USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume II > Part 22
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The representatives from Delaware county were Companies B and C, from Chester, and Company H of Media, all of the 6th Regiment, Pennsyl- vania National Guard. These companies at the time of the first call were not at full strength. but their ranks were quickly filled, and when mustered into the United States service on May 12, 1898, at Camp Gretna, the 6th Regiment, which arrived in camp .April 28, with fifty officers and 928 men, had a full quota of 1329 men, of which 324 were in the three D'eau der rot e man ies. Company B was led by Captain Daniel H. McDevitt, First Lieutenant
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Frederick H. Bell, and Second Lieutenant James A. Cooley; Company C by Captain Samuel D. Clyde, First Lieutenant William W. Moss, and Second Lieutenant Albert F. Damon ; Company H, by Captain Walter Washabaugh, First Lieutenant Milner C. Tuckerman and Second Lieutenant James E. Brooke. The 6th Regiment was commanded to camp by Col. Perry McLaugh- lin Washabaugh, (who was rejected by the examining surgeon on account of de- fective eyesight), and placed under the command of Gen. John W. Schall. Com- panies B and C were composed of men from Chester, and H of men from Media or nearby. The service of these companies was identical with the ser- vice of the regiment, and consisted more of their willingness to do, than for what they did in the way of actual warfare.
Assembling at Camp Gretna, April 28, they were mustered in May 12, and on May 19, 1898, left Camp for Falls Church, Virginia, arriving there the fol- lowing morning. Here they remained at Camp Alger until August 3, when they marched to Burke Station, Virginia, twelve miles distant, remaining in camp there until the morning of August 5. Their next march brought them to the historic battle ground of Bull Run, where they remained two days, the right flank camping on the site of an old earthwork. On the morning of Au- gust 7th a march of twelve miles to Bristow Station was made. On the morn- ing of August 9th the march was resumed, the 6th fording Broad Run in water to their armpits, carrying clothes and accoutrements above their heads. On reaching the opposite bank the regiment dressed, reformed their ranks, and proceeded on their march. Hardly was the column under way than a fierce thunder storm broke loose, as thoroughly drenching the men as though they had swum the Run in all their clothing. From Bristow Station they passed through Gainesville and Haymarket, going into camp about one mile from historic Thoroughfare Gap. Here the regiment did provost and camp duty until August 24, when they moved to Camp George G. Meade, at Middle- town, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. On September 4, arms and equipment were turned into the United States government inspector. September 7th the men were paid off, each company returning to its home station on furlough un- til October 7th, and were finally mustered out October 17, 1898.
During the Spanish War, other men from Delaware who were in the ser- vice of the state, in addition to the men of Companies B, C and H, were as follows: Inspector General Frank G. Sweeney, Chester, Pennsylvania ; Ma- jors Thomas Edward Clyde, Samuel Aldrich Price and Howard Campbell Price ; Assistant Surgeon J. M. Broomall, of Chester ; Assistant Surgeon John M. B. Ward, with rank of first lieutenant; Chaplain Philip H. Mowry, with rank of captain ; Battalion Adjutant Wilmer Worthington Woodward, all of- ficers of the 6th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.
The health of the regiment was good during the five months campaign in Virginia, and the behavior of the men of the best. Camp discipline was strict- ly maintained, sanitary precautions were carefully observed, and all avoidable sickness prevented.
From the foregoing the conclusion is plain that Delaware county men in
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war have maintained the same high standard that the sons of Delaware have ever held, no matter in what profession or business engaged. Their deeds of valor as individuals were not excelled by the men of any other states, while as leaders of desperate charges or forlorn hopes the record teems with their deeds. No braver men ever gave their lives for their country than these hardy Pennsylvanians, and when the last bugle sounded, and the ragged veterans re- turned to their homes, they were as eager as any to extend the hand of friend- ship to their former foes, and with them join again in the peaceful pursuits of farm and factory, that in prosperity and peace the scenes of war should be for- gotten. Valiant in war, they were no less magnanimous in peace ; and but one prayer went up from every hearthstone in the county, and that was that never again should our fair land witness the sight of her sons drawn up in battle ar- ray, save against a common foe.
THE END.
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FAMILY AND PERSONAL HISTORY
Family and Personal History
SMITH The late Dr. George Smith, well known as the author of the "History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania," was fifth in descent from Richard Hayes. a Friend, who with his wife, Issatt, emi- grated from Ilmiston, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 1687, and settled on a tract of land in Haverford township, which is still owned and occupied by their
descendants. Their son, Richard Hayes Jr., was for nearly thirty years a member of the Provincial Assembly, was a justice of the courts of Chester county, served for a long time as one of the commissioners of the Loan Of- fice, and held many responsible public trusts. He married a daughter of Henry Lewis, of Narberth, South Wales, who in 1682, accompanied by two of his friends, made the first settlement in Haverford township, where he gave much of his time to civil affairs and acts of benevolence. Dr. Smith was also de- scended from Dr. Thomas Wynne, of Caer-Wys, North Wales, the friend and physician of William Penn, and was in direct descent also from Dr. Edward Jones, of Merion, and was a lineal descendant of Robert and Jane Owen, that brave pair who, whether as Lord and Lady of Beaumaris Castle, or for con- science sake, within the gates of Dolgelley jail, commanded the admiration and respect of all about them, and whose ancestry is traced by their relative, the learned antiquary, Robert Vaughan, of Hengwrt, back to the sixth century.
George Smith, grandfather of Dr. George Smith, married Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin Hayes, a son of Richard Hayes Jr., above mentioned, and their son, Benjamin Hayes Smith, father of Dr. George Smith, represented Delaware county in the legislature of Pennsylvania in 1801-02-03-04, and was appointed justice of the peace by Governor Mckean, although politically op- posed to him, and continued to the time of his death, in 1806, to hold that, as well as other positions of public trust. He married Margaret, daughter of George and Mary (Curry) Dunn, and they were the parents of two children : Elizabeth Hayes, born May 22, 1802, married Dr. Isaac Anderson ; and George, of whom further.
Dr. George Smith was born in Haverford township, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, February 12, 1804, died at his residence in Upper Darby, Penn- sylvania, March 10, 1882. He was brought up in Radnor and Haverford townships, and educated in the day schools of the neighborhood and at the boarding school of Jonathan Ganse, in Chester county. Pennsylvania. He then entered the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, and re- ceived his degree of Doctor of Medicine. April 7, 1826. He followed his pro- fession for five years in Darby and its vicinity, and then retired from active practice as a physician to enter upon that wider field of public usefulness for which his tastes and cast of mind eminently fitted him. His only business from this time forth was that of farming, he coming into possession of a very con- siderable estate, and performing the duties of numerous public and private trusts. In his farming operations he took great pleasure, and at the time of his decease was one of the largest land owners in the county. The execution of all trusts confided to him, whether public or private, was carried out upon the strictest principles of integrity.
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He served as State senator in the Pennsylvania legislature for the district composed of Chester and Delaware counties from 1832 to 1836, and during that time was largely instrumental in establishing a permanent law for free ed- ucation, a measure which had long been near his heart, and of which he had been for many years an earnest advocate. "As chairman of the senate com- mittee on education, he drew up a bill embracing the whole subject of public schools. and, supported by Thaddeus Stevens and Governor Wolfe, it was passed substantially as reported by him, and proved to be the first practical and efficient measure on the subject of general education in the State of Penn- sylvania." On December 8, 1836, he was appointed by Governor Ritner as- sociate-judge of the courts of Delaware county, an appointment held by him for six years, and renewed by popular vote for five succeeding years from the first Monday of December, 1861. Not being bred to the law, his position was that of lay-judge. He was the first superintendent of common schools in Dela- ware county under the Act of May 8, 1854, being chosen by the school direc- tors of the county on the first Monday in June of that year, in accordance with the provisions of that act. For twenty-five years he was president of the school board of Upper Darby school district, during all of which period he devoted his time and energies to the development and improvement of the sys- tem of public instruction, which he had labored so zealously to establish.
In private official capacity, he was president of the Delaware County Turnpike Road Company from its incorporation in 1845 until within a few months of his death. In September, 1833. with four of his friends, he founded the Delaware County Institute of Science, of which he was president from the time of its organization until his death, a period of forty-nine years. This as- sociation, the object of which is to promote the study and diffusion of general knowledge and the establishment of a museum, is in many respects similar to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and. in Dr. Smith's own words, was enabled to accomplish most if not all the objects contemplated in its establishment. The institute was incorporated February 8, 1836, and the following year a hall was built in Upper Providence, where the meetings of the Institute have since been held and its Museum located. The latter em- braces an important collection of specimens in every department of the natural sciences, particularly such as are calculated to illustrate the natural history of the county. To perfect this collection, Dr. Smith presented to the Museum his valuable herbarium. It was in connection with this body and under its auspices that he prepared and published the "History of Delaware County, Pennsyl- vania, from the Discovery of the Territory included within its limits to the present time : with a notice of the Geology of the County and Catalogues of its Minerals, Plants, Quadrupeds and Birds." This work is an octavo volume of nearly six hundred pages, with several maps and illustrations, and was is- sued in the year 1862. In addition to the contents as set forth in this title, the volume contains seventy-six pages of biographical notices of persons identi- fied with the county. Upon this is largely based the historical portion of the present work. Dr. Smith held the pen of a ready writer, and contributed numerous controversial articles to the local press on the removal of the seat of justice from Chester to Media, and upon other subjects. He also published "An Account of the Great Rainstorm and Flood of 1843," and an essay dem- onstrating the fitness of the stone quarried at Leiper's Quarry, in Delaware county, for use in erecting the Delaware Breakwater.
Dr. Smith was a member of Haverford Friends' Meeting ; he was a regu- lar attendant upon the sessions of religious worship at his meeting, and for many years had charge of the First-day school connected with it, in the wel- fare of which he always took the liveliest interest. He was a member of the
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Medical Society of Philadelphia, the American Philosophical Society, the His- torical Society of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society, the Contributors to the Pennsylvania Hospital, honorary member of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, and corresponding mem- ber of the Historical Genealogical Society of New England, formerly an active and at the time of his death an honorary member of the Delaware County Medical Society.
Dr. Smith married, February 26, 1829, in the city of Philadelphia, Mary, daughter of Abraham and Rebecca (Lawrence) Lewis. Children : Abraham Lewis, an able and most highly esteemed member of the Delaware County bar, and also of the Philadelphia bar; Mary Wood; Rebecca, died February 8, 1856; Margaretta ; Benjamin Hayes, a surveyor and civil engineer, held an important and responsible position in the Surveyor General's office at Denver, Colorado, for several years; Clement Lawrence, died July 1, 1909, was a pro- fessor in Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in March, 1882, was appointed Dean of the college; George Jr., died March 21, 1872; Richard Hayes, died September 18, 1856.
SHARPLESS To one who has given his life and labors to the attainment of one ideal, who has toiled through days and months of disappointments and discouragements, who has been re- warded by monients of cheering brightness, ever striving ceaselessly onward, it must be a great satisfaction to see rising a structure that, though in many ways not realizing the fond dream of the toiler, still holds nearly true to the magnificent work planned. Such is the solemn pleasure that must come to Isaac Sharpless, Sc. D .. LL.D., L. H. D., whose connection with Haverford College has extended over a period of thirty-nine years, twenty-seven of which have been spent as the honored president of that institution.
Of the ancestry of Isaac Sharpless little can here be said but that he is a descendant of John and Jane Sharpless, who came to America from England in 1682, founding a family whose members number thousands, the faith of the Society of Friends prevailing through the many lines. His father was Aaron Sharpless, who married Susanna, daughter of Thomas Kite, a minister of the Society of Friends, and after her death married Susanna, daughter of James and Ann (Truman) Forsythe. It is of this second marriage that Isaac Sharp- less was the eldest child, born 12th month 16, 1848.
His early education was obtained in the Westtown Friends Boarding School, of which his father and mother were superintendent and matron re- spectively, whence he was graduated in 1867, being then eighteen years of age. So thoroughly had he imbibed the teachings of his instructors that upon his graduation he was offered a position as teacher in that institution, and for the four following years guided students but a few years his junior over the path he had just traversed. He then enrolled in the Lawrence Scientific School, of Harvard University, in 1873 being awarded the degree of Bachelor of Science from the civil engineering course. Two years after leaving Harvard he was tendered the chair of mathematics in Haverford College, which, happily for the institution and those who have since there matriculated, he accepted, and since that time he has been continuously identified therewith. In 1879 he became professor of astronomy, a subject to which he has devoted much study and ex- tensive private research, and, while he was at the head of this department of the college work, was ceaseless in his efforts to procure more powerful and more suitable equipment for the observatory, directing his pleas so forcefully and to such good effect that the Haverford observatory became noted as being
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one of the prominent college observatories in the country. He later filled the chair of cthics, probably exerting a strong influence upon the student body, al- though none who worked with him, be it over a problem in calculus, in the ob- servatory, or as a fellow member of the faculty, could but be impressed by the dynamic energy, the vast capacity for toil, and the sustaining enthusiasm. In 1884 he was made dean of the college and endowed with full executive and disciplinary powers, in that capacity giving particular attention to the life of the students. In January, 1887, he was elected president of the college by the board of managers, the formal inauguration exercises being held in Alumni Hall on the afternoon of May 17, 1887, Dr. Sharpless signifying his acceptance of the high honor conferred upon him in an address in which he touched upon the situation then existing at Haverford and outlined the plan that he intended to pursue. What concessions, what surrenders, he has been compelled to make, is known to none but himself. All may know, however, of his work as pres- ident of Haverford, of the multitude of undertakings he has fostered to a suc- cessful consummation, all of which stand as present and enduring monu- ments of the years he has spent in the service of that college. Many men who strive for lofty and noble ends are fated never to see the fulfillment of their fondest hopes and visions. To Dr. Sharpless has been accorded the privilege of tasting of the fruits of his toil, and at the same time the inestimably greater joy of assurance that the precedents he has established and the works he has begun will be followed and accomplished when his is no longer the guiding hand.
He has been a contributor to various scientific and educational journals, and is the author of several volumes, among them "Quaker Experiment in Government," dealing with the early history of his State ; "English Education," used as one of the volumes of the International Educational Series; "Two Cen- turies of Pennsylvania History"; and "Quakerism and Politics," a collection of essays. Astronomy and physics have also been the subjects of his writings, and in collaboration with Professor Philips, of the West Chester State Nor- mal School, he is the author of a treatise dealing with those sciences. He has been the recipient of several degrees, that of Sc. D. from the University of Pennsylvania, in 1883; LL.D. from Swarthmore College, four years later ; and that of L. H. D. from Hobart College, as well as his first, B. S. He has takeu advantage of every opportunity for travel that has come to him in the course of his busy life, believing in that as one of the best aids to education, and in 1913 made an extended trip abroad, visiting many European and Asiatic coun- tries. He is essentially a student, and has been blessed, as well, with the inval- uable ability of engendering in others the desire for scholastic pursuits and in creating true appreciation of the boundless benefits of mind culture. Two of the reforms he successfully advocated early in his administration of the presi- dent's duties was a widening of the scientific courses and a more rational and advantageous manner of conducting the literary societies of the college, for which it has ever been famous, both for the number of those skilled in the forensic art that they produced and in the pleasure derived therefrom. In be- half of the students, as a professor and as president, he has sought and ob- tained improved facilities for athletic recreation, and through his cooperation with the student body has gained its members for his firm friends and sup- porters. Ample evidence of this was given as early as the time when he was raised to the presidency, the serenade and celebration of that night remaining fresh in the memory of many a Haverford alumnus. In closing this greatly curtailed account of the career of Dr. Isaac Sharpless as an educator it only re- mains to give the following excerpt from his address at his inauguration as president of Haverford College, a goal that he placed before himself, and
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which he has, through his own valiant endeavors and those of the splendid fac- ulty that has always assisted him, happily gained; "A Haverford degree must stand for breadth of culture, scholarly spirit, and disciplined powers."
His religious faith is that of the Society of Friends, to which for genera- tions his ancestors have been adherents, and his political action is never fore- ordained in favor of the candidates of any particular party.
Isaac Sharpless married, 8th month 10, 1876, at West Chester Meeting, Lydia Trimble Cope, born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, 2nd month 13, 1857, daughter of Paschall and Amy A. (Baily) Cope. Children : 1. Helen, born in Haverford, Pennsylvania, 7th month 25, 1877 ; a graduate of Drexel Institute, employed in library work. 2. Amy C., born Ist month 12, 1879, an artist. 3. Frederick C., born 10th month 1, 1880 : a graduate of Haverford College, class of 1900, and of the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, class of 1903; now a practicing physician. 4. Edith F., born 11th month I, 1883 ; a missionary in Japan. 5. Lydia T., born 10th month 10, 1885; now Lydia T. Perry, Westerly, Rhode Island. 6. Katherine T., born 10 month 17, 1896.
The forbears of George M. Booth, of Chester, Pennsylvania, BOOTH came with the early emigration of Friends from England, set- tling on lands now situated in the townships of Bethel and Up- per Chichester. The emigrant ancestor of the Delaware County family was Robert Booth, who came from an early Friends' stronghold, Yorkshire, Eng- land, a widower with at least two children. He was a member of Knaves- borough Monthly Meeting, wherein is recorded his marriage, fifth month 13, 1698, to Alice Marshall, at Randen, also the births of his children: William. born twelfth month 1, 1699; Mercy, first month 16, 1702; Jeremiah, seventh month II. 1709. On coming to America after the death of his wife he brought a certificate from Askwith Meeting. Great Burton, Yorkshire, dated eleventh month 26, 1712. He settled in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, within the limits of Concord Meeting, purchasing land on both sides of Naaman's Creek, now in Bethel and Upper Chichester townships. In the list of taxables of Bethel township for 1715, his name appears third. According to the records of Concord Meeting, he married (second) fourth month 23, 1715, Betty Cas- ton, who survived him and married ( second) Richard Few, son of the emi- grant of the same name. Robert Booth died in April, 1727. In his will he mentions, in addition to the living children of his second wife, those of his first marriage. Children of second marriage: Robert (2), of whom further ; Mary, born third month II, 1718, married William Pyle; Ann, born seventh month 13, 1720, married Samuel Saville ; John, born eleventh month 6, 1723 ; Elizabeth, died young.
(II) Robert (2), son of Robert (1) Booth and his second wife, Betty Caston, was born in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, third month 15, 1716, died eleventh month 29. 1796. He was a lad of eleven years when his father died, and in 1732 Robert accompanied his stepfather. Richard Few, and fam- ily, to a farm in Kennett township, Chester County, on the west side of Brandywine Creek, there residing until he attained legal age. He inherited, under his father's will, the farm in Upper Chichester, and upon attaining his majority took possession thereof, continuing his residence there until his death. almost sixty years later, he being then in his eightieth year. He married (first) at Chichester Meeting, fourth month 18, 1741, Elizabeth. daughter of William and Elizabeth ( Hayes) Cloud, of Richland Manor, New Castle Coun- ty, Delaware. She was a granddaughter of Henry Hayes, who came to Amer-
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ica in 1705, settling in East Marlborough township. Chester County. Children : 1. William, died 1787; married (first) sixth month 26, 1766, Mary Dutton, (second) fourth month 10, 1769. Rebecca Hewes. 2. Jeremiah, married in 1765, Elizabeth Dutton. 3. John. of whom further. 4. Elizabeth, married, in 1776, Robert Steele. 5. Hannah, married, first month 23, 1772, John Ker- lin. 6. Joseph, married in 1776, Sarah - -. 7. Aaron. 8. Mary. 9. Jemi- ma, married, in 1784, Benjamin Townsend. 10. Robert (3). married. in 1778, Ann Martin. Robert ( 2) Booth married a second wife, also named Elizabeth, who bore him Thomas and Phoebe. The former married Phoebe Cloud, the latter, on twelfth month 27, 1784, married Jeremiah Brown.
(III) John, third son of Robert (2) Booth and his first wife, Elizabeth Cloud, was born on the Upper Chichester farm, in 1745. died II mo. 16, 1823. He grew to manhood as his father's assistant but later owned several farms, including what is now known as the Booth homestead, on which Booth- wyn, a station and postoffice on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, is located. Ac- cording to the assessors' books of Upper Chichester for that period, John Booth and his son Joseph seem to have occupied the property jointly for sev- eral years, Joseph later inheriting the same. John Booth married, in 1774, Elizabeth, daughter of James and Prudence (Dutton) Shelley, and grand- daughter of Roger Shelley and John Dutton, the emigrant. Thomas Reynolds and John and Hannah (Simcock) Kingsman were also progenitors of Mrs. John Booth. Children : Joseph, of whom further ; Sarah, married third month 12, 1805, William McCay.
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