USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume III > Part 22
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Sydney George Fisher was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Septem- ber 11, 1856, son of Sidney George and Elizabeth ( Ingersoll) Fisher. Sidney George Fisher Sr., was born in Philadelphia, March 2, 1809, and died on his farm, Forest Hill, north of the city, July 25, 1871. He was a graduate of Dickinson College, class of 1827, studied law, and in his early life practiced his profession in Philadelphia. He acquired a national reputation as a political writer, under the nom de plume of Cecil and also Kent, writing mostly on the civil war problems of slavery and secession. He was a member of the Union League of Philadelphia, and an ardent supporter with pen and speech of the administration and character of President Lincoln.
Sydney George Fisher Jr. was brought up on his father's farm, which had old forest trees, and two streams running through it; and it was there he probably acquired his strong liking for animals, nature, and country life. When he was sixteen, both his parents were dead, and he went to boarding school at St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire; entered Trinity Col- lege. Hartford, Connecticut, whence he was graduated in the class of 1879, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He has since then received the degree of Litt.D. from the Western University of Pennsylvania, now the University of Pittsburgh, the degree of LL.D. from his alma mater, and the degree of LL.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
He returned to Philadelphia, read law, entered Harvard Law School, and in 1883 was admitted to the Philadelphia bar. He continued in practice for some years and was admitted to all state and federal courts of the district, attaining rank as a young lawyer of industry and integrity. He wrote a num- ber of articles for legal periodicals-"Are the Departments of Government independent of each other?" in the "American Law Review:" "The Suspen- sion of the Writ of Habeas Corpus in the War of the Rebellion," in the "Po- litical Science Quarterly :" "The Railroad Leases to Control the Anthracite Coal Trade," in the "American Law Register;" "The Administration of Equity Through Common Law Forms in Pennsylvania," in the "London Law Quarterly Review," afterwards republished in the second volume of "Select Essays in Anglo-American Legal History," compiled and edited by the Associa- tion of American Law Schools.
The law could not confine him, however, and to the public at large he is known less as the lawyer than as the political economist and the historian. While yet a student he commenced his work as a political essayist, attacked with vigor in the columns of the "New York Nation," under the sig- nature of F. G. S., the spoils system as then practiced, and suggested the for- mation of the civil service reform associations, which were almost immediately organized and have accomplished such excellent results in obtaining legisla- tion against the spoils system and in favor of merit as a tenure of public office. This sort of work in the field of political science, begun and long prosecuted by the father, has been continued by the son-first, perhaps, as a sacred inheritance, but later from a genuine love of his brother and a desire to help
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all reform measures that tend to the public good. Some of his best articles are: "Alien Degradation of American Character," published in the "Forum ;" "Has Immigration Dried Up Our Literature?" also in the "Forum;" and "Has Immigration Increased Population?" in the "Popular Science Monthly." These proved an important incentive to the formation of the Immigrant Re- striction League. Other articles appeared in rapid succession, including "The Causes of the Increase of Divorce," afterwards rewritten and amplified; also a pamphlet of very wide circulation called "The American Revolution and the Boer War."
He is the author of a number of books: "The Making of Pennsylvania ;" "Pennsylvania Colony and Commonwealth;" "The Evolution of the Consti- tution ;" "Men, Women and Manners of Colonial Times;" "The True Ben- jamin Franklin;" "The True William Penn;" "The Life of Daniel Webster." Among his more recent books attracting wide attention and circulation, are "The True History of The American Revolution" and "The Struggle for American Independence." These last two books brush the scales from one's eyes and give us the story of men, not demi-gods. The latter book, which is in two volumes, is a fine piece of book making on the part of publisher as well as author, and a most complete history of the American Revolution from the point of view of scientific and impartial investigation of the original evi- dence by modern historical methods. Mr. Fisher's recent pamphlet, "The Legendary and Myth-Making Process in Histories of the American Revolu- tion," read before the American Philosophical Society in 1912, points out some of the misleading methods by which the history of that period has been writ- ten, and leads to the hope that many more histories of men of that period will appear from the pen of Mr. Fisher.
His interest in his alma mater has not diminished with the years since leaving her halls. He is a trustee of Trinity, and her warm friend. He is also interested in schools for the blind, and serves on the board of trustees of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind. As one of the managers of the Old Philadelphia Library, on Locust street, which was founded by Benjamin Franklin, he has amply proven the worth of his services.
Active, busy and useful as he is, Mr. Fisher believes in recreation and sport. His pleasures extend from fine old engravings to golf and farming. He has always been fond of using tools, particularly in boat building, and in his leisure hours has constructed a number of boats in his well-equipped and interesting amateur shop at Essington, his home. He is an active member of the Corinthian Yacht Club at that place, and can usually be found there on Saturdays and Sundays. He is very fond of reading about natural history, biological science and geology. He has always taken a leading part in urging the importance of game preservation and has written a number of articles on that subject. He is a most enthusiastic conservationist, and believes that the time has come for the enforcing of very strenuous measures to pro- tect our forests, birds and all natural resources. The wild parts of Florida have had a strong attraction for Mr. Fisher for many years, and he has cruised in the Gulf of Mexico and made numerous explorations in the interior of Florida for sport and nature study, usually in company with his cousin, Mr. William M. Meigs, and has traveled extensively through nearly all the southern states, particularly the regions where quail shooting can be enjoyed. His articles upon the negro problem, and upon scenes and episodes of southern life have been widely read. He has also written articles for "Forest and Stream," as for example "Two Weeks with the Louisiana French;" and a notable article in "The American Field," entitled, "Have Field Trials Im-
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proved the Setter?" and another in "The London Field," called "Practical Tests for Shotguns."
Besides the Corinthian Yacht Club, Mr. Fisher belongs to the Univer- sity Club and the Franklin Inn Club of Philadelphia, and to the Spring Haven Country Club in Delaware county. He frequently spends part of the sum- mer at the old Broadwater Club on the coast of Virginia, and is very familiar with the sailing, fishing and other sporting facilities of those channels and islands. He is very fond of Delaware county and says that he never felt at home until he came there to live, about twenty years ago. He likes to take walks in all parts of the county, visiting dairy and grain farms and talking to the farmers. The fox hunting, the numerous packs of hounds, some of them kept by the old fashioned farmers, and the pretty scenes when the hounds and the mounted keepers are out exercising as well as hunting, give a character and interest which it would be hard to equal, he says, in any other part of America. His favorite district is along the valley of Ridley creek, which he considers on the whole the choice of the county's four beautiful streams, Darby, Crum. Ridley and Chester. The Delaware river, on which he has lived so long, is to him also a very important part of the county. He has always found it very difficult to keep away from water and boats. He went to live on the Delaware at Essington many years ago, because he found himself so strongly attracted by the boats, yachting and Scandinavian sailors that he was visiting it, every Saturday afternoon, Sundays and holidays. It was more con- venient to live at the place one was perfectly willing to stay in on Sundays holidays. Returning to it from his city work every evening, he found a more restful and wholesome change than he could find in any other of Philadel- phia's suburbs. Continual city life does not at all suit him. Most of his congenial acquaintances and friends belong to the Corinthian Yacht Club, at Essington, and he is at his best among these companions. He has explored the Delaware, studied its tides, shoals, islands and geology, and wrote a long article on it in the "Philadelphia Sunday Ledger" of October 20, 1912, after- wards enlarged and reprinted. He has been connected with several of the controversies of riparian owners against the interests that narrow the river and shoal small harbors. He advocates deepening the Delaware by dredging rather than by dikes that act as partial dans to the flood tide.
The varied richness, vegetation and bird life along the shoals and islands of the Delaware, and in the meadows and marshes that spread out like lakes at high tide with their vast crops of graceful reeds and red and yellow flow- ers are, he often says, far more attractive to the naturalist and real nature lover than panoramic tourist rivers like the Hudson. Equally fascinating are the remains and records of the Delaware's long geologic history in the days of glaciers, ice floes and mighty floods, when they rolled down to the ocean the sand and mud that went to build New Jersey and Delaware.
In religious faith Mr. Fisher is an Episcopalian, but is inclined to regard such subjects in the rationalistic way of the Quaker stock, from which he is descended on his father's side. On his mother's side he is descended from Connecticut forbears. But in all things he is the genuine, sincere man, loved most by those who know him best.
BUNTING Among the early converts to the faith and principles of the Society of Friends were Anthony and Ellen Bunting, whose long but uneventful lives were spent in the little village of Matlack in the heart of Derbyshire, England, where both died in the year 1700, both, according to the quaint and meagre record of the Society of
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Friends, having rounded out one hundred years of life. Three of their four sons, John, Samuel and Job came to America in 1678, settling in Burlington county, New Jersey, Job later moving to Bucks county, Pennsylvania; Wil- liam, the second son remained in England, his son, Samuel, born 1692 came to Pennsylvania in 1722, married and left numerous descendants, as have his three uncles.
Alfred Bunting descends from the Philadelphia branch of the family ; his grandfather, Charles S. Bunting, having been born in that city. He was a strong patriot during the revolution, although but little more than a boy at its commencement. He was a manufacturer and miller at Elk river and Octoraro, Maryland, but practically lived his entire life in Philadelphia, and there died. He married (first) Fannie Price, ( second ) Ann Grant, both wives being buried in Christ Church burying ground, Fourth and Arch streets, Phil- adelphia. All were members of the Society of Friends. Children by first wife: Charles Price (of whom further) ; Christiana, married Hugh De Haven ; Hannah, died unmarried.
Charles Price Bunting, only son of Charles S. Bunting and his first wife, Fannie Price, was born in Elkton, Maryland, February 14, 1793, died in Mar- cus Hook, Pennsylvania. He was educated in private schools and grew to manhood in Elkton and Philadelphia. He learned the trade of carriage builder, later learned coopering, but most his life he was a merchant. He was a Whig. but lived to see the Republican party formed and was a strong supporter of that party until his death. He was a member and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church for many years, his wife also being a member. He married Sarah Longaker, of Ridley township, Delaware county. Children of Charles Price Bunting: James C., born January, 1833, died December 18, 1910; Al- fred (of whom further) ; Hannah S., born September 25, 1840.
Alfred Bunting, second son of Charles Price and Sarah (Longaker) Bunt- ing was born in Tammany street, Philadelphia, September 5, 1834. His early life was spent in Marcus Hook and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; his education being obtained in private schools. He became a civil engineer, and for the past forty years has been connected with the United States Engineering depart- ment, as surveyor and conveyancer. He is a resident of Marcus Hook, and has served as justice of the peace and school director. His life has been an active, busy one, full of incident, but lived with a steady purpose, and is a life that covering, as it does, more than the scriptural allotment of years, has not been devoid of usefulness to his fellowmen.
Mr. Bunting is a Prohibitionist in politics; a member of the Masonic order, and although the early Buntings were members of the Society of Friends, both Albert and his father departed from that faith and joined the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Bunting married Frances M., daughter of Benjamin F. Johnson, a farmer and justice of the peace, who married Mary A. Entriken, born in Philadelphia.
This is one of the old families of the state of New Jersey, a branch
COOK of which settled in Monmouth county near the coast, where Thom- as, grandfather of Charles Carl Cook of Essington, Pennsylvania. was born. He had a farm on Squan river, containing one hundred acres on which he had a large farmhouse, used in summer for the accommodation of guests. He was twice married and had a large family, most of his sons becom- ing sailors and rising to captaincies. One of these, Captain Lewis Cook, died of yellow fever in a Southern port : another Captain William Cook, sailed away
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in 1864, bound for New Orleans, and was never heard from again. One of the daughters, Caroline Sanborn, was a noted artist of Brooklyn. Thomas Cook and his family were members of the Society of Friends, worshipping at the old Meeting House in Squan Village, perhaps the oldest church in this country.
Joseph H. Cook, son of Thomas Cook, was born at Point Pleasant, New Jersey, and died in New York City. He grew up at the homestead in Squan. and chose a mercantile life. He located in Philadelphia where he became a member of the wholesale and retail grocery firm of Williams & Cook, on Front street. He was an able business man and was successful in his undertakings. In religious faith he was a Friend and in politics, a Republican. He married Anna, daughter of Samuel Farrel and his wife, Phoebe Collins; children: Charles Carl (of whom further) : Anna, married and resides in New Mexico : J. Horace, superintendent of buildings for the Board of Education of Philadel- phia.
Charles Carl Cook, son of Joseph H. and Anna ( Farrel) Cook, was born in Philadelphia, in 1852. He attended the Friends school in Philadelphia, and Westtown Boarding School, later spending four years at the School of In- dustrial Art. He pursued a full course of art study at the latter institution, receiving in 1881 the first diploma issued to a graduate of that school. After a varied and successful life Mr. Cook located at Essington, where he now re- sides. He is secretary of the Philadelphia Yacht Club, a position he first ac- cepted fourteen years ago. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the Society of Friends. He is unmarried.
An enterprising citizen and one of the progressive and ener-
DEMPSTER getic business men of Delaware county, Pennsylvania. is Howard Henry Dempster, who has a good position in the purchasing department of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, his headquar- ters being at Norwood. He has served his home community in various official capacities of important trust and responsibility, and is popular amongst his fellow citizens by reason of his congenial disposition and sterling integrity of character.
A native of the Keystone state, Mr. Dempster was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1866. He is a son of James and Christina (Thomp- son) Dempster, the former a native of Scotland and the latter also of Scotch descent. - - and Sarah (Thompson) Dempster, paternal grandparents of the subject, were born and reared in Scotland, where was solemnized their marriage and where their two children were born. They immigrated to America where their deaths occurred. Mr. Dempster, the grandfather, was a farmer by occupation and was for many years a resident of Chester county, Pennsylvania. He and his wife were devout members of the Presbyterian church, in whose faith they reared their children.
James Dempster was young at the time of his parents' arrival in America. In his youth he learned the trade of carder, and for a number of years was employed in various woolen mills in that capacity. With the passage of time he accumulated some money and engaged in the manufacturing of woolen yarns, achieving marked success in that line of enterprise. He was a stal- wart Republican in his political convictions and he and his family were mem- bers of the Presbyterian church. He married Christina Thompson, who bore him eight children, as follows: William, a carder by trade, resides at Ches- ter, Pennsylvania, where he was councilman for several terms; Robert, a traveling salesman, now located in Alabama; James, engaged in the cement business in the city of Philadelphia: Howard H., mentioned below; Jennie.
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the wife of George Nibel, a letter carrier at Chester; Arthur, in the insurance business; Mabel, married Lewis Barlow, a dairy man; George, engaged in the hotel business. The father of the above children died in 1886, and the mother passed to the great beyond in 1877.
Howard H. Dempster was educated in the public schools of Chester county, and as a youth he worked as hall boy in a hotel in Philadelphia for a time. He learned the carding business at Chester, but in 1886 abandoned that line of work to accept a position with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He has been in the employ of the latter concern during the long intervening years to the present time, in 1913, his position being an important one in the purchasing department. He is a stalwart supporter of the principles and poli- cies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and is ever on the alert and enthusiastically in sympathy with all measures projected for progress and improvement. He served as a member of the Norwood Board of Health for two terms, and for three terms was the able and popular incumbent of the office of borough auditor. Mr. Dempster is the owner of a beautiful home in Norwood, the same being the scene of many attractive social gatherings.
In the year 1891 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Dempster to Miss Ida Virginia Lee, a daughter of Robert and Mary Lee, of Philadelphia. The Lee family are members of the Lutheran church. Mr. and Mrs. Dempster are the parents of four children, as follows: Clara, born in 1892, was edu- cated in the public schools of Norwood, being graduated in 1908, is at home with her parents; Warren, born in 1894, was educated in the common schools of Norwood and is now working for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company ; Harold, born in 1898, is attending school in Norwood, being a freshman in high school; Robert Lee, born in 1910. Mrs. Dempster is a devoted wife and mother, and she is held in high regard by all with whom she has come in contact.
PANCOAST The Pancoast family of Pennsylvania came to this country as early as the days of William Penn, and have been identi- fied with the agricultural and other interests of the country since that time. The particular branch of which we are about to write can be traced, at the present time, only three generations.
(I) Seth Pancoast is first heard of in Marple township, where he was en- gaged in farming. Later he removed to Springfield township, where he died at the age of eighty-seven years. He and his family were members of the So- ciety of Friends. He married Margaretta Levis, whose ancestors had also come to this country in the early colonial days, and who died in Springfield township, at the age of eighty-six years. They had children: Margaretta ; Levis ; William; Henry : Samuel F., see forward; Seth.
(II) Samuel F., son of Seth and Margaretta (Levis) Pancoast, was born in Springfield township, where he died in 1890. He was educated in the public schools of his district and, like his father, was engaged in agricultural pur- suits. He was a stanch Republican throughout his life, and took an active interest in the public affairs of the community. He married ( first) Elizabeth, a daughter of John Leach, who married Catherine Cokenspiger, and had other children : John, Isaac, Charles, William, George, Margaret, Catherine and Sarah. Mr. Leach was a blacksmith by occupation, and in later years was the proprietor of a hotel which he conducted very successfully. Mr. Pancoast married (second) Ellen B. Sloan. Children by the first marriage: Mary, who married Isaac Lewis : Ella, married William H. Swank : Seth, married Minnie R. Reynolds ; Samuel L., married Elvira Leedom; John, deceased: Anna, also
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deceased. Children by the second marriage: Elizabeth. unmarried : Malachi S., see forward ; Mattie and Laura, deceased.
(III) Malachi Sloan, son of Samuel F. and Ellen B. (Sloan) Pancoast, was born in Springfield township, July 13, 1874. He was the recipient of an ex- cellent education, being graduated from the public schools of his section and from the West Chester Normal School. He resided with his parents until he had attained the age of sixteen years, at which time his father died, and he then went to West Philadelphia to commence his business life there. His first posi- tion was in a grocery store, where he was employed for the period of one year at a salary of four dollars a week, and boarded himself. Returning to the old homestead at the expiration of one year, he attended to the cultivation of this farm for five years, after which he purchased his present residence, into which he moved at once, and has occupied it since that time. It is located near the Springfield road in Springfield township, and is kept up in a model manner. In addition to cultivating this piece of property, Mr. Pancoast is engaged in the meat business, and supplies a large list of customers with all the delicacies in this line in a most up to date manner. His business is in a most flourishing condition, and it is constantly increasing. In political matter he is a Republi- can, and has been of influence in his party in his section.
Mr. Pancoast married, October 7. 1903, Lula. born in Morton, Pennsyl- vania, August 14, 1879, a daughter of Frank B. and Katherine (Harvey) Wor- tall ; granddaughter of Joseph Maris and Mary T. (Bishop) Worrall: and great-granddaughter of Randall and - (Mathews) Bishop. Frank Bishop and Katherine ( Harvey) Worrall had other children : Willard ; Randall B., married Mary Doyle : Mary, Walter and Deveir, unmarried. Frank B. Wor- rall. the father of Mrs. Pancoast, was born near Morton Springfield township, 14 a carpenter by trade, and is now living in Morton. Children of Joseph M. and Mary T. Bishop Worrall: Randall Bishop, deceased: David T., married Mary Ball ; Frank B., married Katherine Harvey ; Daniel Wilmer, died in early youth : Deveir, married Ella Roland: Walter, and Edgar Bischop. Mr. Pan- coast and his wife have two children : Samuel F., born April 26, 1905 ; William S., December 30, 1908.
Enterprise, energy and honesty in business, patriotic devotion FARIES to country and fidelity to every duty of public and private life, these are the distinguishing characteristics of Gilbert Stubbs Far- les, of Chester Heights, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, and they have guided and controlled his destiny and given him rank among the substantial and valued citizens of the county. The family he represents was originally founded in this country by three brothers who came from Belfast, Ireland, one of them going to the South, one to the West, and the third locating in the state of Delaware.
William Faries was born in Smyrna, Delaware, in the year 1800. He was a harness maker by trade, a Republican in his political allegiance, and a mem- ber of the Protestant church. He married, in 1820. Theresa Magdalena, of Basle, Switzerland, and they had children: Daniel D .: Joseph : William, died in infancy; Adeline, died in infancy: Alexander: Mary E .; Samuel : Sarah D .; Eliza R .; William, of further mention.
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