USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume III > Part 38
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Mr. Evans married, September 10, 1885, Sally B., born in Philadelphia, daughter of James Haddock. They have had children : Frank, who is a topo- graphical draftsman, and lives in Jersey City, married Emma C. Baur : Freder- ick S .. born November 7, 1898. The business career of Mr. Evans is an illus- tration of energy and enterprise which have overcome the difficulties which overwhelm many, and which have achieved success. He is a man of strong purpose and sound judgment, and carries forward to completion whatever he undertakes.
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Descendant of an old English family, Clarence Sill has throughout SILL his entire business career been intimately connected with the finan- cial circles of Philadelphia through his association with the firm of E. W. Clark & Company, Bankers and Brokers, one of the most substantial and responsible institutions of its kind within the city of Philadelphia, and one which compares favorably with others of a like character in the state.
From the earliest records obtainable it is found that his family has been resident in England for many generations, his great-grandfather, Sylvester Sill, having passed his life in that land. Joseph, son of Sylvester Sill, born in Carlisle, England, is the one of the line responsible for the introduction of his family into the United States, his death occurring in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, November 2, 1854. He was a merchant of the older days, being the proprietor of a men's furnishing store at No. 521 Chestnut street, later becom- ing senior partner of the firm of Sill, Arnold & Leonard, whose place of busi- ness was at Front and Chestnut streets, Philadelphia. He was a successful business man, prospered in his calling, and made his home in Philadelphia un- til his death. He was a painter of no mean ability, never adopting art as a life work, but made numerous sketches in water color and oil for his own pleasure and as gifts to the many friends who admired his talented artistic prowess. He was a lifelong member of the First Unitarian Church, of Philadelphia. He married Jane Todhunter, who died January 27, 1877, and had seven children : Joseph, John, Jane, William, Mary, Alfred, of whom further, and Vaughn.
Alfred Sill, son of Joseph and Jane (Todhunter) Sill, was born in Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, May 25, 1837, died in Darby, Delaware county, Penn- sylvania, November 2, 1893. He was in the mercantile business during part of his active years, as a member of the firm of Middleton, Sill & Company, located on Chestnut street, dealers for the most part in cotton, from about 1860 to 1870, and was later a coal and lumber merchant, having yards in the city and conducting a profitable business. He was a man of studious nature, fond of mechanical devices, and in his latter years was the inventor of a breech-loading gun, upon which he obtained a patent, although never engaging in its manufac- ture. He was a sergeant in a company of the Third Regiment, Pennsylvania Reserves, in 1862, prepared to fight in defence of the great principle involved in that conflict between the states if such an issue were unavoidable, although it was a principle of his creed, that of the Society of Friends, that members thereof should not participate in strife. He was a regular attendant of the meetings of the Society in the Meeting House at Fifteenth and Race streets. Philadelphia. He married, May 5, 1864, Naomi Passmore Middleton, born in Darby, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, November 30, 1839, daughter of Ed- win, born September 23, 1805, died January 5, 1875, and Rachel (Hunt) Mid- dleton, born October 17, 1808, died April 8, 1882, the marriage of the parents having been solemnized at Darby, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1831. Children of Alfred and Naomi Passmore ( Middleton) Sill: Edwin Middleton, born November 15, 1865: Alfred Howard, December 10, 1868; Clarence, of whom further ; Florence Middleton, July 27, 1875.
Clarence Sill, third son and child of Alfred and Naomi Passmore ( Middle- ton) Sill, was born at No. 1822 Mount Vernon street, Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, October 12, 1870. In boyhood he attended Friends' Central School, in Philadelphia, and was graduated from that institution in the class of 1889. Af- ter leaving school he began his business life in the office of E. W. Clark & Company, Bankers and Brokers, and has ever since been identified with this firm, having through the quarter century of his association therewith come to hold a position of trust and responsibility, his fidelity and responsibility having been proven by the faultless execution of many commissions. He has risen 66
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steadily in authority and influence, his part in the direction of the firm's busi- ness being prominent and important. Mr. Sill holds membership in the Coun- try Club, of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, the Automobile Club of Delaware coun- ty, and the Ocean City Motor Boat Club, Ocean City, New Jersey. His reli- gion is that of his father, and he attends the same meeting house at which the elder Sill was wont to worship, that at Fifteenth and Race streets, Philadel- phia.
He married, at Darby Friends Meeting House, June 12, 1901, May, born in Darby, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1876, daughter of William Skipwith and Annie ( Moore) Bunting. William Skipwith Bunting was born September 17, 1848, and was married on December 2, 1870, and died February 12, 1912. His business was insurance. Children of William S. and Annie ( Moore) Bunting : Carroll Moore, May (of previous mention), married Clar- ence Sill, Helen Moore, Lillie Curtis. Mr. Sill and his wife reside in a beau- tiful home at No. 36 Owen avenue, Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, although Mr. Sill's business necessitates daily trips to Philadelphia, the scene of his activities.
MARTIN In the closing year of the eighteenth century the Martin family of this record came to Pennsylvania, although the first settle- ment of the ancestor, William Martin, was at New Castle, Del- aware. He was a native of the Emerald Isle, and possessing the characteristics of his race soon made friends and won from the new world good standing and a comfortable living. He married, in Ireland, Fanny Little, and not long after- ward sailed for America, their second child, David, being born on the voy- age. At an annual reunion of the family held August 25, 1904, the following picturesque narrative was read by one of the descendants of William Mar- tin: "We were standing upon the bank of the Delaware one bright day in the month of June, watching a sailing vessel from Ireland making her way up the river. The sight of a vessel of any description was always an attraction to the entire population of a village or nearby places. The vessel made her way slowly, after a tedious, anxious voyage of six weeks, but at last stopped at the old historic town of New Castle. As the passengers leave the vessel, our attention is attracted to a man, woman and baby ; the man is William Mar- tin ; the woman Fanny Little, his wife, and the child their infant son, David." The man, then twenty-eight years of age, soon found New Castle too small to afford him the opportunity he was seeking and is next found in Wilmington, Delaware, where for two years he lived at the corner of Fourth and Orange streets. He then moved to DuPont's farm on the banks of the Brandywine, which was the family home for thirty years. This farm, so long their home, is yet known as "Martin's farm." He was the first overseer for E. J. Dupont. and after his years of service was able to purchase his own farm at Red Clay Creek, upon which he resided until his death in January, 1850, aged sev- enty-nine years. His widow, Fannie, continued her residence upon the farm until her death in February. 1861. Children: 1. Joseph, died in Ireland in infancy. 2. David, of whom further. 3. Joseph, married Lydia Wilson and has three children. 4. Irenice, married Maria Rankin and had ten children. 5. Jennie, married James Martin and had ten children. 6. William, married Jane Hopple and had ten children. 7. John, married Lydia Clark and had three children. 8. Mary, married Poulson Chandler and had eight children. 9. James, married Elizabeth Chandler and had eight children. 10. Fannie, died unmarried.
(II) David, second son of William and Fannie ( Little) Martin, was born on the ship which brought his parents to America in 1799. He grew to man-
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hood at the farm on the Brandywine, later became a land owner and extensive cattle dealer, laying the foundation for the important meat packing business later conducted by his sons. He resided in Chester, Pennsylvania, and owned his farm in Delaware county, on which he also resided for many years. He died in Centreville, Delaware, March 5, 1866. He married Anne MacMullin, born October 3, 1802, and lived to the great age of ninety-two years; she is buried in the cemetery of the Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church, Dela- ware. Children: 1. Jane, born January 15, 1823, married, September 14, 1841, Job Pyle, a farmer of Chester county, Pennsylvania. 2. Fannie, born January 30, 1825, never married. 3. Mary Jane, born June 29, 1827; married Bayard Pyle. 4. Joseph J., born August 10, 1829; married Mary Schriver. 5. William A., born January 5, 1832; married Sarah Brinton. 6. Katherine, born August 12, 1834; married, in 1864, Thomas Woodward. 7. Elizabeth, born May 5, 1837, died September 11, 1845. 8. Sarah M., born March 26, 1840; married in 1868, David H. Garrett. 9. Evelyn, born March 11, 1843; married, March 3, 1869, John H. Etherington. 10. David B., of whom further. Of these ten children, Katherine, Sarah M. and Evelyn are the only survivors (1913).
(III) David B., youngest child of David and Anne (MacMullin) Mar- tin, was born September 12, 1847. He lived in Philadelphia in his youth, and finished his education at Shortlidge's Academy in Delaware county. He began active business life as an oil refiner, but later his brother, who was president of the Philadelphia Stock Yards Company, interested him in the meat packing business in which he was ever afterward most successfully engaged as head of the D. B. Martin Company; also was officially connected with the New York Sanitary Utilization Company, the New England Sanitary Produce Com- pany, the Wilmington Abattoir and Cold Storage Company, and others. He was a man of fine executive ability, conducting his large interests with success and profit. He was a veteran of the civil war and in politics a Republican, influential, but never seeking public office for himself. He died at his home in Brandywine Summit, May 17, 1904. He married, in 1869, Marie M. LeTourneau, born in Philadelphia, March 18, 1849, and died there aged thirty- two years, daughter of Clement LeTourneau, an architectural designer of skill and prominence, born in Philadelphia, February 25, 1822, died in Philadel- phia, December 14, 1872, and Catherine A. Gorman, born in Philadelphia, December 25, 1823, died December 27, 1896. They were married September 7, 1842. She had a brother, William, who was born August 18, 1843, and married in Philadelphia in 1866; and sisters, Annie, born June 25, 1846, mar- ried May 15, 1866, Amos Truman, and Amelia, born December 29, 1863, unmarried, all living. Michael Clement LeTourneau, grandfather of Mrs. Martin, was the first inventor of coal stoves in America.
Children of David B. and Marie M. Martin: I. Joseph J., of whom further. 2. Bertha, died in childhood. 3. Catherine, died in childhood. Both David B. Martin and his wife were members of the Olivet Presbyterian Church at Thirty-second and Mount Vernon streets, Philadelphia.
(IV) Joseph J., only son of David B. and Marie M. (LeTourneau) Mar- tin, was born in Philadelphia, April 29, 1873. His youth was spent at his un- cle's farm at Chadds Ford, known as "Rocky Hill." This farm was after- wards sold to Josephine Way, but he has repurchased it and it is now in his possession. He was educated at Cheltenham Military Academy and began bus- iness life in his father's office. He continued with his father until the death of the latter, then succeeded him in the ownership of the various interests in the companies previously enumerated. He has re-purchased the old homestead of eighty acres, "Rocky Hill," at Chadds Ford, sold by Joseph J. Martin estate to H. C. Way, and there makes his home. It was from the crest of "Rocky
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Hill" that the British began the battle of Brandywine, fought during the Revo- lution. He maintains extensive business interests and is a director of the Third National Bank of Philadelphia. His clubs are the Art. Racquet, Manu- facturers and Yacht of Philadelphia ; the Athletic and Columbia of New York : the Auto Club of America, and others. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, and in political faith he is affiliated with the Republi- can party.
Mr. Martin married, October 23, 1895. Mary Brinton Talbot, born July 26, 1873, daughter of C. W. Talbot, a lawyer of prominence born at Honey- brook, Chester county, Pennsylvania, February 19, 1850, who married, Febru- ary 28, 1872, Mary Jones, born at the homestead farm in Birmingham, Ches- ter county, Pennsylvania, February 4, 1846; children : Charles L., born March 22, 1875: Anna J., born January 6, 1880: Mary Brinton, of previous mention, married Charles J. Martin. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have children : Mary Marie, born January 11, 1899; Joseph Jefferson, August 31, 1910.
Henry L. Blatz, the only constructor of boats in Essington, Dela- BLATZ ware county, Pennsylvania, ranks as one of its progressive and en- terprising citizens. He is the son of John and Caroline ( Krouse ) Blatz, and was born May 16, 1861, in Philadelphia.
John Blatz was born in Germany in 1830, and died in Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, in 1884. He emigrated to this country in 1847, when he was a lad of seventeen, and came alone and unassisted by his family, he having saved his money to that end since he was a small child. He learned the baker's trade immediately upon landing, by the simple process of seeking employment with a baker. So great was his ambition and determination to succeed that he had established his own bakery before he was eighteen. It is remarkable when one realizes that he came to a foreign country, unable to speak a work of English, poor, without friends, and by sheer determination and persistence he had es- tablished in less than twelve months after his arrival a bakery. He married Caroline Krouse, like himself an immigrant. She came with her parents, from Germany, at the age of sixteen, met and married John Blatz when she was seventeen and he eighteen. They were the parents of eleven children, all of whom they educated in the public schools of Philadelphia, giving them the ad- vantages which they were denied in their earlier years.
Henry L. Blatz, one of the eleven children of John and Caroline Blatz, received his education in the public school of his native city. Reaching ma- turity he decided that he would not follow his father's occupation, and so turned his attention to something else. He canvassed many fields and at last selected that of boat building as a pleasant and lucrative one. He was at Kensington, Pennsylvania, for many years, and succeeded, for he was dis- tinctly his father's son, with his determination to succeed. In November, 1909. he moved to Essington, since which time he has built every boat used there. He employs a number of men, and is kept employed all the while filling his numerous orders. He turns out a handsome craft, not only for the residents of Essington but other and larger places as well. Mr. Blatz is a Republican and has been auditor of the township. He is a member of the Foresters, An- cient Free and Accepted Masons and the Loyal Order of Moose.
SMITH-BOON At what is now the intersection of Spruce and Fifty-fifth streets, West Philadelphia, then old Blockley township, stood the farm-house of George Smith, and in that house Ellen J. and her father, George Washington Smith, were born.
Her grandfather, George Smith, was born in Philadelphia at the Smith
Geo Smith
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home, their town property covering the square now bounded by Market, Chest- nut, Sixth and Seventh streets, a tract now the value of which can hardly be expressed in figures. George Smith was a prosperous merchant tailor, the leader in that business, commanding a very large patronage. He was a grand- nephew of Mary Ball, mother of George Washington, a part of whose estate his son received, when that part lying in Trenton, New Jersey, was sold. George Smith purchased the farm in old Blockley, previously mentioned, mak- ing it most attractive and the show place of the country thereabouts. Covered now with paved streets and buildings it is almost beyond belief that so short a time ago it was a beautiful fertile farm, with blooded cattle grazing in the fields and the old house merry with the shouts of children and guests from the city. George Smith loved a country life and passed his latter years on his farm, where he died in his seventy-eighth year. He was a Whig in politics and a member of the Society of Friends, his funeral being held from the Friends Meeting House in Merion. He married Sarah, daughter of Paul Jones, of Merion, a descendant of the old Welsh Jones family-she died at the age of ninety-eight years, at her home at Thirty-second street and Woodlawn avenue, the site now occupied by Croft and Allen; she was a birthright member of the Society of Friends. Children: Phoebe Roberts; George Washington (of whom further ) ; Joseph Ball and Sarah Jones Smith, the latter dying at the age of twenty years.
George Washington Smith, eldest son of George and Sarah (Jones) Smith, was born at the farm house in old Blockley (now Spruce and Fifty-fifth streets, Philadelphia ), in 1801. He was educated in the private Philadelphia schools and spent his early life on the old farm. At a suitable age he learned the tailor's trade and was associated with his father in business in Philadelphia. In politics he was a Whig and Republican, but took no active part in public affairs. He was a member of the Society of Friends and a man of high character, honored and respected in both business and social life. He died in St. Louis, Missouri, while visiting his sister-in-law, on October 15, 1874, in his seventy-third year. Mr. Smith married Deborah F. Jones, born on her father's farm, now a part of the city of Philadelphia, the house standing near the present intersection of Pine and Forty-seventh streets. Her father, Enoch Jones, was a coffin and cabinet maker, carrying on business in connection with his farm, where he died. His wife, Ann Jones, was no blood relation, although bearing the same name. A sister of Enoch Jones, Phoebe (Jones ) Hoffman, was the mother of Norris Hoffman, after whom Hoffman School is named. Deborah F. (Jones) Smith died at No. 3520 Market street, West Philadelphia, in her eightieth year, a lifelong member of the Society of Friends. Chil- dren of George Washington and Deborah F. Smith: Sarah Ann. born May 15, 1837, died aged sixty-two years, married William Boon; Joseph B., born in 1841, died in his sixty-third year, married January 18, 1865, Harriet Appel ; Mary, born February 14, 1844, married, May 21. 1862, George Boon ; Ellen J. (of further mention) ; Paul J. and Emma, died in childhood.
Ellen J. Smith, daughter of George Washington and Deborah F. (Jones) Smith, was born at the old Smith farmhouse in old Blockley, August 21, 1852. She was educated in the Philadelphia public schools and spent her youth at the home farm and now resides at her farm in Bethel township, Delaware county, which she successfully manages being a woman of business and execu- tive ability. She married, May 21, 1870, Charles Boon. Children: Charles R., born November 1I, 1872, unmarried; Mary Ella, January 7, 1874, died aged six months ; Deborah, December, 1874, died in infancy ; Maurice, July 4, 1876, died aged two and a half years ; J. Henry, born April 7, 1879, unmar- ried; Walter, born January 27, 1881, unmarried; Howard, born August 8,
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1883, died aged nine months; Mary Elizabeth, born April 27, 1884, died aged fourteen years; Eva, born October 27, 1887, married, January 13, 1907, John A. Steecker and has Eva B., Mary Ella, John A. (2) and Alexander ; Anna G., died aged seven months ; Eleanor, died aged eight months : Paul Jones, born Oc- tober 4, 1894, married March 30, 1913, Blanche E. Henning.
MANLEY Charles D. Manley Jr., is a member of the family of that name, which for a number of generations has been prominent in Del- aware county. The Manleys trace their descent to Thomas Manley, a successful farmer of that region, who at various times cultivated large tracts of land in Chester, Middletown and Newtown. They are also re- lated to the old English family of Maddocks and to the De Havens of Philadel- phia. Charles D. Manley Sr., father of Charles D. Manley Jr., was a man of great energy who made himself felt as a force in the community, as a teacher. merchant and lawyer, winning his way into the latter profession in spite of great difficulties. He married Margaret Worrell, and to them were born four children of whom Charles D. was the third.
Charles D. Manley Jr. was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, January 4, 1843. He was educated in the public schools of the district, and when eight years old was taken by his father to Media, whither the family removed. He began his business life at the age of sixteen years, as a clerk for Isaac Haldeman & Sons, of Media, continuing with that firm for three years. He then went to Ohio, where he spent a year with the Curtis Dry Goods Company, of Mount Vernon, Knox county, returning to Pennsylvania in the spring of 1865. He then en- tered the employ of Edwin Hall at No. 26 South Second street, Philadelphia. but in August, 1866, severed his connection with this employer to embark upon a venture of his own and opened a dry goods house at No. 152 North Eighth street, Philadelphia, in partnership with Spencer Thompson, under the firm name of Thompson & Manley. In 1869 Mr. Thompson retired from the firm and left Mr. Manley to continue alone, which he did with success until April, 1884, when he sold out. In August of the same year he entered the employ of Cooper & Conrad, Ninth and Market streets, Philadelphia, remaining there six years. In 1891 he engaged with the Joseph Horne Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, remaining two years and returning to Philadelphia in the spring of 1893, where he engaged with Partridge & Richardson on Eighth street above Market. In 1901 he came to Media where he purchased an interest in the laundry business of Smith & Son, the same of which he is now the proprietor. The business was incorporated in 1904 under the name of the Media Steam Laundry, at which time Mr. Manley became superintendent, treasurer and manager and has continued the conduct of the concern ever since. He has equipped his plant with the best modern machinery and appliances and has built up a prosperous business in Media and the surrounding country, drawing also a large trade from Philadelphia, where he maintains a branch office. In 1912 he bought the property on which the laundry building stands, rebuilt and enlarged his plant and added the necessary machinery to completely equip it for modern laundry purposes. He employs thirty-five people and finds the business constantly on the increase. In July, 1913, the corporation was dis- continued and Mr. Manley is now carrying on the enterprise on his own ac- count. Mr. Manley is a Democrat in politics, and although he has never sought or accepted any public office is deeply interested in public affairs. He enjoys the unique distinction of never having voted at any borough, county, state or national election for any candidate not on the Democratic ticket. He is a man of energy and business ability and highly regarded by all who know him.
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Mr. Manley married, September 12, 1903, Anna B., daughter of John K. and Jane ( Knox) Hawthorne, of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. The family home is situated at No. 104 West Washington street, and his business plant at 121- 123 South Orange street, Media.
This branch of the Manleys came to Delaware county from
MANLEY Ireland, Joseph P., being of the first American born generation. He is a great-grandson of Joseph Manley of Tullamore, Ire- land, who was a merchant and a member of the Society of Friends, and a grandson of Thomas Manley, born in Tullamore, Ireland, died at Mount Mel- lick, April 29, 1835. He was a merchant and a member of the Society of Friends, but after his marriage becanie a Catholic that he might worship in the same faith as his wife. He married Ann Keogh, born in Ireland, died at Man- chester, England, November 29, 1835 ; children : Thomas K., of whom further ; John, Patrick, Elizabeth.
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