Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 8

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Publication date: 1972
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Number of Pages: 776

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veyed and platted the town. Mrs. Ellegood was born in 1804, and now resides in Seaford. Dr. Ellegood was the eldest of eight children, six of whom still survive. He attended the schools of his neighborhood till fourteen years of age,after which he enjoyed, for three years, the advantages of an excellent select school in Laurel. His plans for a full collegiate course were interrupted by his father's death in 1845, and he being the eldest child, was compelled to return home and become, practically, the head of the family. The superintendence of the homestead, and the care of the family henceforth devolved upon him till his younger brothers and sisters were grown. He assisted his mother in set- tling up the estate and in educating the elder children, while he bore the entire expense of educating the younger ones. A sketch of his brother, Dr. William Thomas Ellegood, whom he educated, is in this volume. At the age of twenty-one Dr. Ellegood began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Jas. H. Fisher. In October, 1850, he matriculated at the Penn- sylvania Medical College, graduating M. D. in March, 1852. He immediately settled in Con- cord for the practice of his profession, where he has since remained. In his practice he has risen to prominence as one of the first physi- cians of the State, and enjoys the confidence and high esteem-not only of the county in which he resides, but of the people of the entire State and the adjoining counties of Maryland. He probably has the largest prac- tice in the county, and his labors have been constant and great for twenty-eight years. Dr. Ellegood has contributed valuable papers to the medical journals of the country. He is a member of the County and State' Medical Societies, and has been President of both bodies. He is a member of the American Medical Association, in which he has repeatedly represented the State. He has also taken a a deep interest in popular education, and from the time of his twenty-first to his thirty-sixth year he served continuously as School Com- missioner. He has also been somewhat prom- inent in public affairs, having served once as a member of the Legislature. In 1866 the Legis- lature elected him to the office of Auditor of Accounts, which he filled with great ability for three terms of two years each, viz : 1865

Jours July

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to 1867; 1871 to 1873 ; 1873 to 1875. He he achieved immediate and constantly in- exerts a wide influence in the councils of the Democratic party. He has often been a mem- ber and frequently presiding officer of the County and State Conventions. Beside all these multiplied labors and responsibilities, he has found time to become one of the largest and most successful agriculturists of Sussex county. He owns 900 acres of land in the vicinity of Concord, divided into convenient farms, and most of it under a high state of cultivation. He has 6000 peach trees in bearing, besides other fruits; ten acres of strawberries and fifteen acres in blackberries. His son Robert now has the principal oversight of his farming interests. Dr. Ellegood was married, July 28, 1858, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Nutter and Margaret Cannon, of Concord. They have had four children ; Joshua Adkinson, M. D. ; Robert, farmer; and Seth Griffith, a cadet in the United States Military Academy at West Point. They had the misfortune to lose their 'only daughter, Martha, in infancy.

OORE, HON. JACOB, Lawyer, of Georgetown, was born at Laurel, Sus- sex county, November 21, 1829. His father, Louther Taylor Moore, was a merchant of that place for nearly half a century, and after an active life of three- score and ten years, died during the past de- cade. His mother was Eliza S., daughter of Isaac Wootten. She died in 1863, aged 58 years. But three of their twelve children lived to maturity : the oldest of these being the subject of this sketch. After completing his preparatory studies, in 1846, he entered Union college, Schenectady, N. Y., of which the celebrated Eliphalet Nott was President, and after a full four years' course, graduated with the degree of B. A. in 1850. His studies had been prosecuted with the view to fit- ting himself for the legal profession, and after graduating he chose Georgetown as his resi- dence, and Hon. Edward Wootten then and now (1882) one of the Associate Judges of Delaware, as his perceptor. An apt, persevr- ing and hard-working studen the completed his legal studies in three years, and after passing an excellent examination was admitted to practice in all the courts of the State, in he preferred country to political preferment, April, 1853. Well equipped for the struggle, and possessing a determination to succeed,

creasing success, and to-day stands in line with the foremost and best lawyers of the State. Not only his mastery of legal lore, but also his thorough literary training, per- sonal magnetism and indefatigable industry, have contributed toward the rapid strides he has made in his profession. He is a close stu- dent and hard worker, and it is not unfrequent that the rising sun finds him where the setting sun left him, still pondering over some knotty legal problem submitted to him for solution, and patiently and thoroughly working out and building up his case. This constant and in- telligent application to his work has long since brought its certain reward, for at home, throughout the State, and in some of the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland it has created for him a clientage so large that to meet its demands seems an impossible task. .Yet he turns no legitimate business.away, and whether the cause be great or trifling, client rich or poor, whether the business be civil or criminal, he applies himself to it with a deter- mination to win. A wise, thoughtful and dis- creet counsellor, he is even more successful as an advocate, and by the careful arrangement and skillful handling of his cause, by present- ing his facts clearly and concisely, by logical argument and impassioned oratory, he is prob- ably best known and most admired. Mr. Moore was actively identified with the Demo- cratic organization from his youth until the assault upon Fort Sumpter, when believing that his party on the great question of the day was wrong, he became a Republican, and still thinks and acts as such. His loss to the Democratic party was generally recognized, and the gain to the Republicans was made still more manifest, for he immediately became an acknowledged leader among his new political associates. He made powerful Union speeches throughout the State, and under the inspira- tion of his eloquence no small part of Dela- ware's quota in the army was secured. He assumed his new party relations in the face of Democratic promises of high political offices and honors that could and probably would have been fulfilled had he remained with them, but he answered first and last. that

and that so long as he believed the Republi- can party was the only instrumentality through

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which treason could be punished and the | and Sussex on Delaware, and of the Province Union preserved, he should continue to act of Pennsylvania; To Richard McWilliam, with and work for it regardless of personal | keeper of the Great Seal of said counties, aggrandizement. His legal business also suf- Esquire, greeting : These are to authorize and require you to affix the said seal to a com- mission tested by me, and bearing even date herewith, appointing Jacob Moore, Esquire, Attorney General of and for the government of the counties aforesaid ; and for so doing, this shall be your warrant. Given under my Hand and Seal at Arms, at New Castle, the twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-four. JOHN PENN. fered severely because of his change of party relations, his clients principally being Demo- crats ; but this state of affairs was short lived, and soon his practice began to grow and in- crease until its present enviable proportions were reached. At the very outbreak of the war he saw the necessity of promulgating in every way possible, the principles and purposes of the Republican party, and in connection with William, afterwards Governor, Cannon commenced the publication, in Georgetown, of The Union. a weekly paper. Mr. Moore did most of the editorial work, and by the crisp, vigorous manner of his writing, soon gained for the paper a large circulation, and made it a great help to the Republican cause in Southern Delaware. In the summer of 1862,he was a delegate to the State Republican Convention and nominated William Cannon for Governor. At first there was considerable op- position to Mr. Moore's choice, and several other candidates were named, but he plead the cause of Mr. Cannon with such force that he was nominated almost by acclamation. The wisdom of the selection was fully demon- strated in the following fall, when Mr. Cannon was elected. In 1863 the Sixth Delaware Regiment was organized in Sussex county, largely through Mr. Moore's influence. He joined it as a private, but was soon elected Lieutenant Colonel. Soon after the organiza- tion of the regiment it was assigned to guard duty on the line of the Philadelphia, Wilming- ton & Baltimore railroad, in Maryland, and later was stationed at Fort Delaware. Col. Moore was mustered out at the expiration of his term of service, and September 3, 1864, was commissioned Attorney General of Dela- ware for the term of five years. His appoint -! ment to this office was the second time a lawyer of the same name had been called to discharge its important duties. Hon. Jacob Moore, from whom Colonel Moore was proba bly descended, was appointed Attorney General of the three counties on Delaware in 1774.

Col. Moore filled the office with such signal fidelity and ability that to the bench, bar and people it was a matter of much regret when a change was brought about through the mu- tations of politics. To show how the bench regarded him it is only necessary to quote Chief Justice Gilpin, who had also been Attor- ney General: he said of Colonel Moore, "He has made a good officer and has tried more important capital cases than were ever tried by any other Attorney Gen- eral in the State; and during his term of office the law of murder has been firmly set- tled." On retirement he devoted himself to his ever growing practice, and is now attorney for the Junction and Breakwater, and Breakwater and Frankford Railroad Companies, for the Old Dominion Steamship Company of New York, and other corporations. Since the expiration of his commission as Attorney General he has held no public position, and has never been before the people for office, although time and again his party has sought him as a candidate for Congress He has no personal political aspirations, and avoids politics beyond help- ing and advocating, in an unostentatious way, the Republican party and its candidates. Col. Moore has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1854, and has served as Deputy Grand Master of the State, and Deputy Grand High Priest. On October 23, 1860, he was married to Miss Eliza R., daughter of John D. Rodney, of Georgetown. Five children have been born to them, of whom only two sur- vive ; Charles Louther and Nellie. The son, His commission, the original copy of which is now in his eighteenth year, is preparing for still preserved, reads as follows: "The Hon. the legal profession. In social life Col. Moore John Penn, Esq., Governor and Commander is as great a favorite as he is popular in his in Chief of the counties of New Castle, Kent profession. He is a man of medium height,

J. Paulle Portes

6, 200

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robust and muscular, with a calm, thoughtful face that is lighted up, and materially changed in expression, when speaking. He is a capital story-teller and an interesting conversation- alist, acquainted with a wide range of topics, and is a gentlemen of sterling integrity.

OSTLES, GEN. JAMES PARKE, Ad- jutant General, of Delaware, and Mo- rocco Manufacturer, was born at Cam- den, September 28, 1840. He is the son of Stephen and Elizabeth (Roe) Postles. His father owned a large farm near Camden, and Gen. Postles attended the coun- try schools of that vicinity, until 1853, when his parents removed to Wilmington. He completed his education in the excellent pub- lic schools of that place, and when he had passed the whole curriculum, he entered, in 1856, the office of his father, then a large and successful manufacturer of morocco leather. With the exception of one year during which he was employed as a clerk in the grocery store of J. S. Cowgill, he continued with his father until the outbreak of the war of the re- bellion in 1861. His enthusiasm and patriotism were so much aroused that he seized the first opportunity to enlist for the defence of the Union. He joined Co. C, First Delaware Regiment, under Col. Henry Lockwood, for three months. This regiment was assigned to duty on the line of the P., W. & B. R. R., and at the close of the term our subject was mus- tered out as First Sergeant of his company. On the re-organization of the command for the three years' service he was commissioned First Lieutenant of Co. A, First Delaware Regi- ment. His regiment spent the winter of 1861- 62 on duty at Fortress Monroe, where they acquired a discipline which rendered their sub- sequent service efficient. In the spring of 1862, they formed part of the column that cap- tured Norfolk, Va., and they were afterwards sent to Suffolk. After the battle of Chantilly, fought, September 1, 1862, they were assigned to the army of the Potomac, and participated. in the Maryland campaign under General McClellan, which was terminated by the route of General Lee's forces at Antietam. In this engagement in which his company lost 44 out of 85 men, Captain Evan S. Watson was killed, and Lieutenant Postles was promoted to the Captaincy. They accompanied the army in its

| march, via Harpers Ferry to Fredericksburg, and went into winter quarters at Falmouth, Va. Captain Postles commanded his company in the terrible battle at Fredericksburg, in December, 1862, and was afterward appointed Inspector General, Second Brigade, Third Di- vision, Second Army corps. He served in this capacity until August, 1863, having mean- while taken part in the battles of Chancellors- ville and Gettysburg; and was then, on ac- count of inpaired health, detailed for duty at home in connection with the draft. In Septem- ber he was assigned to duty by the Secretary of War, as enlisting officer of the Fifth Maryland Regiment. After re-enlisting the men for three years the regiment was ordered on duty at Fort Delaware. Soon after their arrival there Captain Postles was appointed Inspector-General of the Island, and continued to discharge the duties of that office until July, 1864, when failing health rendered it neces- sary for him to resign, after a service of three years, two months and twenty-two days. On his return from the Army he re-entered his father's morrocco manufacturing establishment, and in 1866 he was admitted to a partnership under the firm name of S. Postles & Sons. In 1876, General Postles was appointed by the Centennial Commission one of the Judges for Leather and Leather Products for the Centen- nial Exhibition. He devoted five days of each week during a period of three months to this labor and examined minutely over two thous- and exhibits. The work was so thoroughly and systematically done that their report was said to be the best classified in the exhibition. In January, 1877, General Postles purchased his father's interest in the Morocco business, and since that time he has been the sole pro- prietor. (For description of the factory see Industrial Department.) He was politically educated as an old line Whig, and in 1860, though not a voter, he was an enthusiastic champion of the Bell and Everett party. As his record indicates, he was devoted to the Union cause, but the issues of the war having been decided, he, like many another gallant soldier, in time, beeame identified with the Democratic party. In December, 1878, he was appointed by Governor Cochran, Adjutant Gen- eral of the State, to succeed the late General William S. McCaulley. . General Postles is a Master Mason, and being a public spirited and

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enterprising man, is an active promoter of | of men of all parties as a faithful and able benevolent associations. He was married, September 17, 1863, to Miss Sadie, daughter of the late William H. Dodd, first Assistant En- gineer U. S. N, and who died of Hydrophobia in November, 1878. Of this union was born one child, Grantley Parke Postles.

OOPER THOMAS, Served as a Rep- resentative in Congress from Delaware from 1813 to 1817. He was a cultured gentleman of more than ordinary ability, and filled his position in the halls of Congress with credit.

;RAZIER, EZEKIEL COOPER, Far- mer and Member of the Levy Court of Kent county, was born, November 10, 1825. His father was Alexander Frazier, a farmer of North Murderkill hundred, who died April 23, 1867. His father was James Frazier who emigrated from Scotland in 1798, landing at Oxford, Md. He acquired a hand- some property as a farmer, and served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He married Deborah Emory, of Kent county, Del., and died at the age of fifty five years, in 1853. The mother of Ezekiel Cooper was Catherine, daughter of Thomas Cooper of Kent county. The following children were born of this marriage; Ezekiel C., the subject of this notice; Sarah, Thomas C., Peter, Alexander, Cathe- rine, William J., Richard C., and Mary Frazer. Mr. Frazer grew up on his father's farm and at- tended the schools of his vicinity in the winter, until twenty years of age. He then took charge of the farm and managed it until he married and removed to his present home,a farm containing 140 acres, one-half mile north of Peters- burg. Mr. Frazer is a representative farmer and has been very successful. He has an orchard of 1000 peach trees in bearing, but his farm is principally devoted to grain. He is a man of intelligence and influence, industrious and honorable, and a highly esteemed citizen of the State. He was reared in the old Whig party which he supported until 1854, since which time he has been identified with the Democratic party. He served as Assessor of his district, and Inspector of Elections. In 1876 he was elected a member of the Levy Court. In these positions he has served with credit, and won the confidence and respect

officer. He joined the Baptist church in 1873 and has been Treasurer of his church for several years. He was married, May 22, 1849, to Miss Mary, daughter of Emory Knotts, of Kent county. Four children have been born of this marriage; Wiliam E., of Elkton Md, Thomas K., at home ; Joseph R., of Col- orado, and Sarah C. Frazier.

POOPER, JOHN BRADY, Merchant of Smyrna, was born in Kent county, October 1, 1830. His parents, Richard and Mary (Brady) Cooper, are now de- ceased. The former was a farmer, and both were members of the Baptist Church, and exemplary christian people. Four of their six children are living. Thomas Cooper, the grandfather of the subject of our sketch, was born in Maryland,and removed to Kent county, Delaware, about 1790. He was an Episcopa- lian, and the family was of English origin. Mr. Cooper attended the public schools of the county till he was twelve years of age, but is mainly self-educated. He worked on the farm till he attained his majority, when he be- came a teacher in the public schools for ten years, and was very successful. He began with the lowest school and at the time of leaving was teaching the highest school and receiving the largest salary paid in the county. He then opened a small confectionery store in Smyrna, and as his business increased other things were added, till it finally became a store for general merchandise. He now has the largest store in the town, and keeps a greater variety of goods than any other merchant, his prosperity and continued success showing the confidence and esteem in which he is held by the citizens. This establishment is first class in every particular. Mr. Cooper is a man of public spirit and has borne his share in all the public enterprises which tend to the general welfare. He has been Secretary of the Smyrna Building and Loan Association since its or- ganization in 1866. In politics he affiliates with the Republican party. He has been a member of the Methodist Church since 1853, and a Trustee for the last fifteen years. He was married, in 1855, to Mary F., daughter. of John H. Rash, of Kent county, and has two children living ; Fletcher Ellsworth and Irving Thompson Cooper.

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DAMS, JOHN HYNDMAN, of Wil- mington, Retired Iron Manufacturer, was born in that city, October 13, 1820. His father, John Adams, in partnership with a half brother, James Cochran, con- ducted what was considered in that day, an extensive manufacturing business in the same place. John Adams died in 1856, at the age of sixty years. His wife was Margaret, daughter of John Hyndman, also of Wilmington. She was an excellent christian mother, a member of the Presbyterian church, and carefully brought up her children in that faith. She and her husband were both of mingled English and Irish descent, and the ancestors of both came to this country and settled in New Castle county about the middle of the last century. The subject of this sketch was the second of the four children of the family. There were, younger than himself, one brother and a sister. This only daughter died at an early age. The younger brother is now the Rev. Carson Wil- son Adams, D. D., a Presbyterian clergyman of New York city, a member of the Presbytery of West Chester, N. Y., and of the synod of New York. Mr. J. H. Adams received his early education at Belknap's Academy. He left school very early and entered, as a boy of all work, the hardware store of Duncan & Bros., where he was employed for about five years, when he left, and for the three years following was engaged with Messrs. Betts, Pusey & Harlan. While here employed, in the year 1837, he assisted in building the second pump which was furnished for the water sup- ply of Wilmington. He with others placed the pump in position, and when it was ready for op- cration, enjoyed the distinction of turning on the water. More thoughtful and far-seeing than most boys, Mr. Adams had not, from the time he left school, neglected the cultivation of his mind, improving whatever opportunities he could find, besides attending a night school for several winters. He was one of the original seven who, founded "The Young Men's Lite- erary and Debating Society of. Wilmington" which afterward became the Franklin Lyceum : finally merged into the Wilmington Institute, of which Mr. Adams is a life member. On the eighth anniversary of the Society, October 18, 1841, he was made its president. In 1839 the Messrs. Duncan dissolved partner- ship, the senior partner, Mr. John A. Duncan, 42

taking the business into his own hands. This gentleman then desired Mr. Adams to take a position in his store as salesman, which invi- tation he accepted, after first purchasing his time of Messrs. Betts, Pusey & Harlan. This he did though he was not an indentured ap- prentice, and he was here engaged for the next eight years. In 1847 he commenced, on his own account and in a very small way, the heater and range business. It in- creased year by year under his management, until by close application, hard work and rigid economy, with an occasional outside venture of small pretensions, he had accumulated a moderate capital. With this he decided, in 1857, to embark in the manufacture of iron : a business, at that time in a very depressed state, but one of which he had the best know- ledge and the most practical acquaintance. He accordingly connected himself with the firm of McDaniel, Craige & Company, pro- prietors of the Old Ferry Rolling Mill, and manufacturers of bar iron. For about four years they did little more than meet expenses. In 1860 Mr. W. S. Craige withdrew, and the firm name was changed to that of McDaniel, Adams & Company. This firm established during the war an enviable reputation for the manufacture of "Chain Links " of superior quality, and were subjected to an exceedingly severe test by the Government Inspector, yet of the many thousands made by them not one was rejected. During this period Mr. Adams not only spent the entire day, but often the night, in the mill among the workmen. In 1863 the firm was dissolved and was suc- ceeded by "The Diamond State Iron Com- pany," of which Mr. Adams was chosen president. He retained this position till the fall of 1865, when he sold out his interest in the company and early in 1866 connected him- self with the Mccullough Iron Company, manu- facturers of block and galvanized sheet iron. This is now the most extensive establish- ment for the manufacture of galvanized sheets in the country, and is a formidable rival of English manufacturers. He was connected with this company for nearly sixteen years, twelve years as vice-president, and four years as president. He devoted himself unremittingly to his duties, attending however, more particul- arly the purchase and sales department. He retired in April, 1882, and on the 19th of

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Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 8

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

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