the second child of James Hudson, a farmer, and of Sarah (Polk) Hudson, daughter of John Polk, of Sussex county, and sister of William Polk, of Odessa. In the infancy of John P. Hudson, the family removed to New Castle county, where they resided ten years. They then returned to the old homestead in Sussex county, where Mr. James Hudson spent the re- mainder of his life, and died, May 18, 1852, aged seventy-one years. His wife died, May 2, 1837, in her sixty-third year. Six of their chil- dren grew to maturity : William, who died in the West; John P. Moulton, who resides in California ; Kalita, who went to the West, but nothing has been heard from him for many years; Sarah, who married Payne Prettyman, and Amelia, who married Nehemiah Dickerson, and removed to Macou- pin county, Ill. The father of James was Richard Hudson, a farmer, of Sussex county, and a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He died in 1815, at the age of sixty-two. The maiden name of his wife was Deputy. His father, John Hudson, emigrated from England with his brother, William, about 1740, and settled in Delaware. They each pre-empted one thousand acres of land in Nanticoke hundred. John P. Hudson attended the schools of Wilmington and Sussex county, but after the age of ten gave the greater part of his time to the labors of the farm. When twenty-one, starting in life without a dollar, he obtained, on credit, a span of horses and a wagon, and drew bog, ore to Milford for three years. At the age of twenty-four, having made three hundred dollars, he commenced farming on his own account, near his old home, remaining till 1841. He then removed to the neighbor- hood of St. George's, where he rented land. In 1847 he purchased the farm "Grandview," which has ever since been his home. It is a fine piece of land, in an excellent state of cul- tivation, and is mostly devoted to grain, but he has been very successful in raising peaches, of which, at one time, he had 6000 trees. His grandfather was Christopher Vandegrift, a farmer of St. George's hundred, and his an- cestors were owners of land from their earliest history in America. His mother was Jane Mc Whorter, of New Castle county. She was a devoted christian and a member of the Presbyterian Church. She died, November 20, 1829, leaving five surviving children. Mr. Vandegrift received his education at Wilming- ton and Middletown, having the benefit of a select school, under the tutorship of Prof. Belknap, for two sessions. At the age of eighteen he returned home and engaged in farming, which he continued for two years. He then began agricultural life upon his own account at the paternal homestead, known as "Retirement," a farm of 200 acres of land. He followed, very successfully, the business of farming until 1857, when he removed to the town of Odessa. In 1860 Mr. Vandegrift re- moved to "Elm Grange," an estate of 200 acres of land, near MacDonough. He rebuilt the house and completed a beautiful and substantial residence for his family. He has never largely engaged in fruit culture, but has principally devoted his attention to cereals and stock raising. He is the possessor of some of the best improved lands of New Castle county, and a large owner of real estate. Mr. Vandegrift has never aspired to political position, and though positive in his opinions, is not a parti- san. He joined the Presbyterian Church at St. George's, in 1842, then under the pastorate of Rev. Jas. C. Howe. He has been for many years an elder of that church, and sustains that relation at this time. He served as a trustee of St. George's church for many years. Mr. Vandegrift was united in marriage, on the 2Ist of August, 1844, to Miss Mary A. E., daughter of John Cochran, of Middletown. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church from early life, and a good christian woman She died, October 14, 1868, in the forty- seventh year of her age, leaving the following children : Olivia C., now wife of George W. Dennison, of New York ; J. Lena, now wife of B. S. Johnson, of Arkansas, and Margaret P.,

John P. Hudson.

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BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

commodious residence was built in 1850. He | and productive farm. He has had 6,000 peach owns, also, the "Pogue " farm in the same trees in bearing at one time, but devotes his land principally to the growth of cereals. As an agriculturist he has been successful, and may be styled a representative farmer. In person, bearing, and intelligence, Mr. Lock- wood is an honor to the agriculturists of the State. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in which he was reared. In politics, he is liberal, and prefers to vote for good men rather than to be controlled by the dictum of any party. Mr. Lockwood was united in marriage, December 2, 1851, to Miss Elizabeth W., daughter of Joseph Griffith, of Newark, whose sketch and plate are previ- ously given. Upon their bridal trip they vis- ited Washington, and dined with the distin- guished Henry Clay, at his invitation. Seven children have been born of this marriage, viz .: Richard, a farmer of Kent county, Md .; Ida, now Mrs. T. E. Lindley, of Baltimore; Mollie W., wife of Daniel Gibbs, a farmer of the Levels; Lizzie, Mattie, William G., and Agnes Irving Lockwood. neighborhood, and the "Campbell " farm, in Cedar Creek hundred. Mr. Hudson has several dwelling houses in St. George's and in Phila- delphia, and is noted for his leneincy towards his tenants, some of whom have paid him little for years. Since 1876 he has been a director of the Delaware City National Bank. He is eminently a self-made man, having accumu- lated his handsome fortune by industry and economy, and is widely known and highly re- garded. He was an old line Whig and after- wards became a Republican. During the war he was a strong Union man, and did all in his power to maintain the Government. He united with the M. E. Church when nineteen years of age, and has been since a steward and trustee. He was married, in 1829, to Miss Susan, daughter of Elias and Elizabeth (Morris) Lofland. They had six children, three of whom died young : Alfred is now a farmer, near Smyrna ; Martha is the wife of John Wiltbank, of Milton, and John is a farmer, near Clayton. Having lost his first wife, November 20, 1848, Mr. Hudson married, December 30, 1850, Miss Mary, daughter of John and Mary (Lofland) Campbell, of Sussex county.

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Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 19

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

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