USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county > Part 22
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March 13, 1884, when he was in the sixty- eighth year of his age. He was a man of a good practical business education and followed his trade of blacksmith for a livelihood. He became a republican in politics after coming to this country, but was never ambitious of holding any political office, and once when elected as a councilman of the borough of North Chester, refused to serve. He married Elizabeth Johnson. To Mr. and Mrs. Cook were born nine children, six sons and three daughters : Robert, John, William, Joseph, Elizabeth Oxley, Thomas, Hannah Clineff, James and Anna.
At six years of age James Cook was brought by his parents from Pottsville, Schuylkill county, to Chester city, this county, where he received his education in the public schools. with James Oxley, but not liking that business any too well he cast about for some more con- genial employment that would be remunera- tixe, and after considerable investigation se- leèted carriage building. He served an ap- prenticeship in the carriage building factory and afterward formed a partnership with his brothers for the purpose of building carriages, under the firm name of J. Cook & Bros. The firm commenced business in their present es- tablishment, on the corner of Twenty-fifth street and Providence avenue. They build a large number of carriages every year, and have a prosperous and rapidly growing trade. In addition to their business proper they do re- pairing and have, equipped fully, a depart- ment for that line of work, which is daily in- creasing on their hands.
James Cook is an earnest and ardent repub- lican, and since he attained his eighteenth year has been an active worker in his ward for the great political party whose canse he sup- ports. At the February election of 1892 he was elected as a member of the select council of Chester city from the First ward, whose interests he has ever sought to protect and advance.
THE NEW : PUBLIC ENEMY
ASTOR. EIN TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R
L
Sammel Riddle.
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
S AMUEL RIDDLE, the well known manufacturer of textile fabrics, who died at his home in Glen Riddle, this county, Jan- uary 19, 1888, was one of that class of men who build up communities and create the prosperity of the country in which they dwell. To a magnificent business ability, constituting half the rounded globe men call success, he added the twin hemisphere of untiring energy, and thus held within himself the elements which finally took form as mills and factories and accumulated wealth. He came of a fam- ily long distinguished for practical ability and great force of character, and whose trans-at- lantic origin is traced to Scotland, and whose authentic history runs back to Samuel Riddle, a prominent Scotch Presbyterian, who flour- ished in the latter part of the seventeenth century. This early ancestor was born and bred in the lowlands of Scotland, of pious parents, and became a commanding officer in the army of King William III. With the forces of that monarch he entered Ireland in 1689, and took part in the war then waged against the Catholic adherents of James II., until the final overthrow of the Papists at the battle of the Boyne, July 1, 1690. Having been reared a Protestant, he fought against popish rule from principle, and for his ser- vices in the Irish wars was granted three large estates in County Armagh, in the northeast part of Ireland, where he settled and passed the remainder of his days. He married a Scotch lady of good family, and reared several sons and daughters, of whom James Riddle, presumably his eldest son, became his heir and successor. The latter was a man of wealth and position, and, tradition affirms, was also of wonderful physical development and strength. At his death he left three chil- dren, one of whom was a son named for him- self, James Riddle ( grandfather), who passed his life in the north of Ireland, where he reared three sons. One of these was Leander Riddle (father), who was born in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1766, served four years in the Brit- 11
ish navy, and afterward became a successful cotton manufacturer of Parkmount, near Bel- fast, on the eastern coast of Ireland. In 1827 he emigrated to the United States, settling in Pennsylvania, where he continued to reside until his death, in September, 1851, when well advanced in the eighty-fifth year of his age. He married Mary Brooks young in life, and by that union had a family of five children, of whom the second was Samuel Riddle, the sub- ject of this sketch.
Samuel Riddle, fifth in line of descent from the Protestant warrior of Scotland, was born at Parkmount, near Belfast, Ireland, in the initial year of the nineteenth century, and after securing an academic education left school at the age of fourteen to enter a cotton factory in Belfast, where, by industrious and indefati- gable application for a period of nine years, he thoroughly mastered all the details of cot- ton manufacturing, and become known, even at that early age, as one of the most expert and skillful operators of his day. Believing he could find a wider field and better oppor- tunities in America for the exercise of his abil- ity than were at his command in Belfast, he collected his possessions together, and in May, 1823, set sail from Larne for this country in the sailing bark "Hope." The voyage was without unusual incident until they neared the coast of Nova Scotia, where the vessel was wrecked, and Mr. Riddle was cast ashore on Sable Island. He had the good fortune, how- ever, to be picked up after three months' stay on the island, and taken on another vessel to Halifax, thence to Philadelphia, where he landed with a total capital of four Spanish dollars and his tea chest, which he carried to his boarding house on his back. He soon found employment in a cotton factory at Manayunk, but shortly afterward removed to Pleasant Mills, New Jersey, where he was engaged at his trade for three years. During that time he saved a small sum from his earn- ings, with which he determined to embark in business for himself. He accordingly, in 1827,
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
rented a small mill at Springfield, Chester county, where, in partnership with his brother, James Riddle, he engaged in spinning cotton yarn with four hundred and eighty mule spin- dles. There he remained three years longer, and afterward removed to Parkmount, near Rockdale, on Chester creek, Delaware county, where he successfully conducted the business of a cotton manufacturer for a period of twelve years.
In 1842 Mr. Riddle purchased the cotton factory operated by James Houghton, at what was then known as Pennsgrove, on Chester creek, fifteen miles from Philadelphia. This was a beautiful location, and has been ren- dered much more so by improvements and development. He named the place Glen Rid- dle, and at once began that almost unexam- pled career of prosperity which in the course of the next forty years made his name familiar in all the principal marts of this country, and carried it, through the exportation of his goods, back to the old world where he was born and reared. Here he added acre to acre and mill to mill until he owned five large and completely equipped cotton mills, together with several hundred acres of finely improved land.
The Houghton mill, now designated as mill No. I, was operated alone until 1860, when Mr. Riddle built an additional mill of equal capacity, now known as mill No. 2. In 1872 he erected the large woolen mill, designated as mill No. 3, where cottonades and cheviots are now manufactured, and which employs a large number of operatives. In 1884 he built the spinning mill, designated No. 4, devoted to manufacturing warp yarn, employing nearly four hundred people, and turning out a weekly product of fourteen thousand pounds of cotton yarn. About 1875 Mr. Riddle purchased the factory operated by the McCreedy estate, now known as mill No. 5, located on Chester creek, just below his other mills, and which turns out annually about two hundred and fifty thous- and yards of damask table cloth, and almost
an equal quantity of dometts. The buildings are all of stone, and the five mills aggregate ten thousand four hundred cotton and woolen spindles with power looms, and constitute perhaps the largest textile manufacturing plant in this country. The machinery is driven by three immense turbine and water wheels and a powerful Corliss engine. In addition to the mills there are two hundred and fifty dwelling houses belonging to the estate, occupied prin- cipally by the employees of the firm. The town, postoffice and station derive their name of Glen Riddle from the enterprising founder of this vast business. The Riddle homestead, now occupied by Mrs. Lydia C. Riddle, is a large and spacious mansion, standing on the gently descending slope of a high hill, consid- erably above the level of the street, and the grounds are tastefully arranged and well kept. Tall oaks wave their leafy branches overhead, while clusters of shrubbery beautify the lawns and grace the terraces and parterre, thus add- ing everything to the natural loveliness of the scene which cultivated taste could suggest. The interior appointments are equally superb. The rooms are large and spacious, while the walls are adorned with artistic productions from the studios of eminent American and foreign artists. The mistress of this elegant home, Mrs. Lydia C. Riddle, is a lady of rare culture and accomplishments, who has trav- eled extensively in European countries and in her native land. She is an entertaining conversationalist, widely known for her mag- nificent hospitality, and greatly esteemed for her uniform kindness of heart and manner.
In personal appearance Samuel Riddle was stout and corpulent, with a clear eye and de- termined features. In conversation he was jocose and pleasant, with a large fund of illus- trative anecdotes, of which he always made a liberal and happy use. He was twice married. His first wife was Martha Mercer, by whom he had no issue. After her death he married Lydia C. Doyle, a native of Delaware county, and a daughter of William W. Doyle. By
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
this union he had a family of four children, two sons and two daughters: Lydia Maud, married Donald C. Haldeman, then of Colum- bia, this State, but now general manager for Great Britain and Ireland of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, with offices in London; Charlotte Buffington, became the wife of Homer Lee, a native of Mansfield, Ohio, who went to New York city when a boy to learn the art of engraving, where he has be- come very successful, and is now president of the Homer Lee Bank Note Company of that city, one of the largest institutions of its kind in the world; Samuel D., now senior member of the firm of Samuel Riddle's Sons, who suc- ceeded their father, and have managed this immense manufacturing business since his decease, and also conduct a large commission business in the city of Philadelphia; and Lean-
der W., junior member of the firm. Mrs. Riddle has also been actively interested in the management of this large business since the decease of her husband, in 1888, and has shown remarkable business ability and an un- usual grasp on practical affairs. She has been noted as a devoted mother and an affectionate wife, and stands to-day as a fine representa- tive of the intelligent, cultivated and progres- sive womanhood of the nineteenth century.
J ACOB CRAIG, Jr., superintendent of
the Chester Freight Line, and who was remarkably successful as a high school teacher and newspaper editor, is a son of Jacob and Esther (Lamborn) Craig, and was born at Hockessin, New Castle county, Delaware, July 13, 1851. He received his elementary education in the common schools of his native county and then entered Delaware State Nor- mal university at Wilmington, from which in- stitution he was graduated in the class of 1871. Leaving the university he taught in the common schools for a short time and then was elected a teacher in his alma mater, which he resigned three years later to become prin-
cipal of Felton seminary, in Kent county, Delaware. At the end of one year Mr. Craig left Felton seminary to engage in the news- paper business, becoming a reporter on a State paper, the Morning News, of Wilming- ton. From Wilmington he came to Chester and was the first reporter on the Chester Times, which he afterward purchased, and six months later sold to John Spencer. He then com- menced reportorial work for the Times again, and was so employed from 1877 to 1886, when he accepted his present position of superin- tendent of the Chester Freight Line. Super- intendent Craig is a republican in politics, and has been for four years a member of the select council of Chester, from the Fourth ward, and was re-elected in February, 1894, for another term of four years. He is a mem- ber of the Royal Arcanum, president of the Chester Republican club, a member of the Supreme Conclave of the Improved Order of Heptasophs, the Supreme Lodge of the Order of Tonti, and the State Council of the Junior Order of American Mechanics. He is a direc- tor in the Delaware County Building associa- tion, and thus gives time to the material de- velopment of the city and lends aid to hun- dreds who are striving to own their own homes. In 1882 Mr. Craig was secretary of the Bi-Centennial committee of Chester that was organized to commemorate the landing of William Penn in Pennsylvania, at Chester, and did much to make successful that occa- sion, one of the most memorable celebrations in the history of the State. Alike in the fields of education and journalism he has been reli- able and successful in business and in the many important, honorable and useful posi- tions which he has held.
On December 28, 1875, Mr. Craig was united in marriage with Amelia Hibshman, daughter of John and Magdalene (Adkins) Hibshman, of German descent and natives of Ephrata township, Lancaster county, this State. Mr. and Mrs. Craig have three children : Walter H., John Percy and Norman Chandler.
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
The immigrant ancestor of the Craig family in America came about 1730 from Scotland to the eastern shore of Maryland, from which one of his sons (great-grandfather) came to Avondale, Chester county, and was the father of William Craig, the grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch. The great-grandfather served in the Revolutionary war. William Craig was a farmer and a whig. He married Hannah Netherby, and their children were : Walter, Obadiah, Nelson, Mary Stern, Ann, Hannah J. Sharpless and Jacob. Jacob Craig (father) was born near Kennett Square, Ches- ter county, January 28, 1820, and learned the trade of shoemaker, which he followed at Hockessin and Henry Clay, Delaware, for several years. He then removed to Kennett Square, Chester county, where he died July 14, 1878, at fifty-eight years of age. He was a republican and held the office of school di- rector for three terms. He married Esther Lamborn, who died April 2, 1853, at thirty- six years of age, and left six children : Lam- born, Dewees, Levis, Wilson, Jacob, jr. (sub- ject), and Chandler. Esther Lamborn Craig, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was a direct descendant of George and Jane Chand- ler, who emigrated to this country from Eng- land in 1687. The bi-centennial anniversary of the settlement of the Chandler family was held at Chadds' Ford, Chester county, on the original tract in September, 1887, when about fifteen hundred members of the family, from different sections of the country, gathered to celebrate the important event with appropri- ate exercises. The Craig family is well known in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland for the industry and thrift of its members.
JOB L. GREEN, president, secretary and general manager of the Keystone Press Brick Company, of Trainer, and one of the most successful and public-spirited citi- zens of Marcus Hook, where he is now serv- ing as burgess, is a son of Daniel C. and Mary
Ann (Lee) Green, and was born January 23, 1846, at Marcus Hook, Delaware county, Penn- sylvania. The Greens are of Swedish descent, but came to America and settled in this State at a very early day. David Green, paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a waterman by occupation and spent his time in boating and fishing. He lived at Marcus Hook, which has been the home of the family for a hundred and fifty years, and was the father of a family of seven children, three sons and four daughters. One of his sons was Daniel C. Green (father), who was born and reared at Marcus Hook and spent his whole life there, dying July 18, 1882, at the advanced age of seventy-three years. He was a ship builder by trade and carried on that business successfully for forty years. After relinquishing that he engaged in house building to some extent, being naturally of an industrious and active disposition, and for some time previous to his death was engaged in the mercantile business at Marcus Hook, more for the sake of employment than for profit. He was possessed of fine business ability, and was always economical and care- ful in the management of his affairs and ac- cumulated considerable property. Politically he was a whig and a republican, and held about all the local offices of his township. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, always regular in his attendance and liberal in his support of the various interests of his church. In 1831 he married Mary Ann Lee, a native of Delaware county, by whom he had a family of eleven children, three sons and eight daughters : Clara H., Susanna, Mary, Mary Ann, Henrietta, Emma, Anna B., George, Job, Josephine Townsend and Joshua Eyre. Mrs. Green died December 30, 1883, aged seventy-three years.
Job L. Green was reared at Marcus Hook, this county, and obtained a good practical education in the public schools there and at Village Green academy, under the instruction of Prof. Hurvy Barton. After leaving school
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
he followed the water for a time, boating and fishing, and then entered the employ of G. W. Bush & Son, a large lumbering company, as foreman, remaining five years. In 1889 he purchased the Keystone Press Brick Com- pany plant, at Trainer, and organized a new company, becoming superintendent of the business, and began the manufacture of all kinds of common, pressed and ornamental brick. Since that time he has made a num- ber of improvements in the plant, making it much more valuable, and has greatly increased the capacity of the works. They now make an average of sixty thousand bricks per day and employ about one hundred men. Their trade extends all over the eastern States, but the larger part of their fine bricks go to New York city, where their work is well known and very popular among contractors and builders. Under the new and vigorous policy of Mr. Green, this business has had a remarkable growth. The company owns fifteen acres on which the plant is situated at Trainer.
On July 18, 1867, Mr. Green was united in marriage with Lydia Jane Morrison, a daugh- ter of Robert Morrison, of Bethel, Delaware. To them has been born a family of four chil- dren, three sons and one daughter : George IV., Mary A., Coates P. and Emlen H.
In his political opinions Mr. Green has al- ways been a stanch democrat, and has taken an active part in local politics. He has served in the capacity of auditor, assistant assessor and school director, and in February, 1893, was elected to the responsible position of burgess of Marcus Hook for one year. On February 20, 1894, was re-elected burgess for three years, with the largest majority that was ever polled at the Hook. He is a mem- ber of Linwood Lodge, Knights of Pythias ; Linwood Lodge, No. 1119, American Legion of Honor : and of the Royal Arcanum at Ches- ter. During the civil war he served with the emergency men at the time of the battle at Gettysburg, and has always manifested a deep concern in matters affecting the public welfare. 11a
A MOS WICKERSHAM HOUSE, a
retired farmer and manufacturer of Chadds' Ford, and one of the best known and most highly esteemed citizens of Delaware county, is the eldest son of William S. and Phebe (Wickersham) House, and was born December 4, 1818, in what was then Penns- bury, but is now Pocopsin township, Chester county, Pennsylvania. His great-grandfather, James House, was born April 17, 1717, and died in July, 1756. He was the father of six children : Amos, Hannah, Catharine, Eliza- beth, Sophia, and Martha. The son, Amos House (grandfather ), was born April 19, 1742, and after attaining manhood became a chain- maker, and carried on that business for many years in Pennsbury township, Chester county, where he died April 6, 1821, at the age of seventy-eight years. He formerly resided in the old stone house, near Chadds' Ford, was a federalist in politics, and, like his an- cestors, a strict member of the Society of Friends. He was married three times, his last wife being Mary Swayne, by whom he had one son, William S., father of the subject of this sketch. William S. House was born in Pennsbury township, Chester county, May 2, 1793, and after receiving a good common school education engaged in farming and market gardening. For two years he was en- gaged in the tannery business, but followed agricultural pursuits the remainder of his life, and died in 1873, aged eighty years. Polit- ically he was a whig, and in religion a mem- ber of the Society of Friends. He married Phebe Wickersham, a native of Newlin town- ship, Chester county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Caleb Wickersham, a descendant of one of the oldest families of Pennsylvania. By that union he had a family of nine chil- dren, two sons and seven daughters : Amos Wickersham, whose name heads this sketch ; Rachel, who married Henry Walter ; Mary, never married; Martha D., who wedded Charles J. Allen ; Eliza, became the wife of David Evans, and is now deceased; Sarah
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
T., unmarried ; Margaretta, died in childhood ; Susanna, unmarried ; and Benjamin S., now a resident of West Chester. Phebe W. House died in 1866, in the sixty-seventh year of her age. She was a most estimable woman, and a life-long member of the Society of Friends.
Amos Wickersham House was educated in the common schools of his native township, the Friends' Westtown Boarding school, and an academy at Wilmington, Delaware. Soon after leaving school he engaged in farming in Lancaster county, this State, where he re- mained for seven years, and then returning to Chester county, settled in East Goshen town - ship, where he resided from 1852 to 1867. In the spring of the latter year he purchased a large farm of two hundred and thirty acres, near Chadds' Ford, Delaware county, upon which he resided until 1876. In that year, upon the marriage of his son, William H. House, who was then managing the farm, the property was sold to Gotlieb Schiedt, and Mr. House removed to the village of Chadds' Ford, where he now resides. While a resi- dent of Chester county he was extensively en- gaged in stock-raising and marketing, and be- came very successful. Indeed he has always met with remarkable success in all his under- takings, which fact is due alike to the fine business ability he possessed and the care and industry with which he pushed his various enterprises. Since selling his farm Mr. House has retired from business affairs, and is now enjoying the fruits of an active life, devoted mainly to agricultural pursuits. At one time he was largely interested in the dairy busi- ness, and during the Centennial exposition was treasurer of the company making the dairy display, and had charge of that display to a great extent, during which time he han- dled one hundred and seventy-four thousand dollars, without giving bond or security, and without the loss of a cent. In connection with Lewis P. Harvey, he was also proprietor of the National Kaolin works at Brandywine, this county, for a number of years. He has
also done considerable conveyancing, settled a large number of estates, and acted as assignee in many instances. A man of incorruptible integrity, he has always enjoyed the highest esteem of his neighbors and associates, and the full confidence of all who knew him.
Politically Mr. House was a whig until the organization of the Republican party, when he at once attached himself to that standard, and has frequently taken a very active part in local politics. In religion he adheres to the faith of his ancestors and is a member of the Orthodox Society of Friends.
On November 4, 1847, Mr. House married Mrs. Lydia J. Sharpless, nee Garrett, a daugh- ter of Jesse Sharpless, of East Goshen, Ches- ter county, Pennsylvania. By that union he had a family of six children : Phileno, died in childhood ; William H., married Anna Sheep ; Anna S., married Charles J. Painter ; Jesse S .; Charles A., and Phoebe S., all now de- ceased. Mr. House is still hale and hearty, although in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and so full of energy as to still regret that he retired from active business so early. His career has been remarkably successful, and both in his methods and results deserves the earnest study of young men who have to make their own way in the world, and at the same time desire to preserve the integrity of their character and remain that noblest work of God-an honest man.
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