USA > New Jersey > Biographical, genealogical and descriptive history of the first congressional district of New Jersey, Volume I > Part 43
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395
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
FRANCIS K. DUKE.
One of the honored veterans of the civil war is Francis Kendrick Duke, who is now engaged in contracting and building in Cape May. He was born at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, December 7, 1830, and is a representative of one of the old and prominent families of that state. The name is of Scotch origin and his parents were Francis and Elizabeth (Kendrick) Duke. The former was also a native of Harper's Ferry and there spent his entire life. He was a leading and influential citizen, and loyally served his country in the war of 1812. He was also a very prominent Mason. He had a membership relation with the Presbyterian church, and was a man whom to know was to respect and honor. In the family were five children: Ann married Thomas Mensing, who served for three years in the civil war, in the Corn Exchange regiment in the Union army, and was wounded at Maryland Heights; Eliza- beth became the wife of Charles Kinsey, an upholsterer who resided in Phil- adelphia, and who also served in the Corn Exchange regiment, as did the two sons of Thomas Mensing .- Thomas and John, both of whom were wounded in battle: Francis is the next younger; John married Elizabeth Boat and was an upholsterer of Philadelphia; and Ellen became the wife of James Weir, a machinist of Philadelphia, who was a lieutenant in Company F. Sec- ond Delaware Regiment, and served in the Army of the Potomac, being seriously wounded in one of its battles. The father of these children died in 1838, when about fifty-five years of age, and the mother's death occurred in 1871, in the sixty-second year of her age.
Mr. Duke of this review was educated in the public schools of Pennsyl- vania, and putting aside his text-books when fifteen years of age he started out in life on his own account, and learned the millwright's trade, serving an apprenticeship of three and a half years. He afterward served a two-years apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, and has since engaged in contracting and building. He has erected some of the best residences in Cape May. In forty-eight days he put up the Piermont Hotel, containing fifty-two rooms. He did considerable building in Philadelphia, and was employed many times by Frederick Phillips to superintend his building operations. Enterprise and energy have characterized his business career, and his close application, perseverance and capable management have brought to him a good income.
His productive labors were interrupted during the civil war by his enlist- ment. in June, 1861, as a member of Company F. Second Regiment of Dela- ware Volunteers. His command was attached to the Army of the Potomac. Second Corps, Second Brigade, Second Division, and he participated in all the engagements in front of Richmond. At Drummondtown, Virginia. he
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was injured seriously, his horse, which was shot, falling upon him. His leg was broken and he sustained other injuries, from which he has never entirely recovered. He was also in the seven-days battle and the engagements at Falmouth and Fredericksburg, and commanded the Fourth Division at the convalescent camp in Alexandria, Virginia. He was also wounded at the battle of Fair Oaks, by a bullet piercing his leg, was shot in the neck at Sav- age Station, and at length, on account of his injuries, he received an honor- able discharge in 1863. Enlisting as the second lieutenant of his company. he was promoted to the rank of captain on the field at Savage Station and was the acting quartermaster at the battle of Malvern Hill, occupying a position of great danger during the hottest of the fight. With an honorable military record he returned home, conscious of having faithfully performed his duty upon every occasion.
In 1852 Mr. Duke was united in marriage to Miss Louise Eldredge, and to them were born three children: Harriet, at home; Mary, the wife of Sam- uel Smythe, who was the private secretary for Frederick Phillips for seven- teen years, and resides at Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, with his wife and three children,-Frank, Marion and Samuel; and John, a printer residing in Philadelphia, who married Kate McManus and has one child, named Lewis.
In his political views Mr. Duke has been a stalwart Republican since the organization of the party, and is deeply interested in its success. He served for four years as a member of the city council and for two years was an alder- man of Cape May. He was also the justice of the peace for Lower Cape May township for ten years, the coroner for three years and was deputy United States marshal under Gregory, in Philadelphia. He belongs to vari- ous societies, holding a membership in John Mecray Post, No. 41, G. A. R .. of which he was at one time the commander, with the rank of colonel; is a member of Cape Island Lodge, No. 30, F. & A. M .; formerly belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of the Junior Order United American Mechanics, the Patriotic Order Sons of America. the Seven Wise Men of the East, the Red Men and the Union League, and is an honor- ary member of the fire department. Mr. Duke has made many friends through his connection with these organizations and has exemplified the fra- ternal spirit and benevolent principles on which the societies are based.
His business career has ever been honorable and creditable and the suc- cess he has won is well merited. Although he has been dependent upon his own efforts from an early age, he has worked his way steadily upward, over- coming all obstacles in his path by determined effort. He has ever realized that the possibilities of the present and not of the future indicate the path to sucess, and following therein he has gained a comfortable competence.
397
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
DR. S. F. ASHCRAFT.
This gentleman was born at Mullica Hill, just across the street from his present home, on the 19th of December, 1865, and is a worthy representa- tive of one of an old and honored family of Gloucester county, but the ances- try can be traced still further back, to colonial days, when German emi- grants of the name came to the shores of the New World, taking up their abode in Massachusetts. The great-grandfather, Samuel Ashcraft, was a native of Connecticut and was the first of the name to locate in this section of New Jersey. The year of his arrival was 1800 and he was accompanied by his family, including his son John, the grandfather of our subject, who became one of the most prosperous and well known business men of this sec- tion of the state. His energies were devoted to merchandising and the lum- ber trade and he was also an extensive peach-grower of Delaware, Maryland. His operations along these various lines were conducted on a large scale and brought to him handsome financial returns.
Dr. J. H. Ashcraft, the father of our subject, was for forty-three years a distinguished physician of Mullica Hill, where he still makes his home. It is often difficult to tell whether environment or inherited tendencies more strongly influences a career, but perhaps both had their share in shaping the destiny of him whose name heads this review. His father being a physician. as a child he became interested in the science and practice of medicine, and having completed his literary education he began studying with a view of joining the medical fraternity. He prepared for his chosen calling in the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, and on the completion of a thor- ough course was graduated, in the class of 1888. For fifteen months he was in the Cooper Hospital in Camden, and in May, 1890, he came to Mullica Hill. His practice has been varied in character and oftentimes has required the greatest skill and efficiency. Excellent results have followed his efforts and to-day he is enjoying a liberal support from the public. For three years he served as a physician to the poor of Gloucester county and at the same time among his patrons were numbered many of the wealthiest residents of this section of the state. He holds membership in the Gloucester County Medical Society, in the State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and thus keeps thoroughly informed concerning the theories and facts which are advanced by other representatives of the profession.
On the 22d of June, 1898, the Doctor married Miss Mary S. Keithler, a daughter of John C. Keithler, of Delaware county, Pennsylvania. They occupy an enviable position in social circles and the Doctor is a prominent Mason, belonging to Swedesboro Lodge, No. 157. F. & A. M .: to Siloam
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Chapter, No. 19, R. A. M., and to Cyrene Commandery, No. 7, K. T., both the latter in Camden. He is widely and favorably known in the city of his nativity and has a happy faculty of drawing his friends closer to him as the years pass by.
STACY L. PANCOAST.
Fortunate is the man who has back of him an ancestry honorable and distinguished, and happy is he if his lines are cast in harmony therewith. One of the distinguished families of New Jersey is that to which our subject belongs; and his own record has added new laurels to the prestige of those who bear his patronymic. Through many generations the line of descent may be traced. The first of the name of whom we have any record is John Pancoast, who resided in England, where his people were noted manu- facturers of pottery. Representatives of the name are still prominently con- nected with that industry in another country. John Pancoast sailed from London, England, in the ship Mary, in 1678, and landed at Philadelphia. He was elected the sheriff of the London tenth district, which extended from Main street in Burlington to Little Egg Harbor on the Atlantic ocean and up the Delaware river to Assanipink creek. He had two sons .- John and Joseph. The latter was the father of Edward Pancoast, who was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, and was the great-grandfather of our sub- ject. His son, John Pancoast, was born near Clarksboro, New Jersey, and married Sarah, a daughter of Bradway and Jane (Waddington) Keasby, of Salem county, New Jersey. He moved to Hancock's Bridge, where he re- sided until 1810, when he purchased a farm at the north end of Mullica Hill and resided there until death. His son Israel was born at Hancock's Bridge and learned the tanner's trade of Joseph Ogden, at Swedesboro, New Jer- sey, and followed that pursuit for many years at Mullica Hill. He belonged to the Society of Friends, which religious faith was that of his ancestors, the progenitor, John Pancoast, having been one of the founders of the Friends Society in Mullica Hill. Israel Pancoast married Miss Sarah Ann Lippen- cot, a daughter of Wallace Lippencot, of Haddonfield, New Jersey. They became the parents of seven children, one now living, S. L. The late Dr. D. P. Pancoast, who died November 5. 1899, was a resident of Mullica Hill. The father died in 1870 and the mother was called to her final rest in 1880.
S. L. Pancoast attended the local schools at Mullica Hill, where his entire life has been passed, for he was born in the house which is now his home, his natal day being December 28, 1830. He also pursued his studies in Wilming- ton, Delaware, and then entered upon his business career at Mullica Hill in
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S. LPancras
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CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
a mercantile establishment. In 1853 he went to Philadelphia, where he re- mained until 1862, when he returned to Mullica Hill and embarked in mer- chandising. He successfully conducted a store until April, 1897, when he resigned. He now deals in lumber, coal and farmers' supplies, and is enjoy- ing a liberal patronage, which has come to him as the result of his enterprise and honorable business methods.
Mr. Pancoast is a prominent citizen of New Jersey and has been espe- cially active in political circles. He is a stanch advocate of the Republican party and was first called to office in 1852, when he was chosen the township collector for a two-years term. Later he was the township committeeman, and in 1883 was elected to the state senate to fill out an unexpired term. He was afterward chosen for the full term of three years, and was a very active. influential and capable member of the upper house. He has given his sup- port to all local measures advanced for the public good, has aided in securing railroads and other improvements, and is a most progressive and valued citi- zen. He is serving as a vestryman of the Episcopal church and is a man of high standing in the community, respected by all with whom he has been brought in contact.
WILLIAM S. HARKER.
The fitting reward of a well spent, upright business career is an honored retirement from labor that one may enjoy its fruits in after years. For thirty years Mr. Harker was a worthy representative of the wholesale inter- ests of Philadelphia, but has now put aside business cares and is passing the evening of his life at his pleasant home at Mullica Hill. The prosperity that rewards earnest effort is his, and his life history stands in exemplification of the truth that success is not a matter of genius but is the outcome of con- tinuous labor guided by sound judgment.
Mr. Harker is a native of the town in which he makes his home. His father, Joseph Harker, was born in Swedesboro and was a son of Joseph Harker, Sr. The former engaged in merchandising, carrying on the leading business at Mullica Hill. He was also a lumber merchant at this place and was accounted one of its most enterprising, influential and prominent citi- zens. He was honored by election to public office, being chosen the repre- sentative of his district in the state legislature. His death occurred in 1860. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Alice Horner, is a daughter of Elijah Horner and is still living, at the advanced age of seventy-nine years. By
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her marriage she became the mother of six children, two of whom survive, W. S. and Emma, the latter the wife of I. O. Acton, of Salem.
Our subject pursued his education in the Mullica Hill Academy, and throughout his business career was identified with mercantile interests in Philadelphia, being for thirty years the owner of an extensive wholesale notion house in that city. His trade extended over a wide area and his liberal patronage brought to him a handsome income. In 1893 he disposed of his business and has since lived retired in Mullica Hill, his former success enabling him to secure all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life.
Mr. Harker is a life member of Crescent Lodge, No. 493, F. & A. M., of Philadelphia, in which he has held a number of offices. His life has been passed in the faithful discharge of all duties that have devolved upon him and his sterling worth commends him to the confidence of those with whom he has been associated. He started out in life in a humble position, steadily worked his way upward until he occupies a commanding place in trade cir- cles and to-day he is enjoying the comforts that well earned wealth can secure.
GEORGE W. SMITH.
Tales of heroism have been the theme of song and story since the earliest ages and deeds of valor will never fail to awaken the admiration of all. The pages of history are illumined by the record of those who upon bloody battle- fields have fought for their country and the debt of gratitude which a nation owes its brave soldiers can never be repaid. Every writer delights in mak- ing his hero a brave man, and even the biographer, who confines himself to fact and does not let his fancy stray into the realms of fiction, finds satisfac- tion in recounting the history of one whose loyalty and patriotism have been manifested upon the field of battle. It is therefore with pleasure that we undertake the task of preparing the life record of Colonel George W. Smith, who in response to the country's call for troops in 1861 offered his services to the government and followed the stars and stripes until the wounds sus- tained in active engagements forced him to put aside the old uniform which was the badge of his loyalty to the Union.
Colonel Smith was born in Cincinnati, February 22, 1828, a son of Thomas and Sophia (Bigham) Smith. The ancestor of the family to which he belongs came to America with Lord Baltimore and aided in founding the colony of Maryland. There the paternal great-grandfather made his home. living to an advanced age. Thomas Smith, the grandfather, resided on the eastern shore of Maryland and served throughout the Revolutionary war.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY. 40I
holding official rank. He was also an officer in the war of 1812. He was extensively engaged in farming throughout his business career and lived to the advanced age of one hundred and four years. The family is noted for longevity, several of its representatives having been centenarians.
Thomas Smith, the father of Colonel Smith, was born on the eastern shore of Maryland, and was a comb manufacturer, carrying on business in that line until his death, which occurred in Cincinnati, in 1832, as the result of an attack of cholera. He conducted an extensive enterprise for that day and was a man of considerable means. His wife died in 1848, at the age of forty-five years. In his family were three sons, and the characteristic bravery and loyalty of the family were shown by their service in the Union army. William H., the eldest, was a carpenter and resided in Philadelphia and at Cape May. After the inauguration of hostilities between the north and the south, he joined Company B, One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania Infantry, and participated in all the engagements of the Army of the Potomac up to and including the battle of Gettysburg, on the 3d of July, 1863, when he was killed. He fell pierced by five bullets, and thus another noble life was sacri- ficed that the Union might stand. He had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant and in many engagements had manifested marked valor. His wife was Fannie, daughter of John C. Little, and they had one son, William H .. who married Miss Pierson. George W. was the second of the family. James T., the youngest, a cigar manufacturer and painter, residing in Cape May, enlisted September 15, 1861, in Company A, Seventh Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, which served with the Army of the Potomac in the Second Jersey Brigade. James T. Smith was in the recruiting service, but also par- ticipated in the seven-days battle and the campaign under Grant, and was badly wounded in the hip at the storming of Petersburg.
After his father's death, which occurred during the early boyhood of Col- onel Smith, of this review, the latter, together with the other members of the family, removed to Philadelphia, and he was educated in the common schools of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, pursuing his studies in one of the old- time log school-houses, with its slab seats, puncheon floor and primitive fur- nishings. He afterward went to Philadelphia, where he learned the brush- maker's trade, but never followed that occupation. Instead he took up the painter's trade, and in May, 1850, removed to Cape May, where he engaged in painting until the breaking out of the war, when he put aside all personal considerations to aid in defense of the Union. On the 17th of June, 1861. he became first lieutenant of the Cape May Island Home Guards, and imme- diately volunteered in the Seventh New Jersey Regiment. becoming a mem- ber of Company A. He was made orderly sergeant on the 15th of Septem-
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ber of that year, and for three years served in the Army of the Potomac, par- ticipating in the engagements at Fair Oaks and the seven-days battles, and at this time was the sergeant major of the regiment. He had command of the regiment, for it had lost all its commissioned officers in former battles. For this he was recommended for his first commission as second lieutenant. He was also engaged at the battle of Malvern Hill, where the loss was very heavy, but he brought the remnant to Harrison's Landing. Only two hun- dred and fifty of the entire number were ready for duty after those engage- ments. Mr. Smith was there taken ill and it was believed could never re- cover, but eventually he regained his health and rejoined his regiment at Alexandria, Virginia, where he was promoted second lieutenant in recogni- tion of his meritorious conduct on the battle-field at Malvern Hill. He par- ticipated in the battle of Fredericksburg, where he was injured by spraining his spine, which has resulted in spinal disease. He was then promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. At the battle of Chancellorsville his regiment captured five stands of colors. There he was again promoted, being made the captain of Company A. He was also wounded there, a ball striking him in the chin, piercing his tongue, and coming through the trachea. On ac- count of disability thus occasioned he was honorably discharged and returned home, and for three years thereafter he was unfit for active work.
When the war broke out he was an alderman of Cape May. He came home in January, 1864, and in March of the same year was again elected to the city council. As soon as able he resumed work at the painter's trade, and carried on business along that line until 1880, when he embarked in business as a dealer in house-furnishing goods. He was also the postmaster at Avalon, where he resided for five years, after which he removed to Camden, where he conducted a grocery until the injury which he sustained in the civil war made further labor impossible, and he returned to Cape May, where he has since lived retired.
Colonel Smith has never failed to feel a deep interest in military affairs and organizations. In the year 1871-2 he was the sergeant-at-arms in the New Jersey senate, and in 1875 he organized Company H, of the Sixth New Jersey National Guard, became its first captain, was made the major of the regiment in 1882, and was elected lieutenant-colonel, October II, 1885, occu- pying the latter position until March, 1887, when he resigned on account of failing health. Before us as we write lies a paper called the Cape May County Ocean Wave, which was published in Cape May and bears the date of July 24, 1862. In it is an account of Colonel Smith's promotion during the civil war. It says: "Mr. Smith received his commission as second lieutenant on the 8th inst., but his promotion from June 14th. We are pleased with this
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promotion, as friend Smith has been a good, faithful officer, and he was de- serving of this advancement. When the Seventh left Trenton he was orderly sergeant of Company A, afterward he was promoted to sergeant-major of the regiment, which is a position of honor rather than pay, and now he has been made lieutenant. Some time since he received a sword, worth thirty-five dollars, with the following words inscribed upon it: 'Presented to Sergeant- Major George W. Smith, by his captain, Louis R. Francine.'" Colonel Smith is now an esteemed and valued member of John Mecray Post. No. 40, G. A. R., at Cape May, has filled various offices and is now chaplain of the post.
On the 2d of June, 1852, Colonel Smith was united in marriage to Miss Ann E. Little, a daughter of John C. Little, of Philadelphia, and to them were born the following children: Blanche S., who became the wife of Charles Williams, a plasterer, who died a year later; Fannie V., the wife of Charles Lang, a broker of Philadelphia, by whom she has three children,- Marguerite, Philip Rice and Charles H .; Sallie, at home; Annie E., the wife of Samuel H. Moore, the station agent of the West Jersey Railroad Company at Cape May, by whom she has a daughter, Helen G .: Jennie Y., the wife of John C. Little, a painter and the proprietor of the Stockton bath- houses at Cape May, by whom she has two sons,-Albert and George W .; Walter R., who is engaged in the bicycle business at Cape May; George B. WV., superintendent of the Murphey file works at Camden, New Jersey, who married Violet Newcomb, and has a son, Daniel D. B .; George W., who died at the age of five years; and Charles, who died at the age of one year. The mother of these children died in 1878, at the age of forty-eight years, and Colonel Smith was again married April 3, 1879, his second union being with Ester G., a daughter of James C. Fithian and Catherine (Grumm) Fithian. Her father was born in Philadelphia, but lived in New York. He was the owner of a vessel and died at sea, of yellow fever. All of the family have also passed away.
In his political views Colonel Smith is a stanch Republican and has served as a member of the board of health of Cape May for several years. He has long been a leading and influential member in the Methodist Episcopal church, was the superintendent of the Sunday-school for twenty-five years, besides five years spent in Avalon, and for a quarter of a century he was a member of the choir. He has always taken a deep and active interest in the work of the church and his upright life is in harmony with his professions. He is as true to all his duties of private life to-day as when he followed the stars and stripes upon the battle-fields of the south.
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