Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 23

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Publication date: 1972
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 776

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408

HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

sage of the Revenue law of 1869. In 1872 | has taken a large share of interest in the social, he was Chairman of the Democratic State Executive committee, but resigned the position on the momination of Horace Greenly to the Presidency and joined the straightout Demo- cratic movement. He was elected a delegate to the convention at Louisville which nomin- ated Charles O'Connor and Charles F. Adams for President and Vice-President, and by his efforts in the state, secured a Democratic ma- jority in the Legislature. Mr. Dean is generous and kind in his disposition and warm in his friendships. His devoted wife died, March 31, 1881, greatly regretted by all who knew her. She left two sons and four daughters.

-- moral and religious welfare of the community. He has for many years been known throughout the state as a prominent friend of temperance, and believes in total prohibition. In politics he is a pronounced Republican, and was one of the three electors from Delaware in 1872 which cast the electoral vote of the state for Gen Grant. Dr. Collins joined the Methodist Episcopal Church at the age of fourteen years, in 1844, and has served the Asbury M. E. Church, in official positions, for most of the time since. He was elected President of the Delaware State Medical Society in 1876, and delivered his inaugural address in 1877, before the So- ciety, at Lewes, on "The Primitive idea of Medicine," which was a learned and popular exposition of the ancient molecular theory of growth and development, expounded and main . tained by Professor Bennett, of Edinburg. He held this position for one year. In 1866 he was sent as a delegate by the State Medical Society to the American Medical Association, which convened in the city of Baltimore, in that year. Dr. Collins was united in marriage, March 9, 1858, to Miss Rachel M., daughter of Joseph Hoffecker, Esq., of Smyrna. The fol- lowing children survive of this marriage : E. Wilmer, Maurice, Bell, Nellie G., Mabel D. and Emily Hoffecker Collins.

OLLINS, WILLAM THOMAS, an eminent Physician, of Smyrna, was born at Milford, December 29, 1831. His father was Henderson Collins, Sr., who was a merchant of Milford for many years. He was a man who greatly served his neighbors by his general knowledge of the law, and his kind interest in their affairs. He died in his native town, June 14, 1872, at the age of 84 years. His wife was Rebecca M., daughter of Rev. Benjamin Yeo, a local min- ister of the M. E. Church. She died October, 1845. The Collins family were among the earliest settlers of Kent county, and are said to have been of Scotch-Irish extraction. The subject of this sketch was the ninth child and ATES, GEORGE H., Attorney at Law, Wilmington, was born at Dover, No- vember 19, 1845. His father was Chan- cellor, Daniel M. Bates, of whom, see sketch and portrait in this volume. The subject of this sketch received a sound prelimi- nary education at Wilmington, and in 1862, entered the Sophomore class of the Univer- sity of Penna. Not intending, at that time, to enter the profession, he left college at the end of his junior year, and went West, settling in Michigan, where he engaged in business. Af- ter remaining a short time in this locality, he was compelled, on account of impaired health, to change his plans and location. In 1866 he returned to Wilmington and commenced pre- paration for the bar, in the office of his father, and after attending a course at Harvard Law School, he was admitted to the practice of his profession at the April term of Court, in Kent county, 1869. He soon after opened an office fifth son of his parents. His school advantages were better than those of most boys. He at- tended the Milford Academy under the direc- tion of Rev. A. G. Marlett, late President of Irving Female College at Mechanics- burg, Pa. At the age of nineteen he en- tered the Grammar School, where he con- tinued one year, and in September, 1851, en- tered the Freshman class of Dickinson College, and after three years left that institution an advanced senior, and entered the office of Mark G. Lofland M. D., with whom he read medicine for one year. At the expiration of this time he entered the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, and graduated from that institution in 1857. He immediately en- tered upon the practice of his profession in Smyrna. From the beginning he was emi- · nently successful, and for twenty three years he has been continously engaged in a large and laborious practice. Doctor Collins,as a citizen, | in Wilmington, and was appointed Deputy

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BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

Attorney General by Attorney General Chas. B. Lore, during the same year, which position he filled until 1874. While acting in this ca- pacity he assisted in the prosecution of a num- ber of important criminal cases, notably among which may be mentioned the Delaware Bank Burglars, and the Doctor West case. During the year of 1879 he became the junior member of the firm of Harrington & Bates. This firm had a large and lucrative practice in all the courts of the State. After the death of Samuel M. Harrington, Esq., Austin Har- rington entered, the firm became Bates & Harrington, and the large practice has been successfully retained by the surviving mem- bers. Mr. Bates is held in high esteem both as a lawyer and a citizen. He is careful and painstaking in his preparation and manage- ment of cases. He is a man of superior nat- ural ability, o undoubted integrity, and his future may be regarded as certain. Mr. Bates is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and an earnest worker for the advance- ment of the same. He served as a member of the General Conventions of the Protestant Episcopal Church held in Boston in 1877 and 1880. In politics he acts with the Democratic party from principle, but is not a politician in the modern acceptance of the word. He is a firm believer in the doctrines of his party. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1880, and represented his State in the Committee on Resolutions. Mr. Bates was married, May 26, 1870, to Miss Elizabeth B., daughter of Hon. Charles Theodore Russell, a distinguished lawyer of the city of Boston. Two children have been born of this marriage: Charles Theodore Russell Bates, and Daniel Moore Bates.

a three years' course graduated in his twenty- first year, with the first honors of his class. He was distinguished in college for the preco- city of his intellect, while his amiable and social disposition made him- many friends. With the President, Eliphalett Nott, and his family,he was an especial favorite. Inanswer to inquiries from Judge Wootten whether his son possessed abilities for any profession that would insure him success in life, President Nott re- plied by letter that "Alfred would shine in any profession with ordinary application." Shortly after leaving college he entered the law office of ex-Vice President George M. Dallas, in Philadelphia. Here, also, he was a great favorite with his preceptor, who, on being appointed Minister to the Court of St. James, desired Mr. Wootten to accompany him. But he preferred to prosecute his studies without interruption, which he did in the office of Judge Thayer, in the same city, who was a nephew of Mr. Dallas. Mr. Wootten's inten- tion of opening an office in Philadelphia was overruled by the advice of his friends, and dis- tinguished gentlemen of the bench and bar, who thought a young man of his promise and acquirements should not leave his native State. He accordingly opened an office in Wilming- ton. His memory, like that of his father, was very tenacious ; he could remember the testi- mony in a case without the aid of manuscript. He was universally popular, both as a lawyer and in society, by which he was much sought, and made many friends. In September, 1861, he was appointed Attorney-General of Dela- ware, which high office he filled with distin- guished ability till his death, which occurred August 28, 1864. Mr. Wootten was married in March, 1859, to Miss Rhoda, daughter of Governor William Burton, M. D. They had but one child, Mary Robinson Wootten, who is still living.

OOTTEN, ALFRED P. R., Lawyer, and late Attorney General of the state of Delaware, was born in Georgetown, Sussex county, December 12, 1831. He OOPER, REV. IGNATIUS TAYLOR, A. M., D. D., was born in Dover, March 16, 1806. He was the second child of Judge Richard Cooper, (see) by his second marriage. He received his early education in the academies of Dover and Camden, and entered Washington College, Md., at the age of fifteen years. In 1825 he was the only child of Judge Edward Wootten, whose sketch is previously given. He early gave promise of unusual talent and his education was carefully conducted, first in the academy of his native town, then two years in a private school in Philadelphia, after which he spent two years in Delaware College. He then entered the Sophomore class of entered the law office of the late Chief Justice, Union College, Schenectady, N. Y. and after Thomas Clayton, as a student, and was ad-

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

ILLS, ISAAC N., Superintendent of the Delaware Division of the Phila- delphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, was born in Philadelphia county, September 13, 1836. His father, Matthew Mills, was a florist, who was born in England, but came to America when he was but a youth. He married Susan Mac- Millan, whose birth occurred in Scotland, but who was brought to this country when but a child. Of this marriage there were six chil- dren, five of whom grew to maturity, though Isaac N. is the only surviving son. Matthew Mills died in 1867 when in his fifty-eighth year ; his mother in 1867. His grandfather was of Scotch ancestry. He was, at twelve years of age, apprenticed to the trade of a printer. After working for five years in Phila- delphia he came to Newark and engaged as clerk in the store of J. W. Evans. Here he remained for four years, and in 1857 went back to the printing business and worked on the Cecil Whig, Elkton, Md. During this year, desirous of seeing at least a part of the West, he went to St. Louis, Mo., and worked at printing. In December he returned East and obtained a position in the employ of the Phil- adelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad as brakesman on a freight train. Here his ability and care soon made him known to those who could serve him, and from this humble post he has risen to that of Superintendent. Mr. Mills, in 1860, was appointed agent at the Perryville Station, and so satisfactory were his services to the company during his ten years of service at this place, that when the Dela- ware Division needed a general agent he, in the autumn of 1870, was elected to occupy that important position. In 1881 he was made Superintendent of the Delaware Division,

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mitted to the bar in 1828. Mr. Cooper at once | married, February 7, 1831, to Miss Mary T., opened an office in his native town, and from daughter of Seth and Lydia (Ward) Godwin, of Caroline county, Md. Dr. and Mrs. Cooper have had eight children, viz ; Angeline Louisa, who died in early life ; Richard Godwin, attor- torney at Law, New Castle ; Louisa, who died young ; Ezekiel Waugh, M. D., of Camden ; William Henry, M. D., of Kenton ; Ignatuis Taylor, Jr., attorney at law, of Dickson, Ala- bama ; Alexander Bradshaw, Deputy Attor- ney General of Delaware ; and Albert Seth, who died young. the beginning was eminently successful, being peculiarly well adapted to the requirements of the profession, both by natural endow- ments and by his training. In 1832 he was elected Clerk of the House of Dele- gates ; and the following year was elected a member of the same body. That was the first session under the new constitution, and much of the labor of harmonizing and adapting to it the whole legal system of the State, fell to his lot. He had joined the M. E. Church during the revival in Dover in 1831, and be- came at once an active and working member. As time passed on he felt a conviction that he was called to preach the gospel, and at the close of the spring term of the court in 1834, broke abruptly from the full tide of business, and leaving behind him the most flattering prospects, entered the itinerant ministry. The giving up of those bright wordly expecta- tions, and the choosing, at the call of duty, the humble, ill-paid and laborious work of the ministry, he has never regretted. His first appointment was on the Talbot circuit, his colleague being Rev. Joshua Humphriss. He at once attracted attention as an able and eloquent preacher, earnest and evangelical, and strong and logical in his style. He was stationed on the more important circuits, and in the larger towns of the Peninsula for several years; crowds everywhere attending on his preaching,and many hundreds being added to the church. In 1837, he was appointed by the Bishop to the Salem and St. Georges churches, Phila. Next he ministered to Wharton street and Nazareth churches. In 1848, he was made Presiding Elder of the South Philadel- phia district, reaching from that city to Mid- dletown, Penn., which office he ably and ac ceptably filled for three years, when, at the special request of the Nazareth church, he was returned to them as their pastor. In 1843, Delaware College conferred on him the hon- orary degree of Doctor of Divinity, and Wash- ington College, in 1844, the degree of Master of Arts. He continued in the active labors of the minisitry till 1860, since which time he has resided in Camden, Del., where, with his wife, he is enjoying a serene old age, and the pleasant recollections of a worthy life devoted to the welfare of his fellow men. He was

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John Pilling

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BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

which position he has most ably filled. Mr. Mills is widely known in Delaware and Mary- land, in political circles. In politics he is a de- cided Republican, and cast the first vote he was ever privileged togive, for Abraham Lin- coln as President. In 1861, upon the breaking out of the war of the rebellion, he was a de- voted Unionist, and during the ten years of his residence in Cecil county, Md., was a mem- ber of every Republican convention held in that county. In 1880 was chosen President of the Delaware State Convention, and by his fairness and ability earned the regards of the best men of that party in the State. Mr. Mills was also a member of the State Central Republican Committee, and was active and in- fluential. He is now a resident of Dover, hav- ing removed there in 1880. He was married, in 1858, to Miss Annie, daughter of William Miggett, of New Castle county, and there are four daughters living : Jeannette, Clara, Susan, and Alice Mills.

ILLING, JOHN, President of the Dean Woolen Company, Newark, was born at Chowbent, Lancashire, Eng., March 6, 1830. His parents, Richard and Su- san (Bradshaw) Pilling, are still living. His father, a silk weaver, was in limited cir- cumstances, and his son John was obliged to leave school before he was eight years of age, and afterwards, for many years, his teachers were the stern necessities of a life of toil. Be- fore his eleventh year he had served out a boys' apprenticeship at making sparables or shoe nails, a day's work being 4,000 at 6 cents per 1,000, one-half going to his employer for the use of the shop. In 1841 he came with his parents to America, settling in Philadel- phia, where both father and son worked in various woolen and cotton mills. The next year they came to Broadbent's carpet mill in Brandywine hundred, following him to Mill Creek hundred and remaining till 1845. They were employed in various mills till 1848, when they entered the mills of Joseph Dean & Son. John Pilling was then eighteen, and his wages $4 a week. After several years of faithful ser- vice, being advanced by slow stages to a salary of $10, he then relinquished his position, ac- cepting that of man of all work at $5 a week, as the only means by which he could learn all the details of the business. This step he con-

siders the turning point in his business life. In 1857 he became the superintendent of a de- partment in the mills of Robert Kershaw, in Philadelphia, which were soon stopped by the panic of that year. From 1858 to 1860 he managed the mills of Shaw & Armstrong in that city. He then returned to Newark and became the partner of William Dean, which continued till 1882, when they organized a stock company, with Mr. Pilling as President and Mr. Dean as Treasurer. A history of this industry will be found in this volume. This business, managed with great ability and pru- dence, has been very successful, and long since, Mr. Pilling has attained to wealth and honorable position. He is also President of the Kiamensi Woolen Company, located at Stanton In 1867 he made the tour of Eu- rope, visiting the most celebrated mills of England, Belgium, Holland and France, to in- form himself of the best methods and processes incident to their business, resulting on his re- turn in introducing great improvements into their works, and during the long period of de pression following the panic of 1873 their mills never stopped, except for repairs. In 1880 Mr. Pilling made a second visit to Eu- rope for his health, which had become im- paired by his long and close application to business. In politics he was originally a Democrat, but when the rebellion was thrust upon the country he joined the Republican party and, together with his partner, ardently supported the Union cause, the firm contribu- ting several thousand dollars to its success. Such is the high esteem in which he is held that he has been chosen to fill nearly every local office in the gift of the people. He soon became an honored and trusted Republican leader, and in 1866 and again in 1880, was elected a member of the Legislature, where his course was so honorable and marked by such good judgment as greatly to increase his reputation. He secured the passage of the bill giving additional aid to Delaware College ; the charter of the Pennsylvania and Delaware Railroad, and other important legislation. He has been again nominated for the Legislature in 1882. He has been for several years a di- rector of the First National Bank of Newark, and connected with nearly all the enterprises which have for their object the improvement of the town. He was married in 1851 to Eliz-

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

abeth B. Kelley. Their children were : Kate, | was, in 1871, elected county commissioner who died December 17, 1872 ; Isabella, wife of S. J. Wright, of Newark ; Susan Estella, and John Pilling, Jr. His wife died, Decem- ber 21, 1873, and October 4. 1877, he married Miss Ellen Glenn. This brief sketch shows that Mr. Pilling is a self-made man, indefatiga- ble, able and progressive ; but it does not re- veal the simplicity of his nature, the amiabil- ity of his disposition, or that scrupulous sense of honor and truth which are his striking char- acteristics. His ideas are broad, liberal and practical, gained in the school of real life and in sharp contact with the business world.

RIFFITH, ROBERT SHIELDS, Far- mer, of Kent county, Maryland, was born near Newark, August 13, 1828, and was the fifth son of Joseph and Agnes (Adams) Griffith. A sketch of the family will be found in this volume. Robert S. Griffith grew up on the farm, and at- tended what was called Jones' school house till he was fifteen years of age, when he spent two years at the celebrated school of Rev. AVIS, MARK HENRY, Fruit Grower for Evaporated Fruit, Milford, was born May 17, 1835, in Cedar Creek hundred. His father was John Campbell Davis, a miller and farmer of Sussex county. He was a member of the Levy Court and a lead- ing Whig. He died in 1841 after a short illness. While returning from a distant part of the country he stopped to hear the Rev. R. E. Kemp preach, and upon reaching home said to his family, that he wanted Mr. Kemp to preach at his funeral. In one week after this he died, and his funeral discourse was preached by Mr. Kemp. His mother was Keturah, daughter, of William Shockley. She was a Methodist and died in 1850. Mr. Davis in early life had no opportunities of education. The death of his father left him poor, and he had a hard battle in life from the beginning. There were no schools in that part of the country, and he worked upon the farm from the time he could work. At the age of twenty-one years he could scarcely write his own name, and his knowledge of reading and arithmetic was very limited. He found himself without Samuel Aaron, at Norristown, Pa. He then returned to the home-farm, where he lived and labored till 1851, when his father having purchased the farm known as "Rich Hill," at Sassafras, Kent county, Md., he removed thither and has since made it his home. The farm consists of 261 acres of highly im- proved and valuable land devoted to grain and fruit. Mr. Griffith has some of the finest wheat lands on the Peninsula. He has ten acres in peaches and eight acres in pears, but has been especially successful in small fruits, of which he has ten acres in full bearing. His varieties are the finest that reach the northern markets. He has also two and a half acres in asparagus. He is a first-class and successful farmer. The house on the farm is a large two-story brick building, erected in the most substantial manner about 1775, by Alexander Beard, who then owned the property. He brought the bricks from England, probably in his own vessel. The property was afterwards owned by Hon. Charles Thomas, Ex-Gov- ernor of Delaware, of whom Mr. Joseph Grif- fith made the purchase in 1840. The subject | means on a small farm; yet at twenty- of our sketch was, for many years, a member three years of age, married, and for a time contin- of the Democratic party, on which ticket he ; ued upon the farm. Finding success impossible

for two years, and again, in 1873, for the same length of time. He is now liberal in politics, and sustains those whom he regards as the best men. He has been, for twenty years, a member of the Methodist Protestant Church, in which, for the greater part of that time, he has filled the offices of steward, trustee and sabbath school superintendent. He was mar- ried, May 15, 1851, to Miss Mary M., daughter of Joseph and Eliza (Mayne) Middleton, of New Castle county. Joseph Middleton was a lineal descendant of Arthur Middleton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ- ence. Mr. and Mrs. Griffith have seven chil- dren : Elizabeth, wife of Saxe G. Clift ; Josephine, wife of Captain Andrew Woodall, of Georgetown, Kent county, Md .; Fannie, wife of Isaac Gibbs, a son of Benjamin Gibbs, whose record is in this volume ; Robert Mid- dleton, Charles, Harry and Joseph Thomas. Mr. Griffith is an enterprising man, an excel- lent citizen and highly respected.

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I. M. Rabbimio

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BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

he removed to the town of Milford, where he ' hundred. She is a lady well fitted to enable resided for one year in very straitened cir- her husband to achieve success in life in any cumstances. He went to Philadelphia in direction. They have three children living, 1861, and obtained a position in the commis- viz .: Frank Wilson, Eliza Gray, and Lulu Tate sion house of Rodman Carter, where he re- : Davis. mained one year. Here he obtained a good business education, and feels deeply indebted OBBINS, JAMES WASHINGTON, late of the firm of Richardson & Rob- bins, Dover, was the son of William Robbins, and born in Granville, Wash- ington county, N. Y., May 27, 1831. After receiving a good English education he learned the tin business, faithfully serving out an appreticeship of five years. He then came to Smyrna, Delaware, where he worked at his trade for four years, when he went to Dover in the employ of A. B. Richardson & Co., in the stove and tin business, for a year, when that firm was dissolved and the firm of Richardson & Robbins, was formed, which continued nine- teen years, and ended by the death of Mr. Robbins, June 27, 1876. Early in the history of this partnership the firm began the canning business in a small way, but in a short time it grew so rapidly under the thrifty management of the firm that the stove and tin business was discontinued, and all their energies were given to the canning business, a full history of which is given in this volume. As this interest grew, Mr. Robbins devoted himself largely to the outside business connected with the establish- ment, and most ably and successfully labored for its advancement and prosperity. He was a man of large views, and most active, energetic and industrious, besides possessing great practi- cal sense and superior judgment. He was affa- ble, kind, generous and charitable, and through these qualities made many friends, and was much beloved. His death was lamented by the entire community in which he lived, and to whose prosperity he had so largely and mate- rially contributed. to his employer there. For much of the year his salary was only four dollars per week. In August, 1861, by the advice and consent of his employer, he engaged in the business of buying up fruit and produce, and received for his part, one half the profits accruing there- from. His purchases for twenty-eight days amounted to $29,000, and his drafts were honored to any extent. Mr. Davis was now very successful, and by economy, had saved enough money to justify entrance upon busi- ness for himself ; he accordingly purchased the store of Fooks and Brother, Laurel, and engaged in the business of general merchan- dizing. He was not very successful as to his store, but he made money in buying fruit and produce. In 1868 he purchased a farm of 300 acres in Prime Hook Neck, upon which he planted an orchard of 8000 peach trees, and afterward shipped his fruit to markets in the North. He continued to do this until 1874, since which time he has evaporated all his fruit. In 1870 he disposed of his business in Laurel, and removed to Milford. In 1875, he purchased an additional farm of 100 acres, and in 1876, bought another at Jefferson's Cross Roads, upon which he set out large orchards, until now he has 14,000 trees growing. He has erected a large building for this business, capable of evaporating 600 baskets a day, and it takes from sixty to seventy hands to run his establishment during the season, which continues only six weeks Last season Mr. Davis paid out $1,800 for labor alone. He is the only native Delawarean who evaporates all his fruit, and he believes this the better method for turning the product of his orchards into money. As a business man Mr. Davis is possessed of more than usual ability, and as a citizen enjoys the confidence of the community in which he resides. He was appointed Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue for his district, and served with much credit in this position until the office was discontinued. Mr. Davis was united in marriage, January 6, 1858, to Miss Mary E., daughter of James M. Kane, of Cedar Creek

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Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 23

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

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