USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county > Part 36
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calico printing rolls, which are made nowhere else in America, and nowhere else in the world except in France and Alsace-Loraine, Ger- many. To the skill and ability of Mr. Brown is due much of the excellence which has given the Crown Smelting Company's products their present enviable reputation.
On the 8th of January, 1869, John T. Brown was united in marriage to Elmira L. Weaver, youngest daughter of Cromwell and Charity Weaver, then of the city of Philadelphia, though natives and former residents of West Chester, this State, and descendants of two of the old Quaker families that came over with William Penn. Mrs. Brown is a member of the Daughters of the Revolution, being also a descendant of the noted Pearce family of Rad- nor, Chester county, who were closely identi- fied with the Revolutionary war. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown has heen born a family of five children, two sons and three daughters : Lor- etta, Linda, Raymond, Deborah and John T., jr. The entire family are members of the Universalist church.
In political sentiment Mr. Brown is an ar- dent republican, always giving his party a loyal support on State and National questions. He is a member of Wilde Post, No. 25, Grand Army of the Republic ; Harris Castle, No. 2, Knights of the Golden Eagle ; Aurora Lodge, No. 465, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Philadelphia ; and also of Penn Encamp- ment, No. III, of the same city.
The Browns are of remote Welsh descent, and take their place among the oldest families of Pennsylvania. Nicholas Brown, paternal grandfather of John T. Brown, was born in Mount Holly, New Jersey, and married Jane MacMullen, of Philadelphia county, where he lived all his life and where he died, aged nearly seventy-four years. He was a tailor by trade and carried on that business successfully at what is now known as Eddington, that county. He married and reared a family of eight children, one of whom was John Brown, father of the subject of this sketch. This son
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was born in Bensalem, Bucks county, this State, in 1806, and was reared and educated there. After attaining manliood he engaged in farm- ing in his native county, where he lived for a number of years. In later life he removed to the city of Philadelphia, where he continued to reside until his death in 1880, when in the seventy-eighth year of his age. Politically he was an ardent democrat all his life. In 1816 he married Mary Randolph, a daughter of Frank and Mary Randolph, of Bucks county, and a descendant of the old Randolph family of Virginia. Frank Randolph served in the war of 1812. They were the parents of nine children, of whom John T. Brown is the youngest. The others were: Crowell, Nick, William, Deborah, Mary Jane, Elizabeth, Isa- bel and Newton. Mrs. Mary Brown (mother ) was a native of Bucks county, and died in 1867, at the age of sixty-six years, and greatly respected and beloved by all who knew her.
F FRANKLIN J. EVANS, M. D., one
of the most popular and successful young physicians of Chester, and a graduate of the university of Pennsylvania, is a son of Joseph H. and Mary M. (Gore) Evans, and was born in this city, December 2, 1862. The Evans family is of Welsh extraction, and its first rep- resentative in America was Lieut. John Evans, who came over with William Penn, serving in an official capacity under that famous proprie- tor. It will thus be seen that this family is among the oldest in Pennsylvania, and it can perhaps claim the distinction of being the first now represented among its citizens to own and occupy part of the land on which the city of Chester now stands. At a very early date the Evanses settled here, and Jacob Evans, paternal grandfather of Dr. Evans, was born and reared here, owning and cultivating in his day a fine farm which has since been included in the city limits, and is now covered with ex- cellent buildings. He married Orpha Hink- son, and reared a family of four sons and four
daughters. Joseph Evans (father) is also a native of this city, born in the house where he now resides in 1836. During his more active years he was a large contractor and builder, in which business he was very successful, but is now retired. Politically he is an ardent democrat and in religion a member of the Madison street Methodist Episcopal church. In 1861 he married Mary M. Gore, a daughter of Jessie and Mariam Gore, and a native of Virginia .· She is of German descent, a mem- ber of the same church as her husband, and is now (1893) in the fifty-third year of her age. To them was born a family of eight children, seven sons and one daughter.
Franklin J. Evans grew to manhood in his native city of Chester, receiving his education in the public schools here. After leaving school he read medicine for two years with Dr. J. L. Forwood, of this city, and then en- tered the medical department of the university of Pennsylvania, from which he was duly graduated May 1, 1884, with the degree of M. D., being the youngest man in his class. He immediately located in this city for the practice of his chosen profession, opening an office in the house where he now resides, No. 218 West Fourth street, where he has ever since conducted a large and successful general practice. Dr. Evans is one of those enterpris- ing physicians who do not abandon the study of medicine as soon as they secure a diploma, but continue to devote their earnest attention to all matters concerning their profession, and strive to keep abreast of all genuine progress made in the healing art. On account of his success and skill in the treatment of disease he has acquired a fine reputation as a physi- cian, and already enjoys an enviable standing in his profession. He has served as vice- president of the city board of health since May, 1893.
In his political affiliations Dr. Evans is a democrat, but too thoroughly devoted to the duties of his profession to give much atten- tion to politics. He is of a pleasant disposi-
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tion and popular alike in social and secret so- ciety circles, being a member of Chester Lodge, No. 236, Free and Accepted Masons ; Chester Chapter, No. 258, Royal Arch Masons ; Ches- ter Commandery, No. 66, Knights Templar ; Delaware County Lodge, No. 10, Knights of Birmingham ; and of Lulu Temple of the Mystic Shrine, of Philadelphia. Dr. Evans is unmarried.
J OSEPH TILLINGHURST DeSIL-
VER was born in Philadelphia, Septem- ber 13, 1853. His grandfather, Robert De Silver, was a native of Portugal, who with Thomas, his brother, came to America in 1781, and located in Philadelphia. His grandmother was Margaretta Brown, of the well known Brown family of Baltimore. Maryland. His grandparents on the maternal side were : Pat- rick and Mary McGlensey, natives of Ireland, who emigrated to America about 1800. Pat- rick McGlensey became a successful merchant, and his descendants still maintain a high place in the mercantile world of Philadelphia. Rob- ert DeSilver soon established a large publish- ing and book-selling business. Among his publications were the Philadelphia city direc- tory, and the celebrated Comley spelling book. At his death he was succeeded by his son, Robert Wilson De Silver, the father of the sub- ject of this sketch, who continued the business for several years and amassed a considerable fortune. In 1854 he closed out his book bus- iness, and invested his entire fortune in the Pennsylvania Oil Company, of which he was made president. A large plant was estab- lished at Chester, Pennsylvania, on the pres- ent site of' Roach's ship-yard, for refining rosin oil. The company was not successful, and went down in the financial crash of 1857, Mr. De Silver losing his entire fortune. He re- moved with his family to Washington, District of Columbia, where he died in 1864.
Joseph T. De Silver attended the public schools of Philadelphia, and left the Chester
Grammar school in 1867, at the age of four- teen, to enter as an apprentice to the printing business. He was engaged at the office of the Delaware County Democrat, which paper had been founded by his brother-in-law, Dr. J. L. Forwood. His early introduction to the office of a political newspaper gave him a taste for politics, which has continued with him throughout his life. After spending six years at the Democrat office, in September, 1873, he purchased from J. Mullin & Son the Chester Pilot. The name of the paper was changed to Weekly Mail, and continued its publication for three years, when it was merged into the Delaware County Paper. Mr. De Silver was was then appointed to take charge of the Del- aware County Democrat, where he continued until 1880, when he left the newspaper busi- ness to enter upon that of a real estate broker. Mr. De Silver has always been an ardent dem- ocrat, and has always taken an active interest in politics. He was secretary of the county democratic executive committee for a term of eleven years, during which time he was absent from but five meetings. He has several times represented the democracy of Delaware county in the State conventions of his party, notably in the Democratic State convention of 1880, in which Mr. De Silver is credited with break- ing the deadlock of a tie vote, in the celebrated stuggle between Senator William A. Wallace and the late Samuel J. Randall, which resulted in a victory for Randall. Another memorable contest, in which Mr. De Silver represented his county, was the democratic congressional conference of 1886, which was in almost con- tinual session for a week, and which finally resulted in the selection of O. B. Dickinson as the candidate. He also took a prominent part in the judicial contest in Delaware county in 1884, between Judge Thos. J. Clayton and O. B. Dickinson. He was selected as chair- man of the democratic city committee of Chester for the municipal election of 1893, and the democrats overcame an adverse major- ity of about seven hundred, and elected John
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B. Hinkson mayor. On October 5, 1893, Mr. De Silver was appointed by Secretary of the Treasury Carlisle, as superintendent of construction of the United States postoffice building now being erected at Chester.
JOHN EDWARD CLYDE, a retired business man, and ex-burgess of the city of Chester, who ranks with the oldest and most highly esteemed citizens of Delaware county, is the youngest son of Thomas and Henrietta ( Mifflin) Clyde, and was born Feb- ruary 4, 1816, at No. 119 Race street, Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania. Thomas Clyde (father) was a native of Ireland, born of Scotch-Irish parents in 1780, and remained in his native country until nineteen years of age, receiving a good common school education. He early evinced remarkable business ability, and in the closing year of the eighteenth century left the Emerald Isle and sailed for America, with the avowed determination of making a home and fortune in the new world. After a long and tedious voyage he landed at Philadelphia, where he settled and continued to reside for many years. He was very energetic and en- terprising, and soon engaged in the grocery business on a small scale, in which he met with great success, and continued to enlarge the sphere of his operations until he owned one of the leading grocery stores on Race street. In Ireland his ancestors had been agriculturists, but he seemed born with a gen- ius for commercial pursuits. He continued to prosper in business, and erected two blocks of stores in the city of Philadelphia, being ac- counted one of the most successful men of his time. In 1826 he removed to what is now the city of Chester, where he continued his mercantile career, and was one of the pioneer merchants of this city. He introduced new methods and pushed his business in all departments, becoming one of the largest general merchants in Chester at that day. He built up two corners of Market square
and in various ways contributed extensively to the growth and development of the town. In 1844 he purchased the Washington hotel, which he afterward sold to Jno. G. Dyer. In about 1843 he disposed of his various mercan- tile interests and retired from all connection with business affairs, spending his last years in quiet comfort at his home in this city. His death occurred in 1856, when he was well ad- vanced in the seventy-sixth year of his age. In politics he was a Jacksonian democrat, but while enthusiastically supporting his party, he always declined political honors for him- self, preferring to devote his energies entirely to business. During the war of 1812 he served for a time in the American army, being present with the forces at Dupont. He was a devout member of the Presbyterian church, and took a prominent part in supporting all the religious and material interests of his de- nomination. In the First Presbyterian church of Chester is a handsome stained glass me- morial window, placed there by loving friends, which perpetuates his name and memory. He was also a leading member of the Masonic fraternity, and his funeral services were con- ducted in accordance with the usages of that order. In 1813 Thomas Clyde married Hen- rietta Mifflin, a native of Philadelphia, and a daughter of John Ashmead Mifflin. By that union he had a family of three children, two sons and a daughter : Samuel A., John Ed- ward, the subject of this sketch, and Arabella, who married Jno. G. Dyer. Along with his own children, Thomas Clyde also reared and educated his nephew and namesake, the late Thomas Clyde, of Philadelphia, who became one of the largest shipowners of this country, and whose name is familiarly known all over the world.
John Edward Clyde was reared in Phila- delphia, and received his education mainly in the excellent schools of that city. He after- ward attended Princeton college for a year and a half, and at the age of eighteen, regis- tered as a law student in the office of John
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W. Ashmead, of Philadelphia, where he in- dustriously applied himself to the study of Blackstone and other legal authorities for the space of two years. At the end of that time his health was so greatly affected by close ap- plication to office work that he determined to abandon the law for mercantile pursuits. He accordingly entered his father's store, at Ches- ter, in the capacity of clerk and salesman, and remained in business with him for several years. In 1843 he became general manager of the large company store at Bloomsburg, Columbia county, this State, where he remained a short time. He then returned to Chester, and retiring from all active business pursuits, has ever since continued to reside in this city.
Adhering to the political traditions of his family, Mr. Clyde has always been an ardent democrat, and for many years was quite active in local politics. He served as a delegate to many county and State conventions of his party, and has been honored by his fellow cit- izens with election to a number of official posi- tions, having served successfully as burgess of Chester, alderman, and in a number of minor offices. In all these positions of trust and responsibility he has discharged his offi- cial duties with rare ability, and given close personal attention to the public welfare.
In 1859 Mr. Clyde was wedded to Emma Ott, a native of Germany and a daughter of Adolph Ott. To Mr. and Mrs. Clyde was born a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters : Thomas E., cashier of First National bank of Chester : Louis A., liquor merchant, of Chester ; Lilly E., who became the wife of H. W. Roth ; William G., assis- tant superintendent of one of the Wellman mills, of Chester ; Belle G., wife of Samuel Clayton ; Samuel A., real estate and broker ; Harry E. and Gertrude E.
G EORGE P. FALLON, justice of the peace and a leading real estate dealer at Wayne, this county, is a son of Bernard and
Amee (Cavelier) Fallon, and was born in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, April 17, 1853. The family is of direct Spanish descent and one of the first representatives in America, so far as known, was Bernard Fallon (father), who came from Spain to the United States in 1835, and for a number of years resided in New Orleans. He was a representative of the Spanish code of finance in this country, or an agent for the Queen of Spain, and during his residence in New Orleans served as colonel of a Spanish regiment raised for the defense of that city, but was never in the regular army. In 1863 he removed to the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying there in 1873, at the age of sixty-three years. Politically he was a demo- crat and in religion a member of the Catholic church. In 1848 he married Amee Cavelier, a daughter of John Cavelier, and a native of France, by whom he had a family of six chil- dren. all sons: Henry J. Fallon, Louis F. Fal- lon, George P. Fallon, Christopher Fallon, Bernard J. Fallon, and Joseph H. Fallon. Mrs. Fallon resides with her son, George P. Fal- lon, in the village of Wayne. She is a mem- ber of the Catholic church, and is in the sev- enty-third year of her age, having been born in 1821.
George P. Fallon came to Philadelphia with his parents when ten years of age, and re- mained there until he entered St. John's col- lege at Fordham, West Chester county, New York, where he received a superior classical education, being graduated from that institu- tion in 1870. After graduation he went to New York city, where he became interested in stocks and cotton on Wall street, and remained in that city until the spring of 1886. Hethen returned to Pennsylvania and located at Wayne, Delaware county, where he has resided ever since. After coming here he engaged in the real estate and insurance business, which he has successfully conducted to the present time. He has erected nearly forty residences and stores in this village, which he has sold
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to various parties, and in this way has done much to improve the village of Wayne and en- large the business importance of the place. He now owns much valuable real estate in the village, and in the line of his business has made some important deals.
In his political proclivities Mr. Fallon is a stanch democrat, and takes an active interest in local politics. Although the village is strongly republican, yet the personal popular- ity of Mr. Fallon is such that in the spring of 1889 he was elected to the important office of justice of the peace, and still occupies that position, discharging its duties with great abil- ity and in such an impartial manner that he is justly considered one of the best justices in the county. As a man and a citizen he is highly regarded by all who know him, and his suc- cess in business is ample evidence of his fine practical ability in the management of affairs. Mr. Fallon has never married.
G EORGE WASHINGTON HOW-
ARD, president of the Pennsylvania Coffee Company, and a member of the select council of Chester, who is recognized as one of the mercantile leaders of eastern Pennsyl- vania, is a native of Sussex county, Delaware, where he was born September 25, 1850. His parents were George W. and Leah Cannon ( Poole) Howard, through whom he is de- scended from two of the old English families which settled in Delaware in the early part of the seventeenth century. At the time of their settlement that portion of Delaware was a part of the present State of Maryland. The original ancestor of the Howards received from the Proprietary a large land grant in Sussex county, Delaware, then included in the east- ern shore of Maryland. He was one of two brothers, the other of whom located on the western shore near the city of Baltimore, and became the progenitor of the Baltimore branch of the family of that name. For the last two centuries the family has included many
names prominent in the history of the city and State, of which was John Eager Howard, of Revolutionary fame, who was an illustrious member.
William Howard (son of Nerimiah ), paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Baltimore Hundred, Sussex county, Delaware. He was a large planter and land owner, also owning many slaves, but in late years developed such a profound sympathy for the black man that before his death he freed all in his possession.
His political tenets were those of an anti- federalist, and he excited great influence in his community and county. He was thrice married, the father of ten children, five sons and five daughters. His third wife was Rhoda Wharton (nee Aydelotte), widow of Aaron Wharton, who became mother of George Washington, sr. William Howard died in 1831, aged sixty-five. His wife survived him thirty five years, dying in her eightieth year.
George Washington Howard (father) was born at the ancestral home in Sussex county, February 20, 1818. He received a common school education and then engaged in farm- ing, which he followed for a number of years on one of the plantations of the original How- ard grant. In 1860 he removed to Berlin, Worcester county, Maryland, in order to se- cure better educational advantages for his children. He there engaged in the business of building wagons and agricultural imple- ments. After remaining there ten years he removed with his family, in 1869, to Chester, Delaware county, Pennsylvania. Here he en- gaged in the grocery business, and continued to reside here until his death in 1881, at sixty- three years of age.
He was a man noted, in whatever commun- ity he resided, for his sterling integrity and adherence to the principles he espoused.
Politically he was an old line whig and later a republican, being one of the only five men in Berlin, Maryland, who adhered to the Fed- eral cause at the breaking out of the civil war,
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and who had the temerity to raise the stars and stripes in that town in 1849.
George W. Howard ( father) was married to Leah Cannon Poole, daughter of Gilbert Ten- nent Poole, of Milton, Delaware, principal of one of the leading academies in the State. Mrs. L. C. Howard, who still survives, is nearly related to the Cannons and Waples of Dela- ware, both old and leading families. The first authentic record of the latter family dates back to 1640. The result of this union was a family of six children, three sons and three daughters : Clara Fennert, who wedded W. V. Harper, of Philadelphia ; Mary Anne ; George Washington, whose name heads this sketch ; Frederick Aydelotte, of the wholesale grocery firm of Howard Brothers, Chester; Rhoda Ester, who married Dr. George D. Cross, of the city of Chester; and William Edward, also of the firm of Howard Brothers, Chester, Pennsylvania.
George Washington Howard passed his earliest years in Baltimore Hundred, Dela- ware; removed with his parents to Berlin, Maryland, where he received his education, and later came with them to Chester, Penn- sylvania. After leaving school he took a course of training at Crittenden's business col- lege in Philadelphia, and then returning to Chester became a clerk in a inercantile estab- lishment here. Two years later he entered the employ of the Chester & Philadelphia Packet Company, and afterwards associated himself with his father and brother in the grocery business, under the style of G. W. Howard & Sons. Upon the dissolution of this firmin 1877, George W. Howard and his brother, Frederick Aydelotte, formed a partnership, under the name of Howard Brothers, and en- gaged in the wholesale grocery and commis- sion business at the corner of Sixth and Welsh streets, this city. They gave their attention strictly to business, and soon built up a large and prosperous trade, which averaged a quar- ter of million dollars annually. In 1889 George W. Howard retired from the firm, in
which he was succeeded by his youngest brother, William E., and purchased a con- trolling interest in the Pennsylvania Coffee Company, jobbers and packers of coffees, teas and spices. This company practically has the monopoly of that line of business in this city, and are doing a larger trade in teas and cof- fees than any other firm in Delaware county, and has also recently added a full line of gro- ceries, which now makes their house not only the leading jobbers and packers of coffees, but one of the leading wholesale grocery firms of eastern Pennsylvania. Much of its recent success is due to the splendid ability and ac- curate business methods of Mr. Howard, whose industry equals his comprehensive knowledge and his genius for managing the details of a complicated establishment.
On Thanksgiving day, 1879, Mr. Howard was united in marriage to Christina B. Steph- · ens, youngest daughter of James and Harriet (Gebhardt) Stephens. Mr. Stephens is a large cotton manufacturer of the city of Ches- ter, and among her most enterprising and re- spected citizens. To Mr. and Mrs. Howard have been born three children, one son and two daughters: Harriet S., James S. and Mary Leah.
In his political affiliations George W. How- ard has always been a republican, taking an active part in local politics, and closely iden- tified with every movement or enterprise cal- culated to advance the prosperity of Chester, or extend her industrial and trade interests. In 1891 he was elected a member of the select council from the Fifth ward of this city, and is now serving his second year in that respon- sible position. He has served on all the im- portant committees of council, and by his ability and sagacity as a councilman has done much to advance the city's welfare, as well as added materially, by his enterprise and pro- gressive spirit, in the development of his city. Mr. Howard resides in the Fifth ward, corner of Broad and Walnut streets. He has been a member of L. H. Scott Lodge, No. 352, Free
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