USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county > Part 34
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In 1849 he wedded a Caroline Ramsay, a native of Utica, New York. whose parents were Henry Richard and Susanna ( Farwell) Ram- say. Mrs. Long is now in the sixty-fourthi year of her age. They had a family of nine children, four sons and five daughters.
W ESLEY S. MeDOWELL, a member of the prosperous coal and lumber firm of W. J. McDowell & Brother, of South Ches-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
ter, and president of the board of education of that borough, is a son of John and Agnes ( McQuillen ) McDowell, and was born May 12, 1860, at Glen Riddle, Delaware county, Pennsylvania. He was reared principally in the borough of South Chester, to which his parents removed when he was about ten years - of age, and received a good practical educa- tion in the public schools here. After leaving school he assisted his father in conducting the coal and wood business in South Chester until the death of the latter. when young McDowell formed a partnership with his elder brother, William J. McDowell ( see his sketch ), under the firm name of W. J. McDowell & Brother, and they succeeded their father in the coal, wood and lumber trade. The headquarters of this enterprising firm is at the corner of Front and Morton streets, South Chester, where they do an extensive business, handling all kinds of lumber, coal, kindling wood, lime, sand, cement, plaster, terra cotta drain pipe, fire brick, fire clay, and other merchandise connected with these various lines. Being endowed with fine business ability, and giving close personal attention to every transaction, they have rapidly increased their business and now enjoy a large and lucrative trade, not only in South Chester, but in all parts of the surrounding country.
On November 25, 1889, Wesley S. McDowell was united in marriage to Lizzie K. Law, a daughter of ex-burgess John Law, of the bor- ough of South Chester. To Mr. and Mrs. McDowell has been born one son, Harold S., who is now in his third year.
In politics Mr. McDowell is an earnest repub- lican, but has never taken any very prominent part in political affairs, preferring to devote liis energies to business. He takes a deep in- terest in educational matters, and is now sery- ing his sixth year as a member of the board of education in this borough. For three years of that time he has been president of the board, and still occupies this position, doing much valuable work in the interest of im-
proved educational facilities for the rising generation. Mr. McDowell is a member, trustee and treasurer of the South Chester Methodist Episcopal church. He is also a member of Chester Lodge. No. 236, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. His name was among the charter members of the Felton Fire Company, of South Chester, of which organi- zation he is now treasurer. Few men of his age have been more successful in business, and the future holds bright promise of addi- tional triumphs in his prosperous career. For ancestral history see sketch of William J. Mc- Dowell, found elsewhere in this volume.
R OBERT BOOTH, a member of the . planing mill firm of J. H. Stroud & Co., of Chester, and one of this city's successful and popular business men, is the son and only sur- viving child of John and Sarah A. (Foulke) Booth, and a native of Bethel township, this county, where he was born March 23, 1834. The Booths are of English extraction, the im- migrant ancestor of the family being among the English Quakers who came to Pennsylvania during the colonial period, and this branch of the family has been resident in Delaware coun- ty for more than a century. Thomas Booth, paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch. was a prosperous farmer of Bethel township, where he was born, grew to man- hood and spent his entire life. He was a mem- ber of the Society of Friends, a whig in poli- tics, and married and reared a family of chil- dren, one of his sons being John Booth (father), who was born on the old homestead in Bethel township, this county, in 1805. He acquired a common school education, and after attaining manhood engaged in agricultural pursuits, which he followed successfully until his death by accident in 1836, at the early age of thirty years, eight months and twenty days. He owned three hundred and fifty acres of land, upon which he carried on farming and stock
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
raising extensively, and was also engaged in teaming, keeping two fine teams on the road all the time. His death was caused by one of his horses falling upon him while he was riding. Politically he was an ardent whig, and in religion adhered to the Friends' faith, in which he had been reared. He was a man of great energy, good judgment and benevo- lent heart, and was remarkably successful dur- his short business career. In 1829 he married Sarah A. Foulke, a daughter of John Foulke, of Brandywine Hundred, Delaware, and was the father of three children: Charlotte, who married Stephen Cloud, of this city, but is now deceased; Sarah, also dead; and Robert, whose name heads this sketch. Mrs. Booth afterward married Nelson Clayton, a prosper- ous farmer of Bethel township, and by that union had a family of five children: John, de- ceased; Nelson, now a resident of Village Green. this county; Powell F., holding a posi- tion in the Pullman car shops at Wilmington, Delaware; Thomas F., a farmer of Bethel township; and Amanda, deceased.
Robert Booth grew to manhood on the farm in Bethel township, this county, and obtained a good English education in the public schools there and the academy at Charlotteville, New York. At the age of seventeen he began learn- ing the carpenter trade, and followed that oc- cupation until 1872, when he formed a part- nership with J. H. Stroud & Co., and started the planing mill at which they are now doing business, and which is located at the corner of Front street and Concord avenue, in the city of Chester. They manufacture sash, doors, blinds, shutters, window frames, door frames, and mouldings, and do all kinds of turning, scroll sawing and planing, besides a large busi- ness in making packing boxes to order. Their mill is fitted up with the latest improved ma- chinery, turning out only first-class work, and they do an annual business of between thirty and forty thousand dollars.
On December 25, 1856, Mr. Booth united in marriage with Martha W. Johnson, a daugh-
ter of Robert Johnson, sr., of Bethel town- ship, this county, and by that union had a family of five children, one son and four daughters: Clara Jane, now the wife of Rev. . Edwin W. Long, of Wilmington, Delaware; John W., employed as book-keeper in the city of Chester: Sarah A., deceased; Della, mar- ried Horris D. Simcox, of this city; and Flor- ence M., who married Rev. Francis E. Smi- ley, of the city of Philadelphia. In political affairs Mr. Booth is a stanch republican, and is a member of Lafayette Lodge, No. 14, Free and Accepted Masons, of Wilmington, Dela- ware, with which he has been connected since 1854.
W ILLIAM H. HALL, the present pop- ular and efficient register of wills and clerk of the Orphans' court of Delaware county, and a gentleman who has been prom- inently identified with the business interests of Chester, and is well and favorably known throughout this part of the Keystone State, is a son of Robert and Frances ( Worrell ) Hall, and was born in Nether Providence township, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, July 12, 1854. His parents were natives of Middleton, Eng- land, and came to the United States in 1843, locating at that time in the city of Philadel- phia, but a few years later removed to Dela- ware county. In 1862 Robert Hall ( father ) embarked in the manufacture of cotton and woolen goods at Waterville, Lower Provi- dence township, this county, where he suc- cessfully conducted that business until 1882, when he retired. In 1872 he removed to the city of Chester, and continued to reside here until his death, January 23, 1890, when in the seventy-fourth year of his age. His wife still survives him and lives in the city of Chester, where she is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal church. She was born in 1818, and is conse- quently now in her seventy-fifth year. Robert Hall (father) was a whig and republican in politics, and for a number of years was a ves- tryman of St. Paul's Episcopal church in this
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city. He reared a family of six children, two sons and four daughters.
William H. Hall was reared principally in Nether Providence township, this county, and obtained a superior English education in the public school and at Gilbert academy in this city. After completing his studies young Hall entered his father's factory, where he had full charge of the designing and weaving until 1882, when he engaged in the bakery and con- fectionery business on his own account. He conducted the latter enterprise successfully up to 1890, at which time he abandoned it to give his attention to official duties to which he had been called by his fellow citizens.
A life long republican, Mr. Hall has taken a prominent part in local politics, in which he has been more or less active ever since the Grant and Colfax campaign, at which time he threw to the breezes the first and only Ameri- can flag bearing pictures of those two repub- lican leaders that ever floated in the Quaker village of Waterville, this county. In 1885 he was elected assessor of the south ward of the city of Chester, and reelected in 1886, serv- ing two years. At the election of 1890 he was made city controller, and acceptably filled that position until January, 1893, when he retired from that office to accept the more important one of register of wills and clerk of the Orphans' court of Delaware county, to which he had been elected in the fall of 1892. He is still occupying the latter position, and his work has been done in an able and efficient man- ner, creditable to himself and highly pleasing to all who have business with his office. Mr. Hall is also prominent in Masonic and other fraternal circles in this city, being a member of L. H. Scott Lodge, No. 352, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; Chester Chapter. No. 258, Royal Arch Masons; Chester Commandery, No. 66, Knights Templar ; Lieperville Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and Lamokin Tribe, No. 80, Improved Order of Red Men.
On the 9th of December, 1871, Mr. Hall
was united in marriage to Anna P. Kirk, the youngest daughter of John Kirk, of the city of Chester. To Mr. and Mrs. Hall has been born one child, a son, named Robert R., for his grandfather, who is now deceased.
w ILLIAM HINKSON, an old and highly respected citizen and business man of Chester, and ex-treasurer of the county and city, is a native of Middletown township, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, where he was born December 12, 1820. He remained on his father's farm, part of which now lies within the city limits of Chester, until six- teen years of age, and then began work as an apprentice to the blacksmith trade. His edu- cation was principally obtained in the com- mon schools of Chester, and by diligent study and extended reading during the years of his apprenticeship. After completing his trade he worked as a journeyman for two years, and in 1848 moved to Chester and continued in the blacksmithing business on his own ac. count in this city until December, 1854. This enterprise he successfully conducted for a period of ten years, and on January 1, 1855, embarked in the limber and coal business, believing that the latter would furnish a wider. field for his activity and a shorter path to in- dependence. His transactions were at first small, but his business gradually increased in volume until he had a large and lucrative trade, which he continued until 1880, when he retired. Since that time, with the exception of one year, Mr. Hinkson has been collector of school taxes in this city, under appoint- ment of the board of education, and also at- tends to the collection of rents for a number large property holders. In 1863 he was elected county treasurer of Delaware county, and served in that important office for two years.
On December 15, 1845, Mr. Hinkson mar- ried Mary Edwards, a daughter of Edward Edwards, of this city. She died in 1849, leav- ing one son, Lewis E., who now resides at
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
Eddystone, this county. Mr. Hinkson was again married December 13, 1854, wedding Hannah Black, daughter of John Black, a prominent farmer in the township of Marple, this county. By this second union he had a family of three children, one son and two daughters : William E., now engaged in the drug business at Plainfield, New Jersey : Mary E. and Anna P.
In politics William Hinkson has been a steadfast republican ever since the first organ- ization of that party in Pennsylvania. In his earlier years he took an active part in promot- ing its interests, and was long accounted as one of its most influential local leaders. In recognition of his services and as a tribute to his high character, he was elected by his party to the office of county treasurer, as has already been noted, and served as such during 1864 and 1865. Long before the city of Chester was chartered he had served as a member of the borough council, and later became a mem- ber of the city council, holding a seat in that body for many years. He also served on the school board for an extended period, and was treasurer of Chester for two terms -- once while it was yet a borough, and again after the the city government had been organized. In religious faith Mr. Hinkson is a Presbyterian, having been connected with the Third Pres- byterian church of Chester since its organiza- tion in 1872, and president of the board of trustees for several years. He is also a mem- ber of Chester Lodge, No. 236, Free and Ac- cepted Masons.
The family of which William Hinkson is now the oldest representative in this city, is of Scotch - Irish lineage, and was planted in America by the great-grandparents of the sub- ject of this sketch, who came over from Ire- land at an early day and settled in this county. Their son, John Hinkson (grandfather), was born on shipboard during the voyage across the Atlantic, and was reared and educated in Delaware county, where he spent nearly all his life engaged in agricultural pursuits.
S AMUEL MOILVAIN, one of the lead- ing contractors and builders of the city of Chester, whose handiwork may be seen in many of the fine buildings that add beauty to our streets and increase our reputation as a city of elegant homes, is a son of Andrew and Martha ( McIlvain) McIlvain, and was born near Londonderry, Ireland, in 1841. Andrew Mc- Ilvain was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and was en- gaged in the manufacturing business in Ireland, where he died when the subject of this sketch was only ten years old. The latter was reared on the Emerald Isle and received a limited education in the National schools of his native country, after which he learned the trades of stone mason and brick layer, and continued to work at those occupations until 1875, when he brought his mother to America, having come himself in 1865. He in 1865 located in the city of Chester, Delaware county, where he has resided ever since. For one year he worked at journey work and then engaged in contracting and building on his own account. He was energetic and capable in management, conscientious and thorough in the execution of contracts, and soon had a large share of the best business in his line in this part of the country. From the first he gave his careful personal attention to all important work, and being one of the very few men who can build a house from foundation stone up to top shin- gle with his own hands, he was always able to secure the best work of the best workmen, and never failed to give satisfaction to his cus- tomers. Under such circumstances it is hardly necessary to say that his business has rapidly increased until it assumed mammoth propor- tions and yielded a princely income. He has had as many as forty skilled carpenters at work for him at one time, beside the brick layers and others necessarily employed in carrying on extensive building operations. During the years that have elapsed since he began con- tracting here in 1867, he has built many of the largest, handsomest and most substantial bus- iness houses and private residences that to-day
16
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
adorn the streets of this city, including most of the fine buildings on Nineteenth street from Providence avenue to the city limits. He has also erected more than one thou- sand substantial houses in the city of Philadelphia and between Philadelphia and Chester, beside a large number at Avelon, New Jersey, and Wilmington, Delaware. In addition to his large contracting business. Mr. McIlvain also operates in real estate to some extent, and has handled some very valuable property in this city and made a number of important deals. Beginning as a poor boy he has wrought out a splendid and highly suc- cessful career, for which he is indebted prin- cipally to his own unaided ability, energy and determined thoroughness in everything he un- dertook. He now finds himself in middle life possessed of a handsome competency, at the head of a large and lucrative business, and with an enviable reputation which has been built up by years of careful and conscientious devotion to the work in which he is engaged.
In 1861 Samuel McIlvain was united in mar- riage to Mary Stevenson, a daughter of Andrew Stevenson, and a native of the same place in Ireland where he was born. Shedied in 1889, leaving six children, three sons and three daughters, four of whom are yet living : An- drew, Samuel, Minnie and Willie.
Politically Mr. McIlvain is a republican, but takes little part in political matters, pre- ferring to devote his time and attention strictly to business. He is inclined to be liberal in his views, and has never been a bitter partisan. He is a member of the Third Presbyterian church of Chester, and liberal in his support of all church interests. His mother, Mrs. Martha McIlvain, still survives and resides in the city of Philadelphia. She is now in the 76th year of her age. In his active and suc- cessful career Mr. McIlvain has abundantly shown the leading characteristics of the won- derful Scotch-Irish race, whose achievements in this country, in war and in peace, have been an important part of our history from the
earliest settlement down to the present hour a race " which has always made the measure of its opportunity the measure of its responsibil- ity, and by its aptitude, tact, honor, sincerity, integrity, ability, truth and energy, has made itself a potent factor in the progress and pros- perity of every land in which it has become an element of population."
JOSEPH F. BREWSTER, an active business man of Chester and a Union of- ficer of the army of the Potomac, who was in Libby prison, is a son of John and Mariah (Greenwood ) Brewster, and was born at Ash- ton, in Lancastershire, England. December 1, 1840. He was brought at eight years of age by his parents to Delaware county, where he attended the common schools of Rockdale for three years. He then entered a cotton mill and spent his evenings for several years in at- tendance on night schools. For a quarter of a century he worked continuously in cotton mills, except the time spent as a soldier in the Union army, and during that time perfected himself in every detail of the cotton manufac- turing business. In 1876, on account of the injurious effects of his work on his health, he left the cotton mill and engaged with William H. Martin in the flour, feed and coal business in Chester, under the firm name of Brewster & Martin. They did a very fine business for eight years, when Mr. Martin retired from the firm, and Mr. Brewster continued alone for three years. Since then he has been actively engaged in different remunerative enterprises and has accumulated a comfortable compe- tency. He is active, energetic, and has al- ways been noted for industry and progress. Mr. Brewster, with his wife, owns forty-three valuable properties in the city of Chester. He is a stanch republican, has served as a paster and folder in the State senate, and janitor of the Pennsylvania house of representatives, and for the last twenty-five years has been chosen continuously as an election officer on account
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
of his thorough knowledge of election laws, which he has made a special study since 1868. He has also served as a delegate to county and district conventions of his party.
On March 5, 1864, Mr. Brewster married Jane Nuttall, who was born August 16, 1840, and died May 27, 1881, leaving three children, two sons and one daughter: Joseph, Alonzo and Susanna. On November 30, 1882, Mr. Brewster wedded Mrs. Emma Jane ( Amson ) Larkin, and by his second marriage had three children, of whom a daughter, Ethel, is living.
Joseph F. Brewster is a member of the American Protestant association, Post Wilde, No. 25, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is past commander, and Madison street Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has served in different official capacities, and of whose Sunday school he has been superin- tendent. His military record is one of which he may be justly proud. On April 23, 1861, he enlisted in Co. I, 9th Pennsylvania infantry, and served as a private until the expiration of his term of service, July 27, 1861 ; his regi- ment being attached to the 4th brigade, Ist division of Patterson's army, and serving in the Shenandoah valley. Two years later, on June 15, 1863, he enlisted in Co. G, 29th regiment Pennsylvania emergency men, was elected as sergeant and served at Mt. Union and Orbisana, this State, clear Spring, Mary- land, and London, Virginia. On July 10, 1863, his company supported a body of Union cavalry in a skirmish with a Confederate force near Clear Spring, Maryland, and was honor- ably discharged August ist of the same year. Returning from his second term of service he remained at home until September 1, 1864, when he enlisted in Co. K, 198th Pennsylvania infantry, which was recruited in Philadelphia, under the auspices of the Union League, and served as a part of the Ist brigade, Ist divis- ion, 5th army corps, and served in the closing operations around Richmond and Petersburg. Mr. Brewster was promoted to sergeant, De- cember 12, 1864, participated in the siege of
Petersburg and the engagements at Peebles' Farm, Poplar Spring, Hatcher's Run, Roan- oke Creek and Lewis Farm, where he was slightly wounded and captured on March 29, 1865. He was confined in Libby prison until April 5th, when he was paroled and sent north. Sergeant Brewster was present at Lee's surrender, was in the grand review at Washington and served on Arlington Heights from May 12 to June 3, 1865, when he was honorably discharged for the third time from the Federal service.
The Brewster family has been long resident of the kingdom of England, where William Brewster, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born and reared in Lancastershire. He was a whig, an Episco- palian and an Odd Fellow, and died, aged eighty years. He married and had two chil- dren : John and Betsy Jackson. John Brew- ster was born August 1, 1814, and in 1848 came to Delaware county, where he remained up to 1855. He then removed to Chester and afterward went to Elkton, Cecil county, Mary- land, where he died September 29, 1884, at seventy years of age. He was a cotton man- ufacturer, but having lost his cotton mill in Maryland, he then retired from active business and lived a retired life until his death. He was a Baptist, a republican and a member of the Odd Fellows, the Sons of St. George and the Masonic fraternity. John Brewster mar- ried Mariah Greenwood. They reared a fam- ily of six sons and eight daughters : Elizabeth, born in 1835; William, 1837; Mary Jane, 1838; Joseph F. (subject), 1840; Susanna, 1842; Mark, 1843; John E., 1845 ; Stephen, 1847; Jesse, 1849; Mariah, 1850 ; Jane, 1855 ; Eva, 1859 ; and two infants unnamed.
EFFROY P. DENIS, president of the Chester Steam Heat & Power Company, and prominently connected with may other leading industries of this city, is another of that class of men who, by their comprehensive
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grasp on affairs, create wealth and advance the public interests in promoting their own. He is a son of Narcisse F. H. and Marietta ( Ran- dolph) Denis, and was born January 28, 1843, in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was a native of France, descended from an ancient French family, and born during the first year of the present century. While yet a young man he crossed the Atlantic to find a new home in the chief city of Pennsylvania. He was finely educated and in Philadelphia became a manufacturing chemist, being for many years a member of the well known firm of Rosegarten & Denis, of that city, where he passed the remainder of his life, dying in 1872, when well advanced in his seventy-second year. In politics he was a democrat until Lincoln's first administration, when he became a repub- lican and ever afterward adhered to that party. He married Marietta Randolph. a native of New Jersey, who now resides in Philadelphia in the seventy-second year of her age. They had a family consisting of three sons and two daughters.
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