USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume III > Part 53
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DAVISON Tradition says this branch of the Davison family are descended from William Davison, secretary of state and privy counsellor to Queen Elizabeth. His life, written by Nicholas Harris Nico- las, Esq., and published in London, 1823, throws most interesting light upon his eventful career. He married Catherine, daughter of Francis Spelman, young- er son of William Spelman, of the county of Norfolk. He was buried ir St. Dunstan's churchyard at Stepney. His will, proven in the prerogative court of Canterbury on the 9th of January, 1608, mentions four sons and two daughters -Francis, Christopher, William, Walter; Catherine, who married a Dun- combe (who perhaps was the Mr. Duncombe in parliament in 1614); and another daughter, who married -- Toundey. Mr. Nicolas seems to have been unable to locate his descendants positively in England, beyond the pre- sumptive evidence that William Davison, who was married at Rochester on the 3d of February, 1686, and was mayor of that city in 1714, and whose descendants are living in England, was the grandson of one of the sons of the secretary. However, it has been later proven beyond reasonable doubt that Christopher, the second son of the secretary, came to America. In the "History of the Virginia Company of London" we find mention of him. When Sir Francis Wyatt was sent out as governor he reached Virginia, October, 1621, bringing the charter, which is the first charter of free government in America. Christopher Davison had been chosen secretary by quarter court, and he as well as Treasurer George Sands and Surveyor Claiborne came with the governor. Davison was wounded in the terrible Indian massacre on Good
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Friday, March, 1622, and died soon after. In the first list of those remaining alive, which was taken February 16, 1623, and sent to England, the name of Alice, widow of Christopher Davison, is given, also Thomas Spelman, who is thought to be his cousin. There is presumptive evidence that a son of Christo- pher Davison (a child) was left in London when his parents made the perilous voyage, and that he grew to manhood and was the Christopher Davison, citizen, of London, who obtained a grant of land in Pennsylvania which had been granted to Thomas Cobb by William Penn. His son, named Christopher Davison Jr., came to Philadelphia and was a cagemaker ; he took out the war- rant for 250 acres of land which was surveyed and located in Bucks county. In 1709 he conveyed it by deed to Thomas Tress.
Authentic records show that the Davison family were located in Bucks county prior to the revolution. We find the name of Robert Davison, brother of Adam Davison, on the "Roll of the Associated Company in the township of Warrington, taken ye 19th of August, 1775."
(I) Adam Davison, of Plumstead township, Bucks county, purchased, on 22d of October, 1778, from Francis Titus, a plantation of one hundred and ninety-seven acres, known by the name "Ves pasiam," in Plumstead, for the sum of £200. He married Elizabeth -, and by her he left an only child James ; dying intestate, the property descended to James under the intestate law. He and his family attended the Presbyterian church at Deep Run, about three miles from their home, and about seven miles from Doylestown, and are buried in its graveyard.
(II) James Davison, only child of Adam and Elizabeth Davison, was born at Plumstead (in the house his father had purchased), about 1780. He spent his entire life there, dying in the early fifties. On April 4, 1851, he sold the property to his son John, who lived on it many years. James, son of Adam and Elizabeth Davison, married, about 1809, Mary McNeilly, the youngest of ten children of John and Rachel ( Bingham) McNeilly, who were all born in Reth- fryland, county Down, Ireland. John McNeilly died in Philadelphia, March 18, 1832, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Martha ( McNeilly) Faires, and was buric 1 at the old Covenanter church, but later the city ordered the bodies lifted and his was taken to Woodlands and buried in the lot of his grandson, Dr. John Wylie Faires. He was 93 years when he died. He and his wife were both born and reared at Rethfryland, county Down. Their oldest child Robert, at the time of the Irish Rebellion (1798), was drafted into service (he was escaping on a sailing vessel to this country) and made to serve three ycars; his father and mother did not hear from him and thought he had reached America, and his mother would not rest until she made her husband come to America with his nine other children to find their eldest son. They settled in Bucks county. The son Robert served his three years and then went home to Rethfryland; not finding them, he started a second time for America, was captured again, but this time bought his way off. John McNeilly was appointed postmaster of Plumstead, February 8, 1805. James Davison was said to have been of dark complexion, tall and straight in stature, and said to have been a very handsome man. He and his wife are buried near his parents, at Deep Run churchyard. Their family consisted of six sons and two daughters: J. Robert, born February 24, 1810, was named for his uncle, Robert McNeilly. 2. Adam. 3. Elizabeth. 4. John. 5. William. 6. Sarah Ann. 7. Joseph. 8. Jervis. All were born at Plumstead, in the old homestead.
( III) Joseph Davison, seventh child of James and Mary (McNeilly) Davison, was born November 24, 1827. His mother dying when he was very voung. he came to Philadelphia to make his home with his aunt, Mrs. Martha
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(McNeilly) Faires, beginning his education in the Classical Institute of his cousin, Dr. John Wylie Faires. Afterward he entered the University of Pennsylvania, Department C, class '46. After leaving the institution he was for some years instructor of Greek and Latin in the school of Dr. Faires, until he established a Classical and Mathematical Institute of his own on San- som street. He still continued to reside with Dr. Faires in his home, 245 South Thirteenth street, until his marriage. On July 1, 1857, he married Lavinia T., daughter of Alexander and Margaret (Torrens) Young, the ceremony being performed at the Church of the Atonement, then located at Seventeenth and Summer streets, by Rev. Kingston Goddard, D.D., rector of the church. In that church Mr. Davison had been confirmed. He and his wife boarded for a time at 1528 Spruce street, but the next spring took the property, No. 6 South Penn Square, and removed the school to their dwelling. In this home their first two children were born. When the civil war was just breaking out they moved to No. 2 South West Penn Square. and here their next two chil- dren were born. They attended the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Epi- phany, then located at Fifteenth and Chestnut streets.
On April 16. 1866, Joseph Davison purchased from John T. School a farm of thirty acres in Springfield township (now Morton) Delaware county, which is still the family homestead. For some years he still continued his school on West Penn Square, being one of the few daily travellers on the then new West Chester and Philadelphia railroad. As his failing hearing began grad- ually to grow worse, he was finally compelled to abandon teaching and spent the remainder of his life in an unostentatious management of his farm. He was a man of fine mental attainments, high ideals, pure principles, and thorough integrity, and those qualities of mind and heart endeared him to a wide circle of friends. He was one of the charter members of the vestry of the Episcopal church at Morton, which had been founded in 1878 and was incorporated June, 1879, and it was at his suggestion it was called "The Atonement." In 1876 he donated land for a public school for Morton. His death ( from pneumonia) occurred at his residence, January 2, 1900.
Joseph and Lavinia T. (Young) Davison had seven children: I. Alex- ander Young, born June 11, 1858; married (first) Elizabeth S. Steel, April 3, 1883. and had three sons: William Steele. Lewis Barratt, and Robert White Steel; married (second) Eleanor Louise Fields, and has one son, Alexander Jr. He was a member of the Veteran Corps of First Regiment N. G. P. Died at the residence of his mother at Morton, September 10, 1913. 2. Lewis Drexel. born December 17, 1859; was graduated from the Pennsylvania Mili- tary College at Chester, Pennsylvania, June, 1880, and died (single) August 22, of the same year. 3. Josephine Faires. married, April 30, 1884, Stanley Gibson Spencer, son of the late William Spencer, of Germantown. He was killed in the cyclone which devastated Galveston, Texas, September, 1900. Children : Alexander Young, and Stanley G. Jr .; a daughter Florence died young. 4. Lavinia Torrens, unmarried. 5. Richard Young, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in Veterinary Medicine; married Jose- phine C. Goddard, daughter of Kingston Goddard, M. D., and has nine children. 6. William Ivins, who served in the Spanish war, Company D, Pennsylvania N. G. P .; married Eleanore Newlin, and has three daughters: Eleanore, Florence and Dorothy. 7. Clara Parker, who married George F. Arnold. April 18, 1911, and has one child, Mildred Charlotte, born February 17, 1912.
(The Young Line).
Scotland-The first authentic information we have of the Young family is mentioned in the Archives of Baieborough, Scotland. They were a promi-
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nent family and large land owners. Sir Peter Young was high in favor of King James VI., was knighted, and entrusted with many important missions.
Ireland-(1) The first of this Scottish family to settle in the North of Ireland was the Rev. John Young, rector of Urney, county Tyrone. He mar- ried Elsa Douglas. According to his will he left ( with numerous other issue) an eldest son James, who was
(II) James, in Derry during the siege of 1688-89, and was attainted for high treason to the crown. Afterwards he settled in Donegal. His will speaks of several daughters and nine sons.
(III) Alexander, son of James Young, married Ann Dickson, in county Donegal. They had issue, and two of these were sons, the eldest, James ; the younger being the father of Andrew, James, Joseph, William and Richard, all of whom came to Philadelphia when young. Richard is a successful leather merchant in New York City, and resides at Flushing, Long Island.
( IV) James, eldest son of Alexander and Ann (Dickson) Young, mar- ried Ann Porter, of the parish of Burt, a member of the well known Porter family of Londonderry. They had four children and their home, Dundrain, was three and a half miles from Londonderry. James Young belonged to the Association of United Irishmen, and fought in the disastrous Rebellion of 1798. He died September 15, 1824. His wife, Ann (Porter) Young, died September 9, 1827. Their children were: I. Alexander. 2. Ann Porter. 3. Richard. 4. Sarah. (1) Alexander came to America, landing in Philadelphia, July 15, 1821. (2) Ann Porter married Josiah Edwards, and located at Findley, Ohio, and had one son, Jeremiah Edwards. (3) Richard married, in Ireland, Dorcas Adair, had three daughters : Ann (died unmarried), Dorcas (died unmarried), and Sarah, who married Robert Rule. All came to Philadelphia with their parents and are dead, Mrs. Rule leaving descendants. (4) Sarah married a Gilfillan.
(V) Alexander, son of James and Ann (Porter) Young, was born at Dundrain, three and a half miles from Londonderry, August 26, 1798 and died in Philadelphia, November 24, 1884. He received his education in Ireland. When a young man (his parents dying so soon after he came to America, he never visited Ireland again, but brought out his brothers and sisters), he de- cided to emigrate to America. A sketch of his life is given in "Biographies of Successful Philadelphia Merchants," written by Stephen N. Winslow, and pub- lished in 1864. Having some knowledge of the distilling business in Ireland, he went into J. N. Dower's distillery, on the Schuylkill, between Race and Vine streets. Later he entered into partnership with John Maitland at Fourth and South streets, at a spot which had been the old Southwark Theatre. the first in America. It was burned May 9, 1821, but the greater part of the original walls remained. It was reconstructed for a hay press by the well known Pat Lyon, but in 1825 Mr. Maitland took this building and fitted it up for a distillery. Later the title passed into the ownership of Alexander Young, and at his death to his heirs, who held it until 1912, when it was de- molished to make room for a real estate speculation.
Alexander Young, son of James and Ann ( Porter) Young, married, October 12, 1822 (first) Rachel Dunbar, born June 10, 1800, died April 10, 1827. He married (second) June 8, 1830, Margaret Torrens, born in Castle- finn, Ireland, died October 16, 1871. She was the daughter of Daniel Torrens, (who was born in Ireland and died in Philadelphia, June 19, 1834) and his wife, Mary (Crow) Torrens (who was born in Ireland, died in Philadelphia, February 4, 1839). The children of Alexander Young by his first wife were: I. James, born August 11, 1823 (died young). 2. Wilson, born August 17,
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1824, died September 2, 1854. 3. Ann, born May 10, 1826, died September 9. 1827. Of this union only one reached maturity, Wilson, who married Martha Henderson, and left three sons: Alexander C., Wilson Jr., and John H. He was a member of P. C. C. Cavalry.
The children of Alexander and Margaret Torrens Young were: 1. Wil- liam John, born March 18, 1831, died August 20, 1880; married Jane Alex- ander, and left one daughter, Margaret ( Torrens), who married J. Gibb Smith. 2. Lavinia Torrens, born November 2, 1832; married Joseph Davison, July I, 1857. 3. Alexander Jr., born June 15, 1834; married Mary Mealy ; left one son, Alexander Davison Young, who died ( single) September 29, 1889. 4. Richard, born February 4. 1836: married Wilhemina Pile ; resides at Morton. 5. Mary Eliza, born Angust 31, 1837 ; married William Ivins, died January 2, 1876. Children: Margaret Louise and William Jr. 6. James Porter, born July 7, 1839; married ( first) Elizabeth Montgomery; two children ; married ( second) Victoria Blatchford. 7. Sarah Anna, born April 9, 1841, died January 26, 1860 (single). 8. Margaret, born December 28, 1842 (died young), July 25. 1843. 9. Lewis T., born May 30, 1845; married ( first ) Clara Parker : two children ; married ( second ) Margaret A. Black.
BROOMALL A careful study of the lives, character and services of those whose influence has passed beyond the confines of locality and permeated the national character, is the most important element in any carefully compiled work of biography. This is especially true of men of the caliber of the late Hon. John Martin Broomall, who was equally well known as a lawyer, statesman, patriot and philanthropist. For more than half a century he earned renown at the bar of Pennsylvania, and for the same length of time was a leader in the political field, respected by his opponents as well as by those who were guided by his counsel. The family from which he was descended was of the Quaker persuasion, and came from England while Pennsylvania was under the rule of William Penn.
John Broomall, the immigrant ancestor, came to America about 1682 or 1684. He took up land in what is now East Bradford, Chester county, and the county records of 1710 show him as a land owner in West Chester. Later he hadl settled in Nether Providence, Delaware county, where he died, 6 mo. 23, 1729. His will. dated 4 mo. 29, 1729, proved 8 mo. 21, 1729, mentions his wife Mary as executrix, and also names children: John, Lydia, Ellen. Mary and Jane.
John Broomall, son of the preceding, was the first member of this family born in America, his birth occurring prior to 1700. He was severely injured by a fall from a load of hay, and died at his farm in East Howellsville, in 1730. His wife was Anne Lewis, a native of Philadelphia, whom he married 8 mo. 12, 1720. They had children: Daniel and David.
Daniel, son of John and Anne (Lewis) Broomall, was born in 1728, died 4 mo. 2, 1817. He was the owner of a fine and extensive farm in Thorn- bury township. Chester county, which until recently was owned by two of his grandsons-Abraham and Daniel. He married, 1751, Martha, who died 5 mo. 3, 1812, daughter of Joseph and Hannah Talbot, and great-great-grand- daughter of George and Alice Maris, of Springfield township, Delaware county. Children : Hannah. married John Smith: John, of further mention ; Daniel, married Sarah Worrall; Nehemiah, married Mary Robinson; Isaac, married Lydia Neal; James, married Hannah Dutton : Jacob, married Phoebe Broomall : Rachel. married Caleb Temple; David: Elizabeth, married Isaac Frame ; Nathan, married Hannah G. Connor, and they were the godparents of
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the wife of Judge Pennypacker; Joseph, married (first) Elizabeth Yates, ( second) Phoebe Brown.
John, son of Daniel and Martha (Talbot) Broomall, was born on his father's farm in Thornbury township, II mo. 8, 1760, died 3 mo. 6, 1848, and was interred in the burying ground at Chichester meeting house. He mar- ried (first) according to the discipline of Friends at Concord Meeting, I mo. 1, 1796, Susanna, who died 12 mo. 19, 1798, a daughter of Thomas and Ruth Wilson. He married (second), 6 mo. 7, 1804, Sarah, buried 6 mo. 15, 1805, daughter of Joseph and Mary Sharpless. He married (third) 3 mo. 14, I&II, Sarah, who died 4 mo. 12, 1819, daughter of George and Elizabeth (Reynolds) Martin. He married ( fourth) 7 mo. 4, 1822, Ann, who died in 1836, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Townsend, of Newtown, New Jersey. Children, all by the third marriage: George, Elizabeth, twin of John Martin, of whom further ; Martha, died at the age of nine years.
Hon. John Martin Broomall, son of John and Sarah ( Martin) Broomall, was born in Upper Chichester township, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, January 19, 1816, died in Media, Delaware county, June 3, 1894. His early years were spent on the paternal farm, where his life was the usual one of a country boy of those days. For some years he attended the schools of the Society of Friends, and the impression gained in these years had their in- flu. nce upon him throughout his life. A part of his education was acquired in the boarding school of Samuel Smith, in Wilmington, Delaware, and for a time he was a teacher in that institution. From his earliest years the legal profession had especially appealed to him, and he commenced his studies for the pro- fession in the city of Philadelphia, under the preceptorship of John Bouvier, noted as a lawyer, jurist and author. Continuing them under Samuel Edwards, also a noted lawyer, Mr. Broomall was admitted to the bar August 24, 1840. From the very outset of his legal career the ability of Mr. Broomall was readily recognized, and his professional opponents expressed the common opinion when they said that with Mr. Broomall against them, their cases were lost be- fore they commenced to defend them.
Mr. Broomall made a specialty of criminal law, appearing in most cases for the defense of homicide. He was radically opposed to capital punishment, and this was the mainspring of his deep interest in such cases, as he was rarely paid for his services while engaged in them. In this respect the early Quaker training evidently manifested itself, greatly to the benefit of those accused of crimes of this nature. When Delaware became a separate judicial district, the bar made unanimous recommendation of Mr. Broomall for the position of president judge, to which he was appointed by the governor, being commissioned in 1874, and serving until January 1, 1875. Of all the cases tried before him, only about half a dozen were appealed, and these were sus- tained upon review. Judge Broomall would undoubtedly have attained still higher honors on the bench, had he not thrown his activities into another field.
Generously inclined toward all mankind, he had all his life been opposed to human slavery. For some time prominent in the Whig party, it was but natural that the younger element should select Mr. Broomall for a leader, after his prominence at the bar and his unusual strength as a speaker had been recognized. He was elected to the legislature, serving in the sessions of 1851- 52, and at once became prominent in state legislation. When the nomination was again tendered him, he declined, and also declined the nomination to a seat in congress in favor of William Everhart, of Chester county. He accepted the nomination in 1854, but as he had made many enemies by his repeated and consistent refusals to ally himself with any secret organizations, he was
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defeated by the Democratic candidate, John Hickman. Mr. Broomall was one of the organizers of the New Republican party in Delaware county in 1856, and the same year was nominated for congress. In the Chester section of the political district, a Mr. Bowan had been nominated, and rather than weaken the party, Mr. Broomall withdrew. In 1858 Mr .- Broomall was nomi- nated by both Chester and Delaware counties, but was defeated by Mr. Hickman, who was an independent candidate, but who received the votes of many Republicans, because of his break with President Buchanan.
In 1862 Mr. Broomall was nominated by the Republicans of both Chester and Delaware counties for congress, and was elected at two successive elec- tions, during the most trying periods of the civil war. He was one of the lead- ing spirits in the legislation which conferred full civil and political rights upon the black as well as the white man, and during his entire congressional career was a member of the committees on accounts, on expenditures, and was chair- man of the latter body during his last term. During his second term he was a member and for a considerable time chairman of a special committee sent to Memphis to investigate the riots in that city. In the struggle for the abolition of slavery Mr. Broomall was one of the foremost of his party, and his personal influence was an active factor in bringing about the final conditions. February 7. 1865, Mr. Broomall delivered a most excellent speech on civil rights, which Mr. Blaine, in his "Twenty Years of Congress," said was "the finest specimen of terse and strong English known to the American Congress," and also said of Mr. Broomall that he was "an independent thinker, a keen debater, inflexible in principle, untiring in effort." Blaine, Stevens, Garfield, Butler and other eminent men were among the close associates of Mr. Broomall, and he was an intimate friend of Lincoln. These eminent statesmen appreciated his extra- ordinary abilities, and even his opponents gave him their sincere admiration. Mr. Broomall was a warm friend of Thaddeus Stevens, and upon the death of the latter, Mr. Broomall, who was the eulogist at the memorial services in con- gress, paid a magnificent tribute to his services in behalf of the colored race. The unspotted record of Mr. Broomall in political fields is something ex- ceptional. He expected all to conform to the standard of honesty he had set for himself, and in his campaigns in his district, during which he delivered a larger number of speeches than any other speaker, he never made use of money nor ever promised an appointment to office to further his own interests. A record truly remarkable. Following up these principles, he was a strong opponent of the influence on state politics and legislation exercised by corpora- tions, notably the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. For the same reason, while a delegate to the first Republican national convention in 1860 in Chicago, he refused to support General Cameron, and was one of the three men of the Pennsylvania delegation who from the first cast their votes for Abraham Lin- coln, thus leading in his nomination. Mr. Broomall was a member of the electoral college in 1860, when he cast his vote for Lincoln, and in 1872, when he cast it for Grant. As a member of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention of 1874 he was of excellent service, being a member of the com- mittees on judiciary and taxation, and chairman of the latter. He advocated ably, but unsuccessfully, the incorporation in the constitution of a provision against capital punishment, and another for the extension of political rights to women.
As a soldier and patriot his record is also one of which he might be justly proud. In 1862, when the city of Washington was threatened by Lee's army, Mr. Broomall served as captain of Company C, 16th Regiment Pennsyl-
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vania Militia, and in 1863 he was in command of Company C, 29th Regiment Emergency Men, from June 19, to August 1.
Mr. Broomall married (first) October 14, 1841, Elizabeth, who died March 19, 1848, daughter of Joseph and Martha Booth. He married (second) September 29, 1853, Caroline L., daughter of John Larkin Jr., of Chester. Children of the first marriage: William Booth, Anna E. and Joseph J., the last named now deceased. Children by the second marriage: John L., John M. Jr., Henry L., Caroline L., Carolus M. While the health of Mr. Broom- all was delicate in his childhood and early youth, his energy and nervous activity enabled him to overcome difficulties which would have been a serious hindrance to many a man of less determination. In December, 1893. he was "a sufferer from pneumonia, which so weakened his heart that his death en- sued the following summer. All classes united in paying the last tributes of respect to the memory of the man who was beloved by all. The Delaware County Institute of Science, of which Mr. Broomall had been president at the time of his death, held a special meeting, and Charles Potts, the presiding officer, paid a glowing tribute to the distinguished dead. Among others who read papers descriptive of the characteristics of Mr. Broomall were: Miss Graceanna Lewis, "Mr. Broomall as a Philanthropist ;" Thomas V. Cooper, "The Political Career of Hon. John M. Broomall;" Benjamin C. Potts, "Mr. Broomall as President of the Institute." Captain Isaac Johnson, Rev. S. A. Heilner and Dr. Brinton, spoke respectively on the life and public service of Mr. Broomall, his life from a religious standpoint and his usefulness to science and scientists. All of these papers were later printed in a memorial pamphlet, together with an excellent biographical history of Mr. Broomall, written by his son William Booth Broomall.
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