Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 4

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Publication date: 1972
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 776

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early manhood. and married soon after his arrival. He purchased of James Parker, the original patentee, a tract of land known as "Parker's Island," and afterwards added to the original purchase other tracts of land till he owned over one thousand acres. This land was situated in Mispillion hundred, two and a half miles, southeast of Farmington, and has been the home of the family ever since. Part of it is now in the possession of Mr. John- son. He attended only the public schools, but acquired a good education under the teaching of his parents, who were both well educated and kept their home well supplied with the best books and periodicals of that day. Mr. Johnson's taste was for farming and he has been devoted to agriculture all his life. His father died when he was only sixteen years of age, and the care of the farm from that time devolved principally upon him. He remained several years with his mother. In 1850 he purchased an adjoining tract of one hundred and twenty-five acres, on which he built the large and commodious residence he has since occupied, with the extensive outbuildings. He has also added at other times to his original inheritance, till he now owns over eleven hun- dred acres in a body. A portion of the land was low and marshy and was considered of small value, but by ditching and under- draining Mr. Johnson has reclaimed it and made it very valuable and productive. He has not invested largely in fruit, having now only about two thousand peach trees, He has a fine apple orchard, but his lands are devoted to grain, stock and hay. For wheat and corn they are unsurpassed in the State, but Mr. Johnson's specialty is hay, of which he is one of the largest and most successful growers in the county. As an agriculturist he stands among the first in the State and deserves especial credit as the pioneer in redeeming the low lands and making them valuable. Mr. Johnson has always been ac- tive in public affairs. As a Whig he was, dur- ing the existence of that party, very influen- tial in Kent county. In 1838 he received a commission from Gov. Comegys as Justice

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though only thirty years of age, he was nom- | The grandparents of Joseph Ridgaway, were inated for the important office of Sheriff of William and Sarah Ridgaway of Talbot Kent county, and elected for two years ; which county, and his father, James Ridgaway, was office he filled with ability, giving general born March 2, 1753. Besides the subject of satisfaction. On the demise of the Whig party this sketch, Joseph Ridgaway had three he refused to affiliate with the Know Nothing children, only one of whom grew to maturity ; movement, and has since acted with the Dem- Elizabeth, who became. Mrs. William Brown, ocratic party. In 1858 he was elected by that and died, May 3, 1845, leaving one child, Sarah party to the State Senate and served with Elizabeth, wife of John B. Satterfield. William credit in the sessions of 1859, 1860 and 1861. Henry Ridgaway was trained to the usual Since that time he has not been in political labors of the farm, attending school in the life. Mr. Johnson was one of the original friends of the Delaware Railroad, and with the winter season until he had reached the age of seventeen, when for a year and a half he at- supporters of that enterprise labored indefati- tended at Pennington, N. J., the Academy of gably to secure the building of the road. He the Annual Conference of that State. In 1844 took a considerable amount of stock, and was he went West and engaged in business in elected a member of the first board of Direc- Indiana, for eighteen months, when, having tors, a position which he has held uninterrupted- laid up a few hundred dollars, he returned and ly to the present time. He was married June 10, entered Dickinson College, in the fall of 1848. It was the great desire of his heart to take a 1847, to Miss Williamina, daughter of Hon. Henry M. Ridgely, and has three children full course in that Institution, but the death of living ; Henry Ridgely Johnson, a lawyer by his father, in 1851, leaving him the only one to profession, residing in Dover: Nicholas Ridgely |take charge of the estate, compelled him to Johnson and Annie DuPont Johnson. Mrs. leave college in his junior year. He then un- dertook the settling up of his father's affairs, and from that time devoted himself to farm- Johnson died June 25, 1859. Mr. Johnson again married February 26, 1868 ; the lady being Lizzie E., daughter of W. N. W., and ing. Mr. Ridgaway was one of the first men Elizabeth (Cropper) Dorsey, of Milford. By this marriage he has one child, Elizabeth.

in Kent county to discover the advantages of fruit raising, and in 1853 commenced the cul- tivation of peaches, in which he was very suc- cessful, becoming one of the pioneer fruit growers of the State, and is one of its most holders in the Dover River Steamboat Com-

IDGAWAY, WM. HENRY, President of the Farmers' Fruit Preserving Com- pany, Wyoming, Kent county, was born prosperous farmers. He was one of the stock- in that county, April 8, 1824. His father, Joseph Ridgaway, was born in Talbot pany, which ran a steamboat from Barker's county, Md., January 25, 1786. He was a far- !Landing to Philadelphia; but this company mer,and about the year 1814 removed to Kent |failed and his stock was lost. He took twenty county, Delaware, where on the 22nd, of Feb- | five scholarships in Dickinson College, and also ruary 1816, he married Miss Sarah A., daugh- a one hundred and fifty dollar share in the ter of Jonathan and Sarah (Brown) Lowber. Wyoming Institute, a regularly incorporated The ancestors of the Lowber family came | college. His landed estate consists of 877 acres of the best land, besides village property, bank stock, mortgages, &c. In January, 1876, Mr. Ridgaway was elected President of the Farmers' Fruit Preserving Company, and fills this position with great efficiency. He is most

with the early Dutch settlers, and patented Amsterdam Farm, in North Murderkill hun- dred, in Kent county, about four miles from Camden, before the conquest of the colony by the English. The Ridgaways were also an ancient family, descended from the nobility of highly regarded and esteemed in his business England, and their coat of arms is still pre- served in Philadelphia. Three brothers came

capacity, as well as in all the relations of life. He is an ardent patriot, a staunch Union man to this country among the earliest settlers, and Republican, and voted for Lincoln at both one of whom settled in New Jersey, one in elections. He joined in 1846, the M. E. Church, Pennsylvania, and one in Maryland, in all of of which he has ever since been a prominent which States they have numerous descendants. and useful member, and in which he has filled

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the offices of treasurer, steward, and class- to Margaret Muir of Dorchester county; to them leader. He was married, July 29, 1852, to Miss Mary M., daughter of Rev Levin Pretty- man of the Philadelphia Annual Conference, and has four children; Mary, now Mrs. A. P. Lasher, Principal of Pennington Institute, N. J .; Charles Bascom, A. M., a graduate of Dickin- son College, and a lawyer in Atchison, Kansas; Wilbur Joseph, and Annie Clara, who are still at home with their parents.

HOEBUS, GEORGE ALFRED, D. D., was, born January 4, 1830 in Somerset Co., Md. His ancestors were of English descent, and among the earliest settlers of the county. George Phoebus, the head of the house in America, was a young man and unmarried when he immigrated : In 1678, he was married to Ann Smith by Capt. Thomas Haller. After her death he was mar- ried to Mary Jones. He had four sons and two daughters, and died at a very advanced age in 1747. John Phoebus. his youngest son, born in 1717, was married in 1750, to Anna Muir, of a Scotch family that had settled, partly in Som- erset, and partly in Dorchester counties, Md. To these were born seven children, as follows : Rev. William Phoebus M. D., born in 1754; Mary, 1756; Henry, 1758; John, 1762 ; James, 1767; Lewis, 1770; Thomas, 1777. Of these, William entered into the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1783, and be- came an honored, wise, and venerated minis- ter, distinguished for his piety, varied learning, and unswerving integrity. He also studied, and, after graduation, practiced medicine in the city of New York. He was the first active Methodist Preacher from Somerset county. He died at his residence in New York, in November, 1831. Lewis Phoebus lived an up- right,exemplary life, dying in the 73rd year of his age. Thomas died in New Orleans, of yel- low fever, in 1812. The father of these, John Phoebus, opened his house to the Methodists, and for several years it was an established place for public worship ; his hands ministered to the necessities of the first Methodist preacher that died in America, and from his house to the family burial ground, was conveyed the remains of the Rev. William Wright. He himself lived till near the close of the last century. At his death his homestead went into the possession of his son John. The latter was married in 1793,

were born, Thomas, in 1795; James, 1797; John, 1799 ; Sarah, 1802 ; William B, 1804; Eliza- beth, 1806; and Dorington Glover, 1809. In 1816, the father, mother, and two of the children were cut down by an epidemic which was wide- spread and almost devastated various sections of the Peninsula. John Phoebus continued to follow the example of his father in enter- taining the Methodists, until finding their number increasing, he built for and gave to them a chapel with the land whereon it stood. In this work he was aided by his brother Lewis, who, notwithstanding he had a very large family, kept also an open house for the weary itinerant. Both brothers were blessed in their posterity, Lewes being the father of Harrison Phoebus, the owner and proprietor of the popu- lar hotel at Old Point Comfort, Virginia. James Phoebus, the son of John, was prominent in his native county, possessed of a clear mind and vigorous intellect, together with moral qualities that gave both grace and power to his character. He spent nearly one third of his life in public service. In politics he was a Whig, and afterwards a Republican. At the time of the breaking out of the Rebellion, in 1861, he was the owner of a large number of slaves. His servant men enlisted in the Union army, and he himself went with them to the recruiting offices to be assured that they were properly enlisted; the women with their chil- dren were provided with homes by him when they were all made free by the emancipation proclamation, while two motherless children were legally taken charge of by him, and protected within his own family, until one, an invalid, passed away, and the other was grown. He was a friend of the poor, a counselor for his community, an advocate of temperance, a christian of purity of character, and holiness of heart. He was twice married; first to Eliza Howard, who died early in life, leaving an only son, William Jas. Howard, who also died in early life. In 1829 he was married to Ann Willing. By this marriage the male and female branches of the family were re-united, Ann (Willing) Phoebus, being descended from Mary Willing, daughter of Nancy Ross, daughter of Mary Walton, daugh- ter of Alice Ellen Spicer, daughter of George Phoebus. By this marriage came George A. Phoebus, whose name is given at the head of

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this sketch. There were eleven. children as | Guernseys, and was settled in Kent county, Md. the fruit of this second marriage, four of whom The order of descent in America is as follows : Elijah Massey, born in 1732, Benjamin, his son, 1767, James Augustus, his son, 1808, Virginia Caroline, his daughter, 1837. Dr. Phoebus has, by his marriage, a companion whose culture and intellectual qualities are of a high order, and who is known and respected for her liter- ary productions. They have a large family of children, who are trained almost entirely by. their parents' instruction. have died. The father closed his useful and honorable life in 1868. The early life of Dr. Phoebus was pleasant. His parents, being strict but liberal christians, gave all possible care to his culture in childhood. He was given free access to books, and to the schools of his native county. In these he was prepared for college and entered Dickinson College in 1848, spending two years. At the termination of his college life he taught school until yielding to the convictions of his mind, he entered the itinerant ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1853, being connected with the Phil- adelphia Annual Conference. His ministerial life has been spent mostly on the peninsula, and nearly one-half in the State of Delaware. He is known in the church as a bold and orig- inal thinker, with a mind patient in investiga- tion, and earnest in the enunciation of Gospel truths. He is an ardent supporter of the cause of education, and being himself a life-long student, takes high grounds on this subject. He is connected with various Boards in his church, and being versed in her ecclesiastical history, occupies the highly responsible posi- tion of defender of her usages. He is a Metho- dist of the Asburyan type, holding that epis- copacy is a third order in the church, differing from presbytery, not in degree, but in the power and quality of ecumenical superintend- ence ; that. therefore,no man should take upon him this office, unless he be called thereto of God; that consecration to office in the church, while it is both wise and in conformity with ecclesiastical usage, is merely conventional, and imparts no inward quality or qualification. Dr. Phoebus has been honored not only by his own church, but by the sister denominations, it being a principle of his life to commend what- ever is good in all. In 1873, the honorary de- gree of A. M. was conferred upon him by the trustees and faculty of Dickinson College, and almost at the same time that of D. D. by the Delaware College. He is much engaged in literary work, and besides the publication of addresses, sermons, and essays, other and more imposing work may early appear from his pen. In 1856, he was married to Virginia Caroline Massey, second daughter of the Rev. Jas. A. Massey. The Massey family came to this country from the Island of Jersey, one of the

CLEAR, HENRY CLAY, of the firm of McLear & Kendall, Carriage Build- ers, Wilmington, was born in that city, November 20, 1838. His parents were John and Elizabeth (Bush) Mc- Lear. John McLear was a dry goods mer- chant in the above city, but late in life went into the banking and brokerage business. He was a man of upright and positive charac- ter, and exerted a wide influence. In the Whig party he was a leading member, working earnestly for its success .. He was a regular at- tendent and supporter of the Presbyterian Church. His wife died at the age of forty-five, but Mr. McLear lived to reach his seventy- seventh year, his death occurring in 1874. The names of their six children were, Anna Bush, who died in 1872 at the age of forty-three ; John Patterson, of the Wilmington Mills Manufac- turing Company; Samuel Bush of the D. K. Miller Lock Company, Philadelphia ; Henry, Clay, and Elizabeth Bush McLear; one son died in infancy. Henry C. McLear received his education at Professor Hyatt's Institute in Wilmington, and at the age of fourteen, by his own desire, was apprenticed to the car- riage trimming business with Henry Pretzch- ner, with whom he served four years. He then worked as a journeymen till 1863, when he formed a partnership with Mr. P. L. Allen, for the manufacture of carriages ; the firm bearing the name of Allen & McLear. This was dissolved after one year, and he then formed his present partnership with Mr. Cas- per Kendall, under the firm name of McLear & Kendall. They purchased of Mr. John Mer- rick, first the factory at the corner of Second and French streets, and in 1866, of the same gentleman, the works he had erected the previ- ous year at the corner of King and Ninth streets. These were then the largest works of that kind

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in the United States, and the firm has contin- Enoch Lewis' (Friends) school for three years. ued since, with great enterprise and success. In May, 1882, their factory was destroyed by fire. Their stock of finished coaches and carriages burned was very large, as also many that were under way, representing, with the building, machinery, tools and materials, a loss of nearly $65,000. With characteristic energy and en- terprise the firm at once rebuilt their works, running their building up four stories high, the last story being finished with a mansard roof and the new machinery being of the latest and most improved kinds By September 1, 1882, they were in full operation with an increased force of the most skilled workmen in every department. Mr. McLear has been one of the leaders and managers of the Republican party for several years. He was chairman of the city Republican committee in 1879 and 1880. It is admitted that to his efforts and management it was largely due that the city of Wilmington gave President Garfield a ma- jority. Mr. McLear is a strong worker but has never allowed himself to be a candidate for office. He was made a Mason in 1863, and is a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight Tem- plar. He is a member of the West Presby- terian church, and has been chairman of the Board of Trustees since the organization of the church in 1868. He was married in 1865 to Miss Martha J., daughter of John G. and Mary C. (Culbert) Yates, of Wilmington. They have four children living ; Walter, Mal- colm, Anna Bush and Martha McLear.

UMMINS, GEORGE WILSON, Presi- dent of the Kent County Mutual Insur- ance Company, retired merchant, and farmer of Smyrna, was born in that town, January 18, 1809. His father was John Cummins, for many years a leading merchant of that town, a man of great industry, business capacity and integrity, and was, at the time of his death, perhaps, the largest land owner in Kent county. He died in July, 1833. His mother was Susan H., daughter of William Wilson of Kent county, Maryland. She was an estimable woman, and died in 1845. George W. was the eldest son and second child, and attended school first in Smyrna Academy, an institution which his father contributed largely to build and support. At thirteen years of age he went to Wilmington and attended

When sixteen years of age his father put him in his store to perform the duty of store-boy and clerk. Merchandizing at that time, in Smyrna, comprised. in the case of John Cum- mins, the ownership of vessels trading from Duck Creek to Wilmington, Philadelphia and New York. These vessels brought goods to Smyrna for most of the merchants on the peninsula, and were then distributed in Mr. Cummins' wagons, in Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. George was put by his father under the charge of the chief clerk ; instructed implicitly to obey him, and attend to every duty without failing in any particular. He remained in the store of his father, as clerk, until 1830, when he was taken into partner- ship. At that day merchants in Smyrna bought staves, bark, wood, grain, and a variety of products of this class. which were sent to Wilmington and other cities. The larger staves finding their way to the West Indies to be used for sugar hogsheads ; also, quercitron bark, after being ground, was exported to be used as a dye. In March, 1834, after the death of his father, the business was conducted by himself and brother, the firm being known as George W. Cummins and Brother, afterward as Cum- mins & Brother, and they also continued in the vessel business until the firm was dissolved; their larger vessels carrying grain to Boston and Providence, as well as to New York Mr. Cummins, after this, being in business by him- self from 1856 to 1859, dealt largely in the grain and vessel business, when he sold out to Col. Edwin Wilmer. Mr. Cummins has for many years been a large landowner and has given much attention to agricultural pursuits, in connection with his various other engagements. He is the owner of about 2500 acres of very valuable land in Kent county. He resides on "Woodlawn," situated one mile south of Smyrna. It consists of over 200 acres. He has on it 8500 peach trees, 1500 pear, 150 quince, and 200 apple trees. When he took this farm it was very poor ; 30 acres in corn, giving only a rent of a few bushels of "nub- bins" or short corn. It is now in a high state of cultivation. Mr. Cummins was a member of the Delaware Legislature in the session of 1856 and 1857, having been elected to that body on the Democratic ticket ; making a good representative for one who has always had a

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decided distaste for political position ; and since this period has always refused to allow his name to be used on a party ticket. He was for many years a director of the Bank of Smyrna, and is now the occupant of that posi- tion in the Farmers Bank, at Dover. From : Mr. Williamson, who has ever since conducted an early period after its organization, he was it with uninterrupted success. He has always one of the directors of the Kent County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and since 1868, has been President of that popular and well-managed corporation. He is a member of the vestry of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Smyrna, having occupied that posi- tion for over thirty years. The late Bishop Cummins, of the Reformed P. E Church, was a cousin, and the subject of this sketch was named for the Bishop's father. Mr. Cummins was married, June 6, 1837, to Miss Evelina M., daughter of William and Ann Denny, of Kent county, Maryland. Mrs. Ann Denny died in 1881, at the advanced age 104 years, and to the last retained the possession of her mental and physical faculties to a remarkable extent. The children of George W. Cummins, who still survive, are George W., of Smyrna, Walter, attorney-at-law, Wilmington, Sarah A., and Louisa A. Cummins.

ILLIAMSON, HON. JOHN F., Mer- chant, Newark, was born in Cecil county, Md., March 5, 1818. His father, John Williamson, of Scotch descent, was a farmer and miller. He was a class- leader in the Methodist church, and his house the home of the early itinerant ministers. His wife was Sarah, daughter of Robert Arm- strong, of that county. They had eight chil- dren, of whom John Fletcher, was the sixth. Mr. Williamson died in 1847, at the age of seventy-three. His wife died in 1842, in the sixty-third year of her age. Both families were among the early settlers of Cecil county. Mr. Williamson's early education was limited to an attendance upon the common schools of his neighborhood till he was twelve years of age. He was then employed on the farm and in the mill till seventeen, when he left home, his father having lost his property by endors- ing for others. He worked in a grist and saw mill till 1842, applying most of his wages to the support of his father's family. At that time he became a clerk in the store of John Miller

at Newark, Del. In 1846 he formed a partner- ship with his employer under the firm name of Williamson & Miller, which continued to do a prosperous business till 1855, when the whole business passed by purchase into the hands of

taken a deep interest in public affairs, and has often served as school commissioner, school trustee, and town commissioner. In 1860 he was elected to the House of Delegates (on the Bell and Everett ticket) for two years, serving as speaker of that body. In 1862 he was elected to the State Senate on the Republican ticket, and was the nominee for speaker. He was a useful and leading member, exerting his utmost endeavors to secure legislation favor- able to the Union cause, with which he was prominently identified from the beginning of hostilities. He was in the seventh Delaware Infantry, serving as commissary sergeant of that regiment, until the expiration of its period of enlistment. He has been frequently urged by the leaders of the Republican party to allow his name to be placed upon the ticket as candidate for Governor, but has always de- clined the honor. Mr. Williamson joined the M. E. church in 1842, and has been a prominent member and office-bearer. In 1843 he organ- ized the Sunday School of his church, and for thirty-five consecutive years served as its super- intendent. He was, in 1872, the President of the first Lay Conference held in Wilmington, and was elected an alternate on the list of delegates of that year, to the General Conference. In 1876 the Lay Conference elected him a dele- gate to the General Conference which met that year in Baltimore. He was licensed as a local preacher in 1878. He was married August 27, 1847, to Margaret, daughter of William Reynolds, of New Castle county. They have four surviving children : John M., a lawyer in Philadelphia, and a graduate of Dickinson College ; Alexander F., associated in business with his father ; Kate A. and Maggie R. Williamson. The above simple narrative of the labors and positions held by Mr. Williamson needs no words of praise to speak his worth as a man and a christian, and the high respect and confidence in which he is held by his fellow citizens. He is of large stature, dignified bearing, and has a frank and honest countenance.

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Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 4

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

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