Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 26

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Publication date: 1972
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Number of Pages: 776

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for building purposes in the borough, and its and afterwards was elected by the stockhold- beauty and prosperity have been greatly ad- ers. During the four years since its organiza- vanced. Since 1864 he has been a director of tion he has beenla a member of the Board of the Kent County Mutual Fire Insurance Co. In Education of Dover. He was made a Mason politics he has always been a conservative in 1860 in the Dover Lodge No. 7, A. Y. M. Since 1859 he has been a vestryman of Christ's Church, Protestant Episcopal. Mr. Ridgely was married, June 22, 1859, to Miss Elizabeth F., daughter of William H. J. Comegys, of Dover, and has four children ; Harriet M., Edward Du Pont, Sarah Banning, and Henry Ridgely. Mr. Ridgely is a man of the highest character and ability, and one of the most em- inent lawyers and jurists of the State.

Democrat with, however, a great distaste for political life and position. Though repeatedly urged he would never accept the nomination for the gubernatorial office, yet where patri- otism or duty demanded he has not hesitated to serve his State and country. He was in 1856 a delegate to the National Convention in Cincin- nati, which nominated James Buchanan for the Presidency, and was appointed by the Legisla- ture a member of the Peace Congress of 1861. He has for many years been a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in which he fills the office of vestryman. He was married in November, 1843, to Miss Virginia E., daughter of Jonathan Jenkins, prominent in the Society of Friends, and a well known and honored citizen of Kent county. Of the four children of this marriage only one survives ; Ruth Anna, wife of Richard Harrington, law- yer, of Dover, and son ofthe late distinguished Chancellor Harrington.

RIDGELY, EDWARD, Attorney at Law, son of Hon. Henry M. and Sarah (Ban- ning) Ridgely, was born in Dover,where he now resides, Jan. 30, 1831. His early education was carefully conducted, and he was afterwards sent to St. Mary's College in Wilmington, graduating in 1850, at the age of nineteen. Commencing his legal studies in the office of Hon. M. W. Bates, he attended the Law School at Yale College for one year, and was admitted to practice in the spring of 1853, since which time he has been engaged in his native town in the active duties of his pro- fession. He has taken part in all the important cases in his county, and acting as Chancellor ad litem in a case involving a large amount of money; his decision was affirmed by the Court of Errors and Appeals, with a highly compli- mentary recognition of his learning and talents. It was his desire to avoid public office, but up- on his inauguration Gov. Burton appointed him Secretary of State, in which position he served with great credit to himself, and ad- vantage to the people. Since 1857 he has been a director of the Farmers Bank of Dover, having first been appointed a State director,

AVIS, ROBERT HENRY, Capitalist and ex-Treasurer of the State, was born in Cedar Creek hundred, Sussex county, March 23, 1824. He was the second son of Thomas Davis, of whom an ac- count is previously given. He passed his child- hood and youth on the "Gravel Ford" farm, attending the schools of the neighborhood until his fourteenth year, when he was sent to the Milford Academy, and later attended for one year the Academy at Milton. At the age of twenty-one he engaged in teaching, which he followed for four years, after which he re- turned to the farm on which he had passed his earlier life, and devoted himself to agriculture until 1871. He purchased another farm in ad- dition, and in 1860 set out about 2,000 peach trees. His venture being attended with great success, he gradually enlarged his orchard till he had 8,000 trees in full bearing. He also set out large numbers of pear trees, but with these he was not successful. Mr. Davis was reared in the faith of the old Whig party, with which he acted while it had an existence, after which he connected himself with the Democratic party. In 1866 he was elected to the Legislature ; making a most popular and efficient member. In 1871 he was elected by the Legislature to the office of Treasurer of the State, and unanimously re-elected in 1873. While in this office he earned a high reputation for his management of the public funds, greatly reducing the public debt, and he was the first treasurer who, after the war, was able to meet to any extent the liabilities incurred by that struggle. On assuming the duties of this position he re- tired from his farm and took up his residence

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in his present beautiful home in South Milford. | the convention and, after a sharp and ex- He married, January 10, 1850, Miss Anna J., citing contest with the supporters of John W. daughter of Hon. George Frame, a prominent Hall from Kent county, was unanimously nomi- citizen of Sussex county. Mr. and Mrs. Davis nated, and afterwards elected by one of the have had nine children, eight of whom are largest majorities ever given in the State. He living ; Hetty L., Thomas Davis, A. M., a proved loyal to the trust reposed in him and dis- graduate of Delaware College, and a lawyer in Wilmington ; George Frame, also a graduate of the same college ; Annie J., a graduate of St. Mary's Hall, Burlington, N. J .; Mary E. ; Nathaniel W .; Theresa O., deceased ; Robert P., and Cora B. Davis.

charged the duties of his high office with dig- nity, ability and courage. Especially in the exer- cise of the pardoning power he displayed unus- ual firmness and courage, and in his appoint- ments to office, faithfully adhered to his inau- gural pledge to select "only honest, capable and zealous public servants." As a citizen of New Castle county, he believed that his county was entitled to an increase of legislative represen- tation more in accord with its population and resources, and strongly presented and urged her claims. As an opponent of railroad sub- sidies he resolutely and successfully combatted all schemes to augment the State indebted- ness, imperil the State credit, and overtax the people by further loans in behalf of such pro- jects. At all times he exerted his influence in favor of retrenchment, but was at the same time progressive and public spirited. Several measures of great public benefit distinguished his administration, among them the present improved public school system, a great reduc- tion of taxation, and the payment, notwith- standing, of more than one-fourth of the State indebtedness. His long business career and social prominence made him generally ac- quainted with the people and their varied in- terests, and also endowed him with a ripe ' experience and trained judgment, that made his administration most useful and popular. Ex-Governor Cochran is a man of fine per- sonal appearance, dignified presence and affable manner. He has been twice married, and has

OCHRAN, JOHN P., ex-Governor of Delaware, was born in Appoquinimink hundred, February 7, 1809. He is of Scotch-Irish lineage, his ancestors hav- ing settled first in Maryland, from whence they removed to Delaware. He was brought up to the labors of the farm with but limited opportunities of education, and from his seventeenth to his twenty-sixth year was en- gaged in mercantile pursuits. He then re- turned to farming, in which he has been very successful. The patrimony he inherited was very moderate, but by industry, energy and marked business ability, he has become one of the largest land holders and one of the most prominent agriculturists in the State. He was always an ardent Democrat and active in politics. For two terms, from 1838 to 1846, he was a member of the Levy Court of New Castle county. His name had often been prominently mentioned for the office of Governor, but it was not until 1874 that he consented to be a candidate. The campaign of this year was exceptional, and excited more than usual interest. A Centennial Governor was to be elected ! and New Castle claimed the right and honor several children, leading agriculturists of his of furnishing the nominee. For nearly forty neighborhood, near Middletown, in the midst of their large and influential family connection, and in the centre of the most prosperous and flourishing agricultural and peach growing district in Delaware. years no New Castle candidate had been Gov- ernor of the State. Moreover the nomination of Horace Greeley in 1872, had proved-disas- trous to the Democratic party of Delaware, and had given the presidential election of that year to the Republicans, for the first time EWTON, ALBERT O., Retired Mer- and Farmer of St. George's, was born in Alexandria, Va., October 26, 1805. His parents were William Newton, of the firm of Ricketts and Newton, mer- since the war. It was felt that only the best nominations could retrieve the fortunes of the party, and it was conceded that either Victor DuPont, of Wilmington, or John P. Cochran, of Middletown, must be the nominee. The for- chants of the above city, and Jane Barr mer declining, Mr. Cochran was presented to (Stewart) Newton, daughter of William

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Stewart of New Castle county, Del. Wil- | Lincoln, was an intimate and particular friend liam Stewart lived on the farm now occupied by Thomas Bird in Red Lion hundred. The other sons of Mr. and Mrs. William Newton were Commodore John Thomas Newton, Lieu- tenant Edwin Barr Newton, Lieutenant Henry C. Newton of the United States Navy, Cap- tain William Stuart Newton, of the United States Army, Hon. Thomas Willoughby New- ton, the first Whig ever elected to Con- gress from the State of Arkansas, Fenwick A. Newton of Kentucky, and J. Monroe New- ton, the only surviving brother of the subject of our sketch, now a retired merchant and resident of the city of Baltimore. Mr. Albert O. Newton well remembers many of the events of the last war with England, the stealing by the British of large quantities of flour and tobacco from his father and other merchants of Alexandria, and he also witnessed the burn- ing of the Capitol at Washington city by the English troops in 1814. After the death of his parents he came, at the age of thirteen, to reside in Delaware with his uncle by marriage, the late Dr. James M. Sutton, at St. Georges. In 1822 he went to Matanzas, Cuba, where he entered as a clerk the counting house of Latt- ing, Adams & Stewart, in addition to which duties, he the same year, was appointed Vice Consul of the United States by the then Consul, Francis Adams ; holding this office until after the death of Mr. Adams and the appointment of his successor, Lewis Shoemaker of Phila- delphia. in 1827. About this time the late W. H. Aspinwall, then a clerk with G. G. and S. Howland of New York, made his first ad- venture as a shipping merchant, and sent to Mr. Newton's consignment, a small schooner laden with an assorted cargo, with orders to sell and reload the vessel with coffee and fruit, which was done satisfactorily, and afterwards Mr. Aspinwall becoming a partner of the firm of Howland and Aspinwall, the commercial in- tercouse continued until and after Mr. Newton became a partner of the Spanish firm of Louis Martinez & Co. of Havana and of Martinez, Sar- gent and Newton of Matanzas. After a stay of eleven years Mr. Newton left the Island of Cuba, and made his residence in Shelbyville Ky. with his brother Thomas W. Newton who had married the daughter of Ex-Governor Allen, of that State. At that time Miss Mary Tod, who afterwards became the wife of President

of the family. In 1834 Mr. Newton received the appointment of Secretary and Treasurer to the Lexington and Ohio Railroad Com- pany, which office he held till 1839, when he married Miss Julia Ann, daughter of William J. Hurlock, of St. George's, Del., and removed to Little Rock, Arkansas, as a partner in the firm of Bertrand & Co. After the death of his wife's mother, in 1840, they came to reside permanently in Delaware, and he engaged in farming till 1852. He was elected, in 1851, to the Legislature of the State, in the next ses- sion of which he was instrumental in the pas- sage of the Delaware railroad bill, as without his vote the bill would not have passed the House. In 1853 he engaged largely in mer- chandizing and in purchasing grain for George W. Cummins, of Smyrna. In 1870 he was again elected to the Legislature, in which as before, he served ably and faithfully. In 1875 at the solicitation of friends, he permitted the use of his name as a candidate for the office of Governor, but John P. Cochran proving the successful candidate, Mr. Newton zealously supported him and had the satisfaction of see- ing the ticket succeed against the opposing party. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. New- ton is William H. Newton, an attorney-at- law, in San Francisco, California.

OORE, REV. JACOB, was born in Sussex county Oct. 15, 1791. His father Elzey Moore, born Oct. 1750, had lived in that primitive agricultural community during the latter half of the last century. He bore towards his neighbors something of the patriarchal relation, both in his commanding and venerable appearance, and in the sturdy integrity and moral elevation, "which were his most striking characteristics. Elzey Moore had married Jemima Hearn, a woman of like character, though of delicate con- stitution. They had a family of eleven children, the oldest of whom was Jacob, the subject of this sketch. He was early converted and be- came a Methodist itinerant minister, in the days when thus to serve the Lord was to encounter toil and hardships of no common order. He was a thorough student, being in the habit of carrying books in his saddle-bags and studying as he traveled on horse-back. In this way he was said to have acquired a

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a thorough knowledge of the Greek language. | ing the residence of his father in New York, With a character moulded by the early train- ing of a pious home and chastened by the life of self-abnegation and sacrifice which was the lot of the Methodist ministers of that day,

he literally gave himself to the Lord. In

season and out of season, careless of the de- mands of health, indifferent to fatigue, he pur- sued his sacred calling, much of his time being spent in the saddle. The extent and hard- ship of such service can be inferred from the fact that at one time he was presiding elder of a district embracing all the western half of the State of New Jersey. Mr. Moore was a man of great personal piety and preached with great power. Some of his sermons pub- lished in the Methodist Magazine indicate that he was a robust thinker. At one time during

the session of Conference when his character came up to be passed, his independence of thought and expression was brought under

discussion but was held not sufficient to amount to heresy. The constant strain of such a life told upon a not robust constitution ; he died April 18, 1828 at the house of Hon. M. W. Bates whom he was visiting. Mr. Moore was married April 22, 1820, to Mary Jones, who died March 22, 1822, leaving one child, who, after the death of his father, was adopted by Hon. Martin W. Bates, and known as Daniel Moore Bates, afterwards Chancellor of Dela- ware. Mr. Moore subsequently married Anna M. Anderson, September 12, 1826, who had also one child, Edward Anderson Moore; who was a member of the bar at Chestertown, Md.

young Bayard entered the mercantile house of his brother-in-law, Mr. Schermerhorn, and applying himself to his duties with zeal and intelligence, laid the foundation of that sound and thorough knowledge of business, and that clear, practical grasp of all subjects connected with trade and finance, which have been so marked a feature in his career as a statesman. His business training was afterwards continued in the house of S. Morris Wain, in Philadelphia, where he remained until he reached the age of twenty. At this time the death of his elder and only brother drew him back to his par- ents in Delaware, where he entered upon the study of the law, and was admitted to the bar in 1851, assisting his father in his practice. His marked ability was early recognized, and

in 1853 he was appointed United States At- torney for Delaware, but resigned the office the following year and removed to Philadel- phia, where he associated himself in his legal practice with his friend, William Shippen. In

1858, Mr. Shippen dying, he returned to Wil- mington. Besides his regular professional business, he was selected by many of his nu- merous kindred for trusts, executorships, and the management of involved estates ; and in this way a great mass of business which he could not delegate to others, has been thrown upon him. During all his life he has been one of the hardest workers in any business or profession. In June, 1861, after the breaking out of the war, hopes being still entertained by many of a peaceful accom- dation, a peace meeting of citizens was held

AYARD, HON. THOMAS FRANCIS, at Dover. Mr. Bayard was one of the LL. D., United States Senator from speakers, and his speech, it was alleged by

Delaware, the second and only surviv- many, saved Delaware from secession. A

ing son of James Asheton and Anne strong Democrat, as was also his father, and (Francis) Bayard, was born in Wil- always muchinterested in political matters, he mington, October 29, 1828. An account of had scarcely taken any prominent part in his ancestry has already been given. His boy- them till his election to succeed his father in hood was spent in Delaware until he reached the Senate. On the 4th of March, 1869, the age of thirteen, when he went to the both father and son were Senators, the term of school of Rev Dr. Francis L. Hawks, at the latter beginning at noon of the day Flushing, Long Island. His father removed when that of the former expired. At once he to New York in 1843, as a wider field for the became one of the most active and laborious practice of his profession, and where also members of that body. He was on the side

he had a daughter married to August of the small conservative minority, who could Van Cortlandt Schermerhorn. This lady, do little in controlling legislation, but there however, dying, and Mr. Bayard's health be- was much effective work he could do on com- ginning to fail, he returned to Delaware. Dur- mittees; and on matters not of a party char-

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acter his voice was often heard with effect, as it always was with attention. His modera- tion, urbanity and dignity of manner, and his personal character won him general esteem and the respect of his opponents. In 1875 he was again elected to the Senate. In 1877 he received the honorary degree of LL. D. from Harvard College, and delivered an elo- quent address before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, of which he is an honorary mem- ber, the subject being "Unwritten Law." In the Senate, in 1880, he was Chairman of the Committee on Finance, and member of the Committee on the Judiciary. Returning, No- vember 11, 1879, from a visit to Europe, he was welcomed by his fellow citizens with a public reception which called together one of- the largest assemblages ever collected in Wil- mington. Men of all parties joined in welcom- ing him, aud in testifying their personal re- spect and their appreciation of his services to his country. He made a brief address, such as the occasion and circumstances might well excite, feelingly reverting to the fact that they were his fellow townsmen, and had known him from childhood, therefore this testimonial possessed a double value as an endorsement of his life and character. Mr. Bayard came before the country with great prominence as the probable Democratic candi- date, for President,in 1880. For many months previous to the nominating Convention, held at Cincinnati, in June of that year, his name was discussed in the journals of his party with so much favor that a very large portion of the Democracy throughout the whole country was very anxious for his nomination. He had the gratification of receiving in the con- vention, with that of several other of the States, the vote of his native commonwealth. He was married in October, 1856, to Louisa, daughter of Josiah Lee, a well known banker of Baltimore, and has three sons and six daughters living. In his family life he is ex- ceedingly plain and domestic, living in sum- mer in Wilmington, and in Washington in the winter. His summer home is a fine, old- fashioned mansion on the outskirts of Wil- mington, once the property of Col. S. B. Davis. A newspaper correspondent writes, "No one is more popular in Washington society than Mr. Bayard, and adding to his genial, manly qualities a thorough knowledge of French, he

is one of the most sought after of our public men at the dinners and receptions of the dip- lomatists who make their residence here. He lives, however, the life of a very simple repub- lican gentlemen, with good taste, and unos- tentatiously." He was again elected to the U. S. Senate in 1881, and is now serving his third term in that body.

OLK, WILLIAM, late of Odessa, was born in 1781, in Nanticoke hundred, Sussex county, and was the second son of John Polk, a farmer, whose wife was Amenia, daughter of John Hirst, of the same county. His father being in moderate cir - cumstances he received only limited school ad- vantages. After attaining his majority he kept a small grocery on the home farm, of which, also, he took charge, his father having removed to another place. While there, in 1809, he mar- ried Eliza, daughter of Purnell Tatman, and sister of Charles Tatman, President of the Odessa National Bank. The following year he kept a store in St. Georges, and in 1816, at Pigeon Run, where, also, he rented and worked a mill, and carried on a farm till 1816. He then bought a farm and kept a store for one year, at Oldtown near Chesapeake City, Cecil county, Md., and in 1817 removed to Cant- well's bridge, now Odessa, where he remained permanently. He carried on there a large mer- cantile business and became an extensive pur- chaser and shipper of grain and whatever else that section produced. As he increased in wealth, he purchased vessels for the transpor- tation of his products to market, bought ex- tensive tracts of land, and by good judgment, enterprise and prudence, amassed a handsome fortune. His wife died in 1816, at Old Town, Md., leaving three children ; Cyrus, Eliza, and Charles Tatman Polk. The daughter married Hon. John P. Cochran, afterwards Governor of the State. She died in 1859, leaving several

children. In December, 1825, Mr. Polk mar- ried Mrs Margaret, widow of John T. Cochran and daughter of Samuel Pennington of Odessa. Only one child of that marriage survived; Julia, now the wife of David J. Cummins, President of the Smyrna National Bank. Mr. Polk re- tired from business in 1839, and died, May 3, 1852. He was greatly esteemed as a man and a citizen.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

UKENS, ISAIAH, M. D., of Wil-| Rachel, daughter of John Murray, of his native . mington, is the eldest child of Joseph county. The only child of this marriage is now the wife of Dr. Samuel Wolverton, of Trenton, N. J. Losing his wife in 1854, he married, the following year, Miss Hannah Hutchings, of Virgil, Courtlandt county, N. Y., by whom he has five children. L. Lukens, a farmer of Montgomery county, Pa., who died in 1876, in his 90th year, and of Susanna, his wife, daugh- ter of Joshua Paul, of Bucks county, in the same State. She lived to her 76th year, and after their long married life they now rest to- gether in the Friends' burial ground in Hor- - sham, Montgomery county. They had six children, of whom only four are now living. The family were always Friends and emi- grated from Wales to the Colony of Pennsyl- vania early in its history. Dr. Lukens was educated in schools of his denomination in Burlington and Hatborough, and after com- mencing the study of medicine in his native county, attended three courses of Lectures in the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1848. He practiced his profession for a short time in Philadelphia, and for six years in Montgomery county, taking the place of his for- mer medical preceptor, Dr. G. Y. Jones, who had been elected to the Senate of the state. His health failing under his arduous labors he sought its restoration in travel, and visited all the West- ern States, after which he was for nearly two years engaged in practice in Cleveland, O. In 1855 he settled in Philadelphia. Always an enthusiast in his profession, to every branch of which he gave diligent attention, he became convinced in the course of his studies of the truth of homeopathy, and adopting its princi- ples in the above year, was made a professor in the Pennsylvania Medical University, in which for six years he was lecturer on minor surgery. In 1868 he had the misfortune to lose, by fire, his instruments, library and dwelling with its furniture, after which he removed to the out- skirts of Newport, Del., where he had a most pleasant place, twenty acres of land with handsome residence and out buildings. Here he was engaged in agriculture and an increas- ing practice till 1881, when he resigned his business there to his eldest son, Dr. Joseph Paul Lukens, and came to Wilmington, hop- ing to find a less laborious field. Dr. Lukens was very active in the old Whig party, and is now a pronounced Republican. He is a man of positive convictions, but very gentlemanly in their expression, always courteous and libe- ral toward those of opposite views on what- ever subject. He was married in 1841 to Miss

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Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 26

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

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