USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume II > Part 33
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PARLETTE This family has been identified with some of the most im- portant interests of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, and its various members have always shown a public spirit in all matters concerning the welfare of the community in which they have lived, which has been highly commendable. The name would indicate that this fam- ily is of French origin, and they are probably descended from the French Huguenots, many of whom sought and found refuge in this country.
(I) George W. Parlette was born near Baltimore, Maryland, March 7, 1807, and died in South Media, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, in 1888. He was a farmer by occupation, and the greater part of his life was spent in Har- ford county, Maryland. He married Ariel Standeford and they had children : Elizabeth, born December 25, 1837, died July 31, 1862: David Oliver, born February 25, 1839, died in 1912: Dennis Standeford, born April 25. 1840; George W., born May 23, 1842, lives in South Media; William Henry, see forward; Hannah Ann, born January 2, 1846, now deceased ; Zachariah Tay- lor, and Winfield Scott, twins, born May 19, 1847, W. Scott, deceased : James WV., born March 19, 1849: Cordelia S., born July 11, 1850; Claudius Richard, born January 28, 1855. Mrs. Parlette died in 1893. She and her husband were members of the Methodist church.
(11) William Henry, son of George W. and Ariel (Standeford) Par- lette, was born in Ilarford county, Maryland, March 18, 1843, and died in South Media, Pennsylvania, in November, 1882. His childhood was spent in Harford county, and it was there that he learned his trade as a wheelwright.
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About 1870 he located in Wilmington, Delaware, and lived there about ten years. He then removed to South Media, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, where he was identified with his trade until his early death. He had a shop at Hinkson Corners, which was destroyed by fire in 1881. He then estab- lished a shop in Media, on the same site and in the same building as the present post office, where he carried on his business until his death. Mr. Parlette married Margaret, born in Wilmington, Delaware, 1850, died in Philadelphia, 1907, a daughter of Benjamin Franklin McDaniel, a millwright in Lee's Mills, Wilmington, Delaware, where he died in 1856. She had one brother, Benja- min Franklin McDaniel, Jr., who lives in Wilmington. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Parlette : Frank M., unmarried, lives in Philadelphia ; William P., un- married, lives in Media ; H. Leslie, see forward ; Willard A., married, lives in Philadelphia : May, died in infancy.
(III) H. Leslie, son of William Henry and Margaret (McDaniel) Par- lette, was born in Wilmington, Delaware, March 19, 1877. He was a very young child when his parents removed to Media, Delaware county, Pennsyl- vania, and he there attended the public schools. He completed his education in Upper Providence School No. 1. He commenced his business career at the early age of eleven years becoming clerk in a grocery store, a position he re- tained for one year. He then worked two years in the mills at Rose Valley and at the age of fourteen years began an apprenticeship in a blacksmith's shop in Media where he remained seven years and then entered the employ of J. W. Moyer & Company, who were engaged in the manufacture of Overhead Tram- rail Systems. He remained with this concern for a period of four years, at which time they went out of business. He then established himself in Wash- ington, District of Columbia, later making his headquarters in Baltimore, Mary- land, and after he had completed all of his contracts in and around that city, he shipped his equipment to Media, Pennsylvania, opened a factory there in 1905, and has since been located in that place. Some of the important con- tracts he has been called upon to engineer have been Cuba; South America ; Baltimore ; Washington, District of Columbia ; Racine, Wisconsin ; Houston, Texas; Charleston, West Virginia ; Hartford and Bridgeport, Connecticut ; Concord, New Hampshire. The goods are now made in Media and shipped all over the country, being used in abattoirs, factories, etc., wherever heavy shifting is done. In political matters Mr. Parlette favors the Republican party, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Parlette married, February 4. 1903, Elizabeth, born in Manayunk, Pennsylvania, April 3, 1876, a daughter of Llewellyn Clevenger, Sr., a native of Philadelphia, who died in South Media, October 11, 1907; he was a carder in a woolen mill, and married Mary Smith, who was born in Shrewsbury, York county, Pennsylvania. They had children: Elizabeth, mentioned above ; Algernon, married Mamie Wetzel; L. M., married Edith Harrison Black ; Oliver, married Mae Maridith ; Albirdie, died unmarried; Annie; John; Lou- ise ; Lettie. MIr. and Mrs. Parlette have had children : H. Leslie, Jr., born March 31, 1904; Elizabeth, born December 3. 1905 ; Llewellyn, born August 2, 1907 ; William H., born December 28, 1908: Robert W., born January 11, 1910.
ROBINSON From North of Ireland ancestry comes John B. Robinson, eminent lawyer, state senator and United States marshal, now a resident of Media, Pennsylvania. He is a grandson of General William Robinson, a member of the Pennsylvania legislature, the first mayor of Allegheny City, after its corporation (now Pittsburgh, North Side ), first president of the Exchange Bank of Pittsburgh, United States
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Commissioner in 1842, a man thoroughly respected and honored. He is said to have been the first white child born north and west of the Ohio river, and died 1868.
William O'Hara, son of General William Robinson, was a leading lawyer of Pittsburgh and, in 1844, was United States district-attorney for the West- ern District of Pennsylvania
John Buchanan, son of William O'Hara Robinson, was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, May 23, 1846. He attended the private schools in Pitts- burgh, entered Western University, finishing at Amherst College. In 1862 be attached himself to Captain Riddle's company of the 15th Pennsylvania Emergency Regiment, and in 1864 enlisted in the active service. But the family already had two sons at the front, one of whom, Captain William O'Hara Robinson, was killed at the battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864, and through the influence of his grandfather, General Robinson, John B. was released from service, much against his wish. As compensation he was ap- pointed a cadet of the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, by Congress- man Thomas Williams, and sworn into service for eight years. He was grad- uated four years later in 1868, and was engaged in active sea duty until 1875, when he resigned, having risen to the rank of lieutenant. During his naval experience he visited nearly every country. He was three times in Europe, · sailed around the world in the flag ship "Colorado," flying the pennant of Rear Admiral Rodgers. He was in Japan at the time of the American expedition to Corea, in which Lieutenant McKee and a number of sailors and marines lost their lives in the attack on the Corean forts located along the Hong river. In that same year, 1871, in company with Lieutenant Chipp (afterward lost with the Jeannette Polar expedition) Lieutenant Robinson was on the United States steamer "Monocacy," commanded by Captain McCrea, engaged on the hydrographic survey of the Yang-tse river. In the same year, as navigating officer of the United States sloop of war "Idaho," commanded by Captain J. Crittenden Watson, he went through the exciting dangerous experience of a typhoon, which nearly sunk the "Idaho," although at anchor in Yokohama harbor. While in Japan, Lieutenant Robinson was one of a company of United States naval officers accorded an interview with the hitherto rigidly exclusive Mikado of Japan, the interview having been arranged by Sir Henry Parkes, K.C.B., British minister to Yeddo, in defiance of precedent. In August, 1871, Lieutenant Robinson, with a party of American officers, made the ascent of Fieji-Yama, the famous mountain peak of Japan, and accur-
ately measured its height by instruments. Returning to the United States he served in 1873 on the Great Lakes on the steamer "Michigan," and in the fall of that year was ordered to New York as watch officer on the "Jnniata." Later he sailed in the "Juniata" under sealed orders which proved to be to proceed to Santiago de Cuba and peremptorily demand the surrender of American citizens seized on the "Virginius" by the Spanish authorities. On January 1, 1875, after eleven years service, Lieutenant Robinson retired from the naval service, his resignation having been handed in the previous year.
He returned to Pennsylvania and began the study of law under John G. Johnson in Philadelphia. In 1876 he was admitted to the Philadelphia bar. and in 1878 removed to Delaware county, where he was admitted to the bar of that county, and in the same year was admitted to practice in the Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania. He advanced rapidly in his profession, and as senior counsel for the defence in the case of Samuel Johnson, a colored man, charged with the murder of John Sharpless, he won a state-wide fame. This is one of the celebrated cases in Pennsylvania reports and was heard on appeals through different courts, finally reaching the board of pardons. Mr. Robinson fought
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this case with such ability and pertinacity argued with such eloquence, that he saved the life of his client. Along with the practice of his profession Mr. Robinson has carried a burden of official political responsibility. In 1884 he was elected to the state legislature from Delaware county, was re-elected two years later, and prominently mentioned for speaker. He was in the thick of the fray in the House, making many noted speeches, particularly his anti-dis- crimination speech, his speech against Governor Pattison's veto of the indigent soldiers' burial bill, and his speech in favor of an increase in the length of school terms, which resulted in passing the bill. In 1888 he was a candidate for renomination to the House, but was defeated. In the following campaign he was on the stump for his successful rival, and later was engaged by the Republican National Committee as a speaker in New York. Connecticut and New Jersey. In 1889 he secured the nomination for state senator from the Ninth senatorial district, winning the honor on the first ballot over Jesse M. Baker, James Watts Mercur and Geoffrey P. Denis. In this contest he was antagonized by the liquor interests and by those controlling federal patron- age. He led a successful fight, and as the "People's Candidate" completely changed the complexion of the old time Republican rule in the county, also establishing himself as a leader in state politics. He won over his Democratic competitor by 1559 majority, and served with great honor as senator. Mr. Robinson is one of the most trenchant and vigorous political leader-writers in his state, and both pen and voice have often spoken in aid of great reformatory measures. Staunchly Republican, he is not so partisan as to smother independence, nor is he in the slightest degree a demagogue. He has opposed men and measures in his own party and has always had the support of the voters of his district in a large degree. As a speaker he is logical and convincing, often rising to the heights of true eloquence. He has delivered many memorable addresses on "Memorial Day" in different cities, and one yet spoken of in praise was delivered at the reunion of the veterans of the 97th Pennsyl- vania Volunteers in November, 1889. He has also gained success as a writer. While in the naval service he wrote a series of brilliant letters for the "Com- mercial Gazette" of Pittsburgh, and has since been a frequent and welcome contributor to the leading New York and Philadelphia journals. In 1881-82 he was chief editorial writer for the "Delaware County Gazette," of Chester, then owned by August Donath In the winter of 1880. Mr. Robinson made his first essay on the lecture platform, beginning a career of success that brought him into prominence as a lecturer
Mr. Robinson is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows : the American Protestant Association: Knights of Pythias; Order of Chosen Friends : Knights of the Golden Eagle: Improved Order of Red Men ; Inde- pendent Order of Mechanics: Bradbury Post, No. 149. Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was elected commander in 1884; and holds member- ships in various other societies. A man of fine natural talents, developed in contact in political and professional life with the best association, blessed with a comprehensive education greatly extended by foreign travel, Mr. Robinson has used his gifts wisely and well. He illustrates in his own life the peculiar characteristics of the best birthright of the best type of American citizen, the ability to succeed in political and professional life without resource to trick- ery. After a public and professional life of nearly forty years, Mr. Robinson, from the heights of success, can truly say that every step of his way has been honestly won, and that principle was never sacrificed for sordid gain. Since 1901 he has held the position of United States marshal in the Philadelphia District.
Lieutenant Robinson married in St. Louis, Missouri, October 20. 1874.
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Elizabeth Waddingham, daughter of Charles L. Gilpin, then of St. Louis, Missouri, granddaughter of Mayor Charles Gilpin, of Philadelphia, a lineal descendant of Joseph Gilpin, of Dorchester, Oxfordshire, England, who came to Pennsylvania in 1696, settling in Birmingham, Delaware county. Joseph Gilpin was of the sixteenth generation from Richard de Gueylpin, who had a grant in the reign of King John (1206) of the estate of Kentmore, in the county of Westmoreland, England. By the union of Mr. Robinson and Miss Gilpin there were seven children born, four of whom survive: Mrs. Elizabeth Wyckoff, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ; Mrs. Adele Gilpin Miller and Mrs. Helen Robinson Anderson and Miss Mildred Robinson, the three last named of Media, Pennsylvania. These children through their mother trace through twenty-one recorded generations of Gilpins to the days of Magna Charta. The family home of the Robinsons. the "Gayley," is in Media, Pennsylvania.
Besides the before named offices held by Mr. Robinson, he was appointed by President Mckinley, May Ist, 1900. United States marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, was reappointed in 1905 by President Roosevelt, and again reappointed in 1912, by President Taft, and served until December Ist, 1913, when he was succeeded by Frank S. Noonan. a Democrat appointed by President Wilson, in flagrant violation of all civil service reform and his own civil service professions. During the time Mr. Robinson was marshal, he was elected a national delegate to the Republican Convention in 1908, which nominated Mr. Taft for president. Of other offices held by Mr. Robinson was the presidency of the Republican League of Clubs of Pennsylvania, dur- ing the years 1891-1802 and 1893, succeeding the first president of the league, Hon. Edwin S. Stuart. He has been a candidate for minor offices, among those for lieutenant-governor of the State in 1894, being defeated for the nom- ination, although electing ninety-seven delegates against the combined oppo- sition of all the prominent leaders of the party in the commonwealth. He was an unsuccessful applicant for the position of assistant secretary of the navy In 1897, the president, Mr. McKinley, appointed Theodore Roosevelt through cinnati, Ohio.
During Mr. Robinson's service in congress he was on the Columbian Exposition Committee and the Naval Committee, and twice was a member, by appointment of the speaker, to the board of visitors to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. In 1896 in this position he was president of the the influence of Mrs. Bellamy Storer, one of the Longworth family of Cin- board, and delivered the annual address at the commencement of the graduat- ing class. His public record, State and National, covers a period of over forty years, and he is yet, although a private citizen, one of the most active and in- fluential of the Republican leaders of the county of Delaware, and the state in which he resides.
BROWN This branch of the Brown family was for many years seated in Yorkshire, England, and while on a visit to the old family home, Arthur Brown occupied the seat in church that for fifty years had been his grandfather's. This old gentleman, Benjamin Brown, never left his native shire, both he and his wife living there until a good old age, leaving issue.
George Brown, son of Benjamin Brown, was born in Yorkshire, England, October 21, 1831, and there received in private schools of high degree, a liberal education. He became a woolen manufacturer of England and on coming to the United States, established in the same business in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where after a successful business life he yet resides aged eighty-three years.
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He espoused the Tory cause in England and in Lancaster became a supporter of the Republican party, serving as city councilman. His wife, Esther Beard- sal, was the daughter of a Yorkshire woolen manufacturer ; children: Thom- as, married Mary Horrock and resides in Mount Joy, Lancaster county ; Ar- thur, of whom further; Walter, married Izella Garside; Sarah, married Jo- seph Battye, whom she survives ; Benjamin, married Annie Henry ; Emma, married John Zellers ; George, married Annie Keller ; Annie, married Abraham Shelley, whom she survives; Elmer, married Sarah Heilig, deceased ; Lily, died unmarried. The living all reside in Mount Joy, Lancaster county. The mother died in Philadelphia, aged thirty-eight years, a member of the Established Church of England; Mr. Brown is a vestryman.
Arthur Brown, son of George and Esther ( Beardsal) Brown, was born in Yorkshire, England, August 25, 1857. He was brought to this country when an infant by his parents, who after a brief residence in Trenton, New Jersey, moved to Upper Darby township, Delaware county, thence to Mount Joy, Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania. Arthur Brown began his education in the public schools of Upper Darby at age five years, continuing and finishing at the Epis- copal academy, Juniper and Locust streets, Philadelphia. He began working in his father's woolen mill, continuing until thoroughly mastering the details of woolen manufacture. He then in association with his brothers, Thomas and Walter, founded a corporation known as George Brown's Sons, establishing their mills in Germantown, Philadelphia, where for four years they continued successful manufacturers of woolen goods. They then moved to Mount Joy, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where their main plant is now located. They established a branch mill at Lenni, Pennsylvania, which is under the direct management of Arthur Brown,
Mr. Brown is a member of George W. Bartram Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; is a Republican in politics and both he and his wife are members of the Episcopal Church.
He married Anna Brown, born in Philadelphia, August 18, 1861, daugh- ter of John Brown, a retired farmer, now living at Drexel Hill, Delaware coun- ty, and his wife, Anna Fryburg. They had issue: Anna, wife of Arthur Brown ; Eliza, married Charles Drewes and resides at Darby, Delaware coun- ty. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have five children, one daughter and four sons: Anna S., Maurice, Lawrence, Edwin, John.
OTTEY Harry P. Ottey, engaged in business as a book and job printer in
Media, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, is a man of many-sided ability and versatility in business and social life. His services have been appreciated in financial affairs as well as in general business, and he has taken a prominent part in all matters tending to the public welfare.
Albin Pyle Ottey, his father, was born December 28, 1839, and died Oc- tober 4, 1912. He was one of the earliest volunteers at the outbreak of the civil war, serving in Company A, First Regiment, Pennsylvania Reserve Vol- unteer Infantry, from 1861 to 1864, and retired from the service with his health impaired by the hardships and dangers through which he had passed. From 1867 until 1882 he held the position of clerk in the Delaware County Fire Insurance Company, then established himself in the shoe business, and was afterwards tax collector. He married Jane Smedley Phillips and had children : Harry P., whose name heads this sketch; Albin Lewis, who lives in Media ; and married Julia German, of Philadelphia; William Rupert, lives in West Chester, and married Sarah Pancoast.
Harry P. Ottey was born in Media, Pennsylvania, July 1, 1865. He re-
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Cha? J. Schoen
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·ceived his general education in the public schools of his native town, and then commenced the study of law under the preceptorship of V. Gilpin Robinson, but never took the examination for admission to the bar. In 1882 he became associated with his father in the shoe business which the latter established, and continued his connection with this until January, 1894. In the meantime, however, he had established himself independently in the job printing business, and, when he had placed this upon a secure footing, devoted his entire time and attention to the printing business. In this he has been eminently successful and has a fine establishment at No. 31 West State street, Media. Since Octo- ber, 1912, he has filled the office of notary public of the First National Bank of Media. His political affiliations are with the Republican party, and he will be a candidate for the office of tax collector at the next Republican primaries. He is an active member of the Media Fire and Hook and Ladder Company, No. I, in which organization he is one of the most energetic workers. His re- ligious connection is with the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Media, and he is a member of the Media Club and of the Sons of Veterans, in which order he has filled all the chairs, and is now holding the office of past commander.
Mr. Ottey married in Media, September 18, 1893, at the parsonage of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, the Rev. Henry Wheeler, D. D., officiating, Ida Pancoast, daughter of John S. and Sarah B. (Briggs) Braden, and they have one child : Albin Pyle, Jr., born June 3, 1902. The untiring diligence and application of Mr. Ottey have made him a most efficient and serviceable citi- zen. His clear mind and remarkable tenacity of purpose have enabled him to discharge the varied duties which he has been called upon to perform with distinction and ability, and his career most forcibly illustrates the possibilities which are open to a man who possesses sterling business qualities and knows how to make the best use of the opportunities which are presented.
SCHOEN There are many names so closely connected with the steel in- dustry in the United States that they are credited with the in- ventions that forced the industry into the front rank of Amer- ican enterprises. In reality they were merely the managerial heads, and in most instances men without mechanical skill or ability. A notable exception is Charles T. Schoen, inventor, patentee, owner, and manufacturer, of the Schoen pressed steel system of car construction, and father of the pressed steel car, now in use on every railroad of any importance in the United States and on many foreign roads. His connection with the construction of pressed steel cars has not only been in a supervisory capacity, but in the beginning of the manufacture of pressed steel parts in Philadelphia, Mr. Schoen was one of the four workers in his shop, drawing the hot plates from the fire side by side with the others, and it is his proud boast that he "could do the same today." To invent and to bring into existence such a great business as the manufacture of pressed steel cars has become would satisfy even an extraordinary man, but not Mr. Schoen, who, seeing the inadequacy of the cast iron car wheel for the high speeds and heavy loads of modern railway service, developed a forged and rolled steel car wheel, now in general use on engine trucks and tenders, passengers and freight steam railway cars, elevated, subway and street cars. So to Mr. Schoen's creative genius and mechanical ability our country owes an entirely new business of vast proportions. He is a real "captain of industry," a title gained not by manipulation, governmental favor, or lucky association, but by virtue of genius, courage, brain, muscle and hard work. A pleasing feature of Mr. Schoen's life is the fact that all his hopes for the success of the pressed steel car and the forged steel wheel have been realized during his
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life-time. Nowhere can he go by rail but he listens to the clicking and humming of wheels invented by himself, bearing to their destina- tion cars also of his own invention, both, perhaps, of his own man- ufacture. To this he adds the thought that he has more nearly insured the safety of life. increased the pleasure of travel, and added to the wealth of his country. These are the rewards that daily and hourly come to the kindly hearted, great man, who, upon dropping the cares of a large business, has sought amid the rural beauties of Delaware county a home for his declining years.
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