Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 22

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Publication date: 1972
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Number of Pages: 776

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irregularly, the academy at Camden, till he reached the age of nineteen, when he learned the carriage building trade of his father, and worked as a journeyman till 1861. After this he was engaged in this business in partnership with his brother William, for three years. In March, 1864, he commenced farming, a voca- tion for which he had always had a special fondness, and in which he has had good suc- cess to the present time. He removed, in 1867, to his present residence, two miles south- west of Frederica. He has been an extensive and successful peach grower, having had, at one time, four thousand trees in bearing. The rest of his farm is devoted to grain and stock. He was brought up a Democrat, but on the breaking out of the war, he took strong ground for the Union and for the maintenance of the supremacy of the old flag. Since that time he has voted with the Republican party, but is independent in his political views. He joined the M. E. Church in 1850, but in church, as in public affairs, he has always declined every offer of official position. In 1867 he joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Clark was married, in 1864, to Miss Mary C. Townsend, who died in 1865, and her infant son followed her a few months later. He was again married, May 13, 1868, to Miss Rachel Catherine, daughter of Ezekiel B. and Deborah (Frazier) Clements, of Kent county. They have two children, Evelyn Clements and John Daw- son Clark. Mr. Clark is a man of uprightness and integrity, and is regarded as a representa- tive agriculturist of his vicinity.

ALL, CORNELIUS JOHN, Merchant, of Milford, was born in Baltimore hun- dred, Sussex county, February 10, 1837. His parents were William Spence and Mary Derrickson (Vaughan) Hall. His father, a farmer and merchant, was appointed Postmaster by General Jackson, holding the position till his death in 1865 ; after which his son, Joseph E., was Postmaster for three years. William S. Hall was a Whig and was twice chosen to the Legislature, in which he served very honorably. He was also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1853, and such was his popularity that the Democrats did not put up a candidate, many of them voting for him. His father, Adam Hall, moved from the vicinity of Richmond, Va., to Dela-

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ware, and owned large tracts of land in Sussex county, which was divided among his children. The family were originally from England, and ary works on these subjects, within his reach. settled first in North Carolina. Cornelius John Hall attended the free schools of his locality till he was seventeen, and afterwards, a select school in Milford for one year. He was then, for four years, a clerk in the store of his brothers, H. J. and R. C. Hall, in that place, when he purchased the store and changed the name of the firm to C. J. Hall & Co. They had a large mercantile business and also an extensive trade in grain and lumber, which they shipped to northern ports. In 1864 Mr. Hall purchased the entire interest of his brothers, continuing the business in his own name, on a more extended scale, and added dealings in railroad ties, of which he shipped many thousands. In 1869 he sold out the stock and business, but continued dealing in bark, ties, etc., till 1873, when in partnership with Mr. S. Matthews and others, he erected the large brick machine shop and foundry ad- joining the depot. Hlis interest in this he sold out in 1879, to his partner, Mr. Matthews, and retired from active business. Mr. Hall has owned a good deal of vessel property since 1869, and has now an interest in two coasters. 'He has been, all his life, a member of the Democratic party, and interested in its suc- cess. In 1876 he was elected to the popular branch of the General Assembly, in whose proceedings he took a prominent part. Re- elected in 1878, he served with distinction during the session of 1879, and was Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means. He was, in September, 1882, appointed by Gov- ernor Hall, Clerk of the Peace for Kent county. Mr. Hall was married, in November, 1863, to Miss Wilhelmina, daughter of Hon. William Tharp, late Governor of Delaware, and has seven children : Mary Tharp, Annie, William Vaughan, Bessie, Cornelius J., Junior, Mina and Lucy Hamner Hall.

PEAN, JOSEPH, Founder of the Dean Woolen Factory, at Newark, was born April 18, 1784, at Sandbach, Cheshire, England. His father, James Dean, a farmer in good circumstances, married Elizabeth Brook, of Daisy Brook farm, in the same locality. Joseph Dean very early de- veloped a remarkable talent for painting,

mathematics and astronomical studies, and, at the age of eight, had mastered all the element-

Attending school until the age of twelve, he was in the habit of spending the noon hour in solving the problems of the other boys, sons of rich men, who, in return, kept his pockets filled with pence. His fondness for calcula- tion led him into the study of astrology, for which he gained much notoriety, and turned it to account. Much of the money thus gained he spent in the purchase of books on the subject, but as soon as his maturer sense convinced him of the folly of the whole mat- ter, he closed them at once and forever. His son, on a recent visit to his father's birthplace, recovered a number of these books, with others that he had pored over, eighty years before, in all, about one hundred volumes,some of them one hundred and fifty years old ; and also some of his father's early paintings, and brought them to this country. The books he presented to the Historical Society of Dela- warc. Joseph Dean came to America and landed in New York, in May, 1811, without a dollar in his pocket. He found employment in a baker's shop for a month, after which he went to Long Island and engaged in harvest- ing. On the approach of winter he found a school, which he taught for a year, and then started on a pedestrian tour through New Jersey to Philadelphia, thence to Lancaster, York and Baltimore, and from the last city back to Philadelphia, passing through many of the towns of Delaware. In Philadelphia he met a man who had come to this country with him on the same ship, and who took him to the woolen mill, where he worked. There he found him employment and taught him to spin. He soon became very expert, remain- ing in the mill till 1816. During the war of 1812 there was not a dye house in the country, and our manufacturers were put to great inconvenience. Mr. Dean now turned to good account the knowledge he had, so early acquired of chemistry, and with such appliances as he could command, put a dye house in operation and carried it on with great success. While in this mill he invented the first self-acting mule that ever spun a thread of yarn by power. He built the machine himself, from the ground up, and it was used for many years by mills all

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

over the country, but he never secured a patent for it. In 1819 he married Deborah Hansel of Blockley township, who died two years later, leaving him a son, William Dean, now his suc- cessor in business. In 1822 he married a widow lady, Mrs. Butterworth, a native of England, who in a long and useful life proved indeed a helpmate to him. Soon after, he left the mill and went into business by himself, but his services had been too valuable to his former employer to be dispensed with, and he was invited to become his partner. The firm of Kershaw and Dean continued three years. Mr. Dean then took charge of a cotton mill at Rockdale, in the same state, which he car- ried on with great success for several years. February 22, 1832, the centennial anniversary of Washington's birthday, he opened a store in Philadelphia, which he conducted four years. In 1835, Mr. Kershaw, his former partner, died, leaving a large amount of property, and Mr. Dean in assisting to settle up the estate, be- came again interested in the woolen manu- facturing business, which he re-commenced, January 1, 1836, in the neighborhood of Phila- delphia, where he continued till 1845, when he removed to Newark. The history of the busi- ness from that time will be found in the Indus- trial Department. In politics Mr. Dean was for many years a Federalist, but the reading of President Jackson's veto message regarding the United States Bank, made him an earnest and active Democrat the remainder of his life. In 1838 he was elected magistrate of his town- ship which position he held till he moved to Delaware. He was a man of very decided character, but liberal in his religious views, generous, benevolent, honest and straightfor- ward. The sterling integrity of his character was known and recognized everywhere, and his credit was unlimited. The reverses of 1857 affected his health, and, together with his age,incapacitated him from further active par- ticipation in business. He died at his home near Newark, February 10, 1861, at the age of seventy-seven. His loss was deeply felt by the entire community. His tombstone bears this simple but most comprehensive inscription, "He was a man." His wife survived him four years, and died in April, 1865, at the age of eighty-seven. He was a man of fine material endowments and great practical sense, and in his dealings upright and honorable.

PPLETON, CAPTAIN WILLIAM EDWIN, Soldier and Farmer, was born near Odessa, June 6, 1840. His parents were John and Rachel Appleton. A sketch of John Appleton will be found in this volume. He is the youngest child of his parents and attended the school of his vicinity until his fifteenth year, when he was sent for two years to the Seminary at Penning- ton, N. J., where he received an excellent edu- cation. He was active in raising troops for service as United States volunteers until Au- gust 5, 1861, when he was commissioned Second Lieutenant, Ninth United States Infan- try, and at once reported for duty to Adjutant General Thomas, at Washington, D. C. He was assigned to duty by General Scott on the staff of General Lockwood, at Baltimore, Md. He was next assigned to duty by the Secretary of War, in Washington, where he remained under orders until after the battle of Williams- burg. Lieutenant Appleton's regiment was posted on the Pacific coast at this time, and he joined them at San Francisco. In the spring of 1863 he was ordered to Stockton, Cal., a; Acting Quartermaster for the First, Second, Third and Fourth California Volun- teers. He remained in charge of this depart- ment until September, 1863, when the troops were transferred. He reported to his regiment in October, and was placed in command of the company ordered to San Jose, familiarly called Black Point, where he built a battery, and upon its completion, returned to his regiment and became Captain of Company G, which was then stationed at Fort Alcatray, where they remained for one year. After being on duty in Southern California at various points, he was ordered to San Francisco in command of a battalion of troops to suppress the riot which had broken out in that city. Captain Appleton was placed in command of Presidia Barracks, which post he held until relieved about the close of the war. Late in 1865 he was ordered with his company to Northern California for frontier service, which was con - tinued until June, 1869. During this period he had command of the Humboldt military district, where the usual active frontier service with the Indians was experienced. In 1869 Captain Appleton was ordered east of the Rocky Mountains to service in Wyoming, where he continued until late in 1869, when

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Thos. P Hansen

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BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

he returned home, being discharged by act of | reached New York, February 2, 1866. He Congress. Upon his return to Delaware he began farming near Middletown, and in 1876 removed to "Noxonton," a farm containing 200 acres of excellent land. He is largely engaged in the culture of fruit and has a fine orchard of 8,000 peach trees. Captain Apple- ton is a man of intelligence and ability, and devoted to agriculture. In politics he is a Re- publican and believes that the destiny of his country should be committed to the hands of that party. He is a member of the Methodist Church, which he joined in 1874 at Odessa. He was married, April 27, 1876, to Miss Carrie, daughter of Joseph West, of New Castle county.

ANSEN, THOMAS PETER, Farmer, of Rising Sun, Kent county, was born in Schleswig Holstein, Prussian Em- pire, August 25, 1844. His parents were Hans and Anne Christina (Caster- ton) Hansen. His father was a landowner and farmer, but by becoming security lost his estate in 1845. He then became a contractor and builder. His death occurred December 10, 1872, and his wife followed him, in May of the next year. Their children were : Thomas P., Maria Dorothea, Peter C., and Catherine Maria. The father of Hans Hansen was Hans Thord Hansen, born January 15, 1788, a wealthy farmer and landowner. He married Catherina Maria France, and had six chil- dren : Peter, Meth Maria, Hans, Thord, Johann Frederick and Paul Peter. The family is an- cient and honorable, highly connected,and for many generations possessed great wealth and influence. His father having lost his property, Mr. Hansen was favored with but few educa- tional advantages. At the early age of six he was obliged to go out to work to assist in the family maintenance, and went to school only in the winter. That province, was alternately, under Danish and German rule, and attending schools in each language,he became master of both. He was confirmed in the Lutheran Church at the age of fifteen, and left school also at that time, after which he worked five years at farming. During the last war between Prussia and Denmark, the government placed him in charge of army wagons and ambu- lances. Resolving to come to the United States, he sailed November 10, 1865. and

spent some time with his father's brother, Law- rence P. Hansen, and afterwards worked for | John S. Collins in New Jersey, with whom he remained three years. In the fall of 1868 Mr. Collins purchased the farm where Mr. Hansen now resides, and rented it to him for half the profits, till he could buy it. He borrowcd $2,500 and planted the first year, 1868, sixty acres in berries,and the next year the remain- ing seventy-six acres in peaches. Going to work with wonderful energy and courage, and thoroughly understanding his business, he was enabled the second year to meet the expenses of the farm. In ten years, notwithstanding that, in 1875, he lost $3,500, which he had left in the hands of Mr. Collins, through the failure of that gentleman in a canning establishment, he had paid off all his indebtedness, greatly improved the property, and was able to pur- chase the farm for $12,000. The following season he realized $8,000 from the sale of his fruit, having twenty-two thousand baskets of peaches. He joined j. Brown, in 1880, in the canning business at Wyoming, and this inter- est is a large and important one. In 1872 all his brothers and sisters came to Delaware and settled about Camden. When prospered him- self he did not forget those at home, and through his interest thirteen families and a number of young people-fifty-nine persons in all-were induced to come to this country and to settle in that locality. After he had settled on his farm, in 1868, he sent to Ger- many for his affianced wife, Miss Hannah Maria Neilson, who came over, and they were married, April 13th of that year. They have now six children living : John C., George C., Annie Margaret, Thomas W., Eva N., and Etta K. Mr. Hansen is a member of the German Reformed Church, at Wyoming.

HAMBERS, JOSEPH, of Dover, Manu- facturer of hermetically sealed goods, was born in Chester county, Pennsyl- vania, March 31, 1840 His parents were David and Phebe Ann (Bell) Chambers. David Chambers was a farmer and merchant, an excellent man and greatly es- teemed. At his death, in 1856, he left a com- fortable estate, accumulated entirely by his own industry. He had three sons and three daughters : Richard B., Lydia A., Mary E.,

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

Joseph M., Brinton H., and Melissa R. His | Street Committee and a member of the Water father was Joseph Chambers, also a farmer in Board. He was active and influential in get- ting the Legislature, in 1881, to approve the new arrangement for bringing water into the town. Mr. Chambers was married in 1867 to Miss Isabel, daughter of the late Charles and Mary (Simington) Warren of New Castle county. They have four children ; Josephine, Melissa, Edith and Harvey. Chester county, who married Rebecca Moore, and had six children ; Isaac, David, John and Joshua, Patience and Rebecca. The family were Friends from colonial times, and Rebecca (Moore) Chambers was a minister of the Hick- site meeting, possessing abilities of a high order. In answer to calls from different places she traveled a great deal in the exercise of her gifts. Joseph M. Chambers received his ILSON, DAVID, JR., son of David Wilson, of Odessa, of whom an account has been given, was born at Cantwell's Bridge, in 1787. At the age of ten he was sent to Westtown (Friends') Boarding School, Chester county, Pa., where he remained several years, completing his studies, and on his return served an appren- ticeship with his father, who took him into partnership when he had arrived at a suitable age. On his father's retirement he succeeded to his large business, which he conducted with great honor and success till 1825, when, owing to the general business depression of the country at that time, reverses overtook him ; he became discouraged, and against the judg- ment of his friends, turned his property over to his creditors. . He then removed to Phila- delphia, and in 1835, to Richmond, Ind. There he recovered from his financial difficulties, and during the thirty-five years of his residence in that city, enjoyed a competency. Mr. Wilson was one of the excellent of the earth. He remained, through life, a progressive mem- ber of the Society of Friends, whose doctrines he honored. His mind was far above the average, and the reading he preferred was of the profoundest kind. His ideas, far in ad- vance of his time, made him an uncompromis- ing anti-slavery man, and he lived to see the great principles of truth and justice vindicated, which he had so earnestly upheld. He was married, in 1808, to Ann Jefferis, daughter of James Jefferis, a noted captain and ship-owner in the merchant service. Captain Jefferis used to sail from the wharf now owned by Charles Warner and Company, at Wilmington. The four children of Mr. Wilson by his first wife were: James Wilson, who died unmarried in 1877; Mary Corbit Wilson, who married Daniel Cor . bit ; she died, March 21, 1882 ; George Wilson, who married Alethea Swiggett. and now re- early education in the common schools, after which he attended Swayne's boarding school in Chester county. He also attended a select school for two years. For a time he was em- ployed as railroad agent at Avondale, Chester county, and also during that period was en- gaged in mercantile business in the same place. In the spring of 1861 he graduated at Profes- sor Crittenden's Commercial College, in Phila- delphia, after which he became traveling agent for two years for the old Morris Nur- series of West Chester, and was employed by the Erciidoun Nurseries as general agent, and manager of their traveling agents, receiving a salary of $2500 a year. He spent several years in these occupations, traveling over Penn- sylvania, Maryland, and the Peninsula. While thus engaged, he established the Dover Nur- series in Dover, in which he was very success- ful, selling of peach trees alone as high as 150,000 a year. In April, 1871, he commenced the business of canned fruits, vegetables, etc., in the same town, and in 1879 relinquished the nursery business. As a manufacturer and packer of hermetically sealed goods, Mr. Cham- bers has achieved great success. His busi- ness has grown rapidly under his manage- ment, and is now one of the leading industries of the place. A full account of his establish- ment will be found in the Industrial Depart- ment. He was a devoted Union man during the war, and was a Corporal of the Forty- third Pennsylvania Militia, Company C. He was on duty during July, 1863, when Lee in- vaded that State. In Delaware he has not been known as a politician, but is an uncom- promising Republican, and warmly interested in the success of his party. In 1877 he was nominated and elected a member of the Town Council of Dover for two years. He served his term very acceptably to the people, and was re-elected and made chairman of thel sides in Richmond, Ind .; and Jefferis, who

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died in California, unmarried. Mr. Wilson lost | family now numbered seven. At the end of his wife in 1821, and in 1823, was married to Mary Poole, daughter of William Poole, of Brandywine Mills, and a sister of J. Morton Poole, a prominent citizen of Wilmington. The three children of this marriage were : Sarah, wife of Jeremiah Meek, of Richmond, Ind ; William, an officer and brave soldier in the late war ; he lost a leg at Gettysburg, and such was his character, prominence and popu- larity, that on his return to Richmond, he was elected City Treasurer, in which position he was continued till his death, February 15, 1880; and Henry, a successful farmer near Richmond, Ind. Mr. Wilson died in August, 1870, at the advanced age of eighty-three years.

EAN, WILLIAM, Treasurer of the Dean Woolen Company, Newark, was born May 10, 1820, in Blockley town- ship, Philadelphia county, Pa., the only son of Joseph and Deborah (Hansel)

Dean. His mother died the year succeeding his birth. His father trained him from a very early age to a knowledge of his business, and to habits of industry and economy. He was so full of life and play that school was little to his taste, and he attended only at intervals. On New Year's day, 1836, his father placed him permanently in his woolen mill and he has from that time been engaged in this business. Under the careful oversight of his father, and his kind and excellent step mother, the exub- erant spirits of his boyhood were gradually transformed to the remarkable business energy and enterprise that has marked his maturer years. When only twenty years of age he married Margaret, daughter of Thomas Asp- den, and now applied to his father for wages on which to live. He was allowed $4.50 a week, the sum being increased fifty cents each year till it reached six dollars per week. The young couple however had youth and health and each other, and always reckoned these as the happiest days of their lives. In 1845, a greater water-power having become necessary for his business, Mr. Joseph Dean removed to Newark, Del., and in February, 1847, took his son into partnership, the firm assuming the name of Joseph Dean and Son. Each partner agreed to take out from the business but five dollars per week, though the son's

a year not a dollar of debt had been incur- red. The profits of the business during that time were $121 to each, and Mr. William Dean at once brought his share to his brave wife. After this the business went on prosperously for ten years, his family increased to eight persons, and a sufficient sum had been ac- cumulated to make them independent. Then came the financial troubles of 1857, and the savings of both father and son were swept away. To the former, now declining in years, this was a severe blow, and he never fully recovered from it. However, the mill, ma- chinery, and some stock were still left, and after a year or two Mr. Dean persuaded his father to let him begin again, which he did, with success. After the death of his father, in 1861, he took into partnership Mr. John Pil- ling, who had been with them in the business for the ten years preceding. The firm, how- ever, continued the old name of Joseph Dean and Son. An account of its progress since, and of their wonderful success, will be found in the Industrial Department. Mr. Dean has been an efficient promoter of, and has contributed largely to, the building of the Pennsylvania and Delaware railroad, and has been, for many years a member of its board of direc- tors. He was the principal founder of the order of Patrons of Husbandry in Delaware, and was Master of Newark Grange for five years, also Chairman of the State Executive Committee. He is a hard and earnest worker in whatever he undertakes, and has done much to benefit his county and State. He gives freely of his means for the improve- ment of his neighborhood, is a friend of educa- tion and a trustee of Delaware State Agricul- tural College. He is an original thinker, and a strong and voluminous writer on a great variety of subjects. His highly descriptive and entertaining correspondence with the Every Evening, of Wilmington, during his visit to Europe, in 1881, was read and noticed all over the State. In politics he has always been an Anti-tariff Democrat; as such, was, in 1869, elected to the Legislature, in which he took a leading part, and was made Chair- man of the Committee of Ways and Means. The success of his management was shown in the rise of State bonds from seventy-five cents to par, within a year after the pas-

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Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 22

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

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