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

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

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father dying when he was seventeen years of age, he assisted for one year afterward in the care of the estate. He then followed the sea five years, being engaged in the coasting trade, and spending his winters at home. In 1840, having married the year previous, he purchased two small tracts of worn-out land, containing forty-eight acres, for which he paid four hundred and fifteen dollars, and com- menced farming. To this land, on which he still resides, he has added all the adjoining property; and owns, with his other farms, six in all, about one thousand acres ; all well im- proved and under good cultivation. He has a stock range of four hundred acres. He raises cereals and stock. He is one of the most enterprising and successful agriculturists in the county, and has succeeded by industry, economy and well directed effort. Mr. Rick- ards was a member of the Whig party till 1844, when he joined the Democracy, in which organization he has since been a lead- ing member in his county. He was made constable in the three years following 1842, and also in 1853-'54. In 1854 he was ap- pointed Justice of the Peace and Notary Pub- lic, the duties of which office he discharged with so much ability and acceptance, that he was twice reappointed, holding the office for three full terms of seven years each. In this position he won the respect and esteem of all who knew him, and gained a wide reputation as a just, fair and honorable officer. In 1876 he was elected, on the Democratic ticket, to the popular branch of the General Assembly, and served with credit during the session of 1877. He has always been deeply interested in educational matters, and active in promot- ing the interests of the public schools of his locality. For seventeen years he was clerk of the Local Board of School Trustees. He has been a class-leader and trustee in the M. E. church, with which he united in 1839. In that year he married Eleanor M. Carey, by whom he had seven children ;- Ann M. T., married to Dr. James D. West ; Mary C., wife of James N. Laws ; Elizabeth L., wife of John R. Steele; James K., married to Alice K. Bennett ;

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Charles S., married to Irene Lynch ; Sarah E., wife of Peter Gray, and George Washington Rickards, who married Kate Lynch. Mr. Rickards had the misfortune to lose his wife November 23, 1875. In January, 1876, he married Elizabeth S., widow of David H. ·Derrickson, and daughter of Lemuel Lynch. His children by this marriage are Minerva W. and Mattie Rickards. continued farming. In the spring of 1853, he was urged by Mr. Thomas H. Baynard, uncle of his wife, to remove to Wilmington, and en- gage in the manufacture of morocco. This he at first declined to do, but in the fall of that year, partly in consideration of better schools for his children, decided to take the step. The change was made in November. He entered into partnership with Mr. Baynard, and set himself to work to learn the business. Not- OSTLES, STEPHEN, of Camden, Re- tired Morocco Manufacturer, was born between Frederica and Milford, in Kent county, Sept. 29, 1811 ; being the fifth and youngest child of Zadoc and Eleanor (Parker) Postles. His father, a farmer, a most excellent man, and a devoted member of the M. E. Church, died in 1812, when his son, Stephen, was only six months old. The grandfather of the latter was Shadrach Postles, who with his brothers, Thomas and John, were the first of the name who came to America. They settled in Sussex county, and in the year 1800 Shadrach and all his children, with the exception of Zadoc, who had married, removed to Franklin county, Ohio, where he died and his descendants are scattered throughout the West. Mr. Postles grew up at the old home- stead. A very poor school kept only about two months in the winter, was all he had any op- portunity of attending. At the age of sixteen he left home, and for nearly two years worked for Jehu Reed on the old Hewston farm, in Mur- derkill Neck, receiving only $3.50 a month,or a shilling a day for fifteen hours labor. In the fall of 1829 he became a clerk in the store of his cousins, Job and Solomon Townsend, of Frederica, with whom he remained four years, receiving but thirty dollars a year, but he learned how to conduct business, and was in- troduced to a course in life which held before him the promise of better things. Leaving his cousins, he formed a partnership with Thomas Lockwood in the general merchandise business, in Frederica. The firm of Lockwood & Postles dissolved after three years, by mutual consent, withstanding the closest application, he scarcely made enough the first year to support his family, but they did make some reputation. The establishment had before been in bad re- pute, and was sadly run down. The second year they began to prosper, and in 1856 built a new brick factory on Fourth street, between Orange and Tatnall, in which his son, General James Parke Postles, is now conducting the busi- ness. The financial distress of 1857, they foresaw and were prepared to meet. In January, 1858, Mr. Postles bought out his partner, and after that owned and conducted the business in his own name. The two years following were successful ; 1861 was not so profitable, and in 1862 the factory was stopped, the men dis- charged, and ruin seemed inevitable. As the war progressed, he was enabled to renew busi- ness in a small way ; credit and cash were gone, but he had never lost his credit for integrity. By degrees prosperity returned, and in 1866 he took his two eldest sons into the business, the firm taking the name of S. Postles and Sons. After two years of continued success, his eldest son, William R, retired from the firm, which then bore the name of S. Postles and Son. In 1873, just twenty years from the time he left his country home, Mr. Postles bought the fine residence in Camden, owned by Hon. John Glancey Jones, which he has from that time occupied, though he did not withdraw from the business in Wilmington till 1875, when he sold out to his son and retired. He has forty-six acres of fine land, contiguous to his home, which he takes great pleasure in cultivating. He is hale and vigorous, and heartily enjoys and Mr. Postles purchased, in the fall of 1837, life and the comforts and luxuries he has the Hardcastle farm, one mile from Camden. On gathered about him. Mr. Postles was never a this he worked hard, and also, after a year, es- | politician but always took a deep interest in tablished a small foundry and plow manufac . political affairs. He was an Old Line Whig ; voted for Bell and Everett, and for Lincoln left the Republican party, from which he dif- tory for the supply of the surrounding country. This, after continuing with success till 1850, | the second time he was nominated, but finally he sold to Nock and Dickson, of Camden, but

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fered on the question of colored suffrage, and people between them and all danger. After has since voted for the Democratic nominees. hearing this evidence the committee sum- moned Robinson to appear before them to answer. But he returned word that he desired his compliments to the gentlemen of the committee and to acquaint them that he did not nor could not think of coming before them unless he could bring forty or fifty armed men with him. These 'compliments' were voted to be 'insulting and imperious,' and a resolution pronouncing his defection from the Whig cause followed." He was fined one thousand pounds and his property was confiscated, and he took refuge in Canada. He afterwards returned to Sussex county, and died, and was buried at St. George's Chapel. He has long been a prominent and influential member of the M. E. Church, with which he united in 1829, and has filled all the lay offices. He was, in 1880, a lay delegate to the Lay Electoral Conference, at Dover. His first wife, to whom he was married, April 15, 1834, was Elizabeth, daughter of William and Elizabeth Roe, of Kent county. Their children were Thomas, who died in infancy ; William Roe, who was a soldier of the Union army during the late war, and now resides in Camden ; General James Parke Postles, Adjutant-General of the State of Delaware, and engaged in the morocco business, in Wilmington ; Eliza Me- lissa, wife of John P. Doughten, of Wilming- ton, and Elizabeth, who died in infancy. Mrs. Postles died, January 21, 1848. On the 8th of January, 1850, Mr. Postles married Miss Eliza- beth, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Casson, ,by whom he had three children, Elizabeth Casson, who died at the age of seven ; Mary Ann, who died in infancy, and Laura Baynard Postles. He had the misfortune to again lose his wife, August 16, 1875.

OBINSON, THOMAS, the Loyalist, brother of Judge Peter Robinson, was a gentleman of high character, of super- ior education and of great talents and influence. The following account of him is found in "Sabine's Loyalists of the Revolu- tion, Vol. 1." "In July, 1775, the Sussex county Committee took him in hand for his acts and words, and unanimously declared that he was an enemy to his country and a contu- macious opposer of liberty and the natural rights of mankind ! His offences were various. Peter Watson swore that being at Robinson's store, he saw his clerk, John Gozlin, weigh and sell two small parcels of bohea-tea, one of which he delivered to a girl and the other to Leatherberry Baker's wife. Robert Burton testified that Robinson said to him that the Whig committees were a pack of fools for tak- ing up arms against the king, that our char- ters were not annihilated, changed or altered by the late acts of Parliament, etc., Nathaniel Mitchell testified that Robinson had declared to him, the present Congress were an uncon- stitutional body of men, and also that the great men were pushing on the common

OWNING, HIRAM T., Merchant of Georgetown, was born near Cannon's Ferry, in Sussex county, October II, 1833. His father, James Downing, was a merchant in that village. He died in 1862. His mother was Margaret, daughter of James L. Wallace, a local minister of that county. Mr. Downing was well educated in the public schools, attending until 1853, when he spent a year at the academy in Zanesville, Ohio. After that he was a clerk in Laurel, in his na- tive state. In 1856, he went to Danville, Ill , where he was engaged as mail and station agent on the Wabash Valley railroad, until 1860. Returning to Delaware he was engaged in farming for three years, on the former estate of his grandfather on the Nanticoke river, after which he was again a clerk in Laurel. In November, 1865, he was appointed by Governor Gove Saulsbury Clerk of the Orphans'Court and Register in Chancery for a period of five years, at the expiration of which he was re-appointed a second term of five years. He is now a mer- chant in Georgetown, and the owner of fifty acres of land in its suburbs. He also owns a small farm near Redden Station. He has been successful in life, and is regarded as a business man of superior abilities. Mr. Downing has always belonged to the Democratic party. He became a Mason in 1854, and has passed all the chairs of the Blue Lodge and the Chap- ter and Council degree. In 1860 he was married to Martha, daughter of Nathan Can- non, Esq., of Concord, Sussex county, and has three children ; Jennie Vernon, Lizzie Ellegood and Hugh Turpin Downing.

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cCOMB, COLONEL HENRY S., late of Wilmington, was born in that city, July 28, 1825. He was of Scotch Irish descent and was the second in a family of five children, who, by the death of their father, a blacksmith, were left at an early age dependent on the exertions of their mother. She was a devoted christian, and a woman of uncommon energy ; and undertaking her dif- ficult task with faith and resolution, brought up all her family well. She lived to an ad- vanced age, reaping a rich reward for her heroic endeavors in the success and eminence at- tained by the subject of this sketch, who early took the place of his father to the whole family, and in her later years was enabled to surround her with every comfort. He was but a boy at the time of his father's death, but was obliged to leave school and assist in the common support. This he did bravely and cheerfully, exhibiting even then the same bright, undaunted spirit that won him so many friends and served him so well through life Commencing as an errand boy, he was next a roller boy in the office of the Delaware Jour- nal, and was afterwards apprenticed to Israel Pusey, to learn the trade of Currier. Here his great ambition was, after a complete mastery of his trade, to buy as much of his time as he could from his employer, and to make as early a start in life as possible. With this end in view he saved all that he could of his earnings, and worked indefatigably, rising at four in the morning and often accomplishing a good day's work before breakfast. In addition to all this he studied hard at night, and improved every opportunity he could find for mental culture. His books lay near him as he worked, and labor and study were often zealously pursued at one and the same time. It was often re- was of great service, holding immense con- marked in after years that however suddenly he might be called upon, and whatever post of tents, knapsacks, etc. His work was always

bought out his employer and commenced life for himself. His heroic struggles through all these years had not failed to attract attention, and his appearance and manner were such as to win regard, and to command confidence and respect, even at that early age. Hon. Willard Hall had been his Sabbath School teacher for years, and was greatly interested in him, freely aiding him with counsel, with his open partiality and friendship, and, when needed, with his money. Other prominent men in the Hanover Presbyterian church which he attended, assisted him in the same way, and were always ready to give him an extra push forward if any rival or ill-disposed person would discourage or pull him back. Such countenance and favor would have made the way compara- tively easy for any young man, but the won- derful energy and surprising business talent of young Mr. McComb was the real impelling force. His business moved forward with a rapidity and an apparent ease that makes the tale of his successes seem more like a fanciful dream than an account of real life. At twen- ty-five he was recognized as one of the fore- most men in his native city ; at thirty he had passed nearly all competitors in trade, his social position was in the front rank, and at forty he took his place among men of national reputation as projectors and promoters of great public enterprises. It is also affirmed that the example of his wonderful energy and of his suc- cess so stimulated many others to like exertions that it has had much to do with making Wil- mington, as a manufacturing city, one of the first in the country. He became, finally, the most extensive and successful manufacturer in his line in the United States. In the war he

tracts under the government for furnishing ready at the time named, and gave entire sat- isfaction, gaining for him the lasting friendship

honor he was expected to fill, he was always able to acquit himself in the most gratifying · and satisfactory manner, such as could only be and esteem of the War Secretary, Edwin M. expected of one who had enjoyed the advan- Stanton. He was also a strong personal friend tages of thorough training and culture. He of President Lincoln and the members of his succeeded in buying two years from the face cabinet, and when a military governor was of his indenture papers, and was free, with a ordered for Delaware the commission was good trade, at the age of eighteen. For a made out for Col. H. S. McComb. This, how- short time he worked as journeyman with Mr. ever, he declined, and advised against the ap- James Webb, in the leather business on the pointment of a military Governor for the State, corner of Third and Tatnall streets, but soon and his advice was followed by the authorities

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James P. Rice, Sal

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Hours July AS De Gamle 2 -

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at Washington. He raised and equipped, at | large owner in, the Narraganset Steamship his own expense, the Fifth Delaware Regi- Company, or the "Bristol Line" of steamers between New York and Boston, but re- signed this position that he might give more time to his southern railroad interests. It is gratifying to be able to add that the peo- ple of that section in time fully realized the value of his services, and expressed their gratitude and appreciation in the warmest terms. When first among them he was an- tagonized by their prejudices ; the road he took possession of was thoroughly disorganized, out of repair, utterly without system in the management of its details, burdened with debt and powerless to develop the country through which it passed : in little more than three years he brought the bonds of the company from 70 to about par, built over one hundred miles of new road, put the road bed, of over five hundred and fifty miles, in complete order, and thoroughly equipped the road ; he and his associates having invested in it seven millions of dollars. The New Orleans Picayune of March 11, 1874, contains the following : "A memorial has been gotten up, signed by cor- porations and merchants, capitalists and citi- zens, of all classes of this State and Missis- sippi, addressed to Col. H. S. McComb, Presi- dent of the Great Northern and Mississippi Railroads, expressing to that gentleman their great admiration, respect and gratitude, and the vast services and benefit rendered to their States and the great Northwest by the com- pletion of unbroken railroad communications, between this city and Chicago." "The signers of this testimonial are all the cotton factors and commission merchants in this city, the wholesale grocers and dealers in western pro- duce, and a multitudinous array of the leading merchants, manufacturers and traders in New Orleans, and in all the towns and villages along the Jackson and Mississippi Central Railroads, including all the bank presidents and presidents of insurance companies of this city, many professional gentlemen, and high public officials, and all classes, generally, whose names, in small type, make up fifteen pages of the pamphlet. Few men have ever enjoyed or more richly deserved such a splendid testi- monal from citizens whose good will, respect and confidence have been won against such strong prejudices and formidable obstacles as confronted Col. McComb, when he commenced ment of which he accepted the position of Colonel, serving gratuitously. Later, among his personal friends were almost all the men of public note who have figured before the country for the last twenty years. He was vivacious, genial and affable, and his intercourse in private and social life was as pleasant as his business career was brilliant. His conversation and his personal presence possessed a magnetic charm which will long be remembered by those who enjoyed his ac- quaintance. Also, he was a man cast in na- ture's finest mould, and the pleasure of observ- ing, added to the enjoyment of meeting him. He will long be missed on the streets, in the church, and wherever he was most frequently seen. After the war he turned his attention, principally, to railroads, any branch of which, it was said, it was only necessary for him to take hold of to make it a success. He was one of the originators of the Union Pacific Railroad, and took an active part in' carrying this grand enterprise to successful completion. In 1868, he came in possession of the Missis- sippi Central railroad, at which time he con- ceived the idea of running a trunk line between New Orleans and Cairo, Illinois, by securing control of the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern railroad, which was under the management of Gen. Beauregard of Confeder- ate notoriety. In this he succeeded after much opposition, and began to operate his grand trunk line, which ran a distance of nearly six hundred miles, the complete consolidation being effected July 4, 1873. In 1870 he bought six thousand acres on this route, covered with pine timber and laid out what is now called McComb City. It is situated on high ground, in one of the most desirable locations in that section of the country, being one hundred and five miles from New Orleans. Its population is now two thousand. Colonel McComb was called, in the south, the "Railroad King." Besides being President of the Southern Rail- road Association, and President of the road above mentioned, embracing, with his other railroad interests in the south, nearly seven hundred miles of continuous road which came under his special supervision, he was largely interested in many of the leading lines of the country. He was the first President of, and a

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his labors in this section. There are few men in this country, who could have achieved this brilliant result. There can be no doubt that there did not exist in our section, either the capital or the enterprise to accomplish so great an undertaking." In his reply, when presented with this testimonial, Col. McComb stated that " the company of which he was President had not been satisfied with the mere prolongation or extension of their railroad ; they had sought to give it depth and solidity as well as length, superseding insecure and perilous cribwork, with a solid earth basis, and to make it as safe as any northern road." In the winter of 1880 he bought up the controlling interest in the Delaware Western Road, and secured from the Legislature of Delaware the amended charter which made this road neces- sary to the Baltimore and Ohio's projected through-line to New York, realizing upon this venture a very large profit. In his connection with the credit Mobilier exposure his name became more generally known to the country at large, and it was chiefly through his instru- mentality that the workings of this great scheme were brought to light. A very general purification of congressional affairs followed. Had there been any stain upon his personal record, politicians and others would have then gladly made use of it, but none was to be found. He came out of that most searching or- deal unscathed. It had previously to this been written of him in one of the many public notices which the career of such a man must from time to time call forth ; "Never, from his boyhood, has he indulged in a single habit of dissipation, but recognizing the nobility of life, he has added to his wealth and morality, the crowning glory of a christian character, which, through great temptations, has always been consistently maintained." He was a life-long and active member of the Central Presbyterian Church, and warmly interested in the success of his denomination, as well as of other relig- ious bodies throughout the city. The churches, benevolent societies,and many struggling as- sociations, he often aided largely. Also, the industrial establishments of his native city he greatly assisted and promoted in securing for them orders from companies whose work was, in a measure, under his control. The benefits accruing to Wilmington in such ways as these, from his powerful and extended influence, can,

perhaps, never be accurately measured. In the last decade of his life he relaxed, somewhat, the tense strain of his earlier years, and was less absorbed in business, living proportion- ately more to his home and friends, and to the world at large. He had, towards the last, oc- casional premonitions of that fatal attack of heart disease, that so suddenly summoned him from earth; but his appearance and manner was that of a man in robust health and in the full enjoyment of life. On the morning of Friday, December 30, 1881, he left home, per- fectly well, to attend a banquet to be given in Newark, New Jersey, to Mr. Frelinghuysen, Secretary of State. Stopping a short time in Philadelphia, he was taken ill and expired at noon. 'The shock throughout the community, and to all his friends, far and near, was great. His appearance in death was of one in pleasant slumber only: his residence was kindly thrown open before the hour for the funeral services, and the public permitted to pass through and take a last farwell of the familiar figure that will long be sorely missed. The occasion was one of profound sorrow, and of deepest sympathy for the stricken family. Colonel McComb married, June 16, 1853, Miss Elizabeth McKane Bush, daughter of Charles Bush, of the then well-known firm of Bush & Lobdell, car wheel manufacturers. Mr. Bush died not long after, leaving his daughter a large property, and Colonel McComb was ap- pointed to settle up the estate. It was while in the performance of this duty, that all the grand possibilities of railroad enterprise first loomed up before his quick and comprehensive mind. Colonel and Mrs. McComb had five children ; Charles Bush, who died at the age of five years ; Ellen Bush ; James Craig ; Jane Elizabeth, and Martha McComb.

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

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

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