USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county > Part 39
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T HOMAS A. MeDOWELL, one of the most enterprising, successful and useful citizens of South Chester, and the leading con- tractor for plasterer's work in that borough, who for twelve years was a member of the bor- ough's council, is a son of John and Agnes (McQuillin) McDowell, and was born Septem- ber 7, 1854, at Rockdale, Delaware county, Pennsylvania. John McDowell (father) was a native of County Antrim, in the province of Ulster, Ireland, where he grew up and received a good education in the National schools. In 1846 he crossed the broad Atlantic to find a
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new home in America, and shortly after land- ing in this country settled at Rockdale, this county, where he lived until 1871, when here- moved to South Chester. Here he continued to reside until called away by death in 1885, when in the sixty-fifth year of his age. After residing at Rockdale some time he engaged in the coal and lumber business. After coming to Chester he carried on the coal and lumber business at the corner of Front and Morton streets, where he had a large and successful trade for a number of years, and was afterward succeeded by his sons, William J. and W. S. MeDowell. Politically he was a democrat un- til the breaking out of the civil war, when he identified himself with the Republican party and ever afterward gave that organization a loyal support. He served two terms as school director in Middletown township, and was one of the first school directors of South Chester after the town was incorported, hold- ing that office here for ten or twelve years, and being also treasurer of the school fund for some time. In religion he was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and one of the organizers of the Methodist church at the corner of Third and Jefferson streets, where he led the singing for a number of years. About 1840 he married Agnes McQuillin, a native of Ulster province, Ireland, and a daughter of William McQuillin. To that union was born six children : James, William J., Thomas A., the subject of this sketch ; Elizabeth, Archie and Wesley S. Mrs. Agnes MeDowell has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for fifty years, and now resides at Front and Morton, being in the seventy-fifth year of her age.
Thomas A. MeDowell was reared princi- pally at Rockdale, Middletown township, this county, and received a good practical education in the public schools. At the age of eighteen he left school and went to Philadelphia as an apprentice to the plasterer's trade, under John Cannon. After completing his apprenticeship he worked as a journeyman for a few years,
but in 1878 established himself permanently in South Chester, where he has ever since been successfully engaged in the plastering busi- ness. Being a skillful workman himself, and possessed of fine executive ability and good judgment, together with great energy and un- doubted business taet, he soon had a lucrative patronage, and for several years has done most of the plastering in the borough of South Ches- ter, employing from ten to twenty men in ear- rying forward his various contracts. Mr. Mc- Dowell owns a block of houses in South Ches- ter, where for years he has been one of the important factors in the improvement and de- velopment of the borough, and his wife owns and conducts a dry goods and general furnish- ing store at No. 1931 West Second street.
In his political affiliations Mr. McDowell has always been a stanch republican, and for a number of years has taken an active part in local polities. In 1880 he was elected to a seat in the borough council, and by successive re-elec- tions continued to occupy that important posi- tion for a period of twelve years, relinquish- ing the office in April, 1893. He has taken a prominent part in many conventions and coun- eils of his party, and done much for its advance- ment and success. Since 1893 he has been a member of Lamokin Tribe, No. So, Inde- pendent Order of Red Men, and is universally regarded as among the best, most publie spir- ited and most useful citizens of the borough he has done so much to build up and improve in various ways.
On the 20th of June, 1877, Mr. McDowell was united in marriage to Susanna MeCoy, a daughter of Emer E. MeCoy, of Coatsville, Chester county, this State. To Mr. and Mrs. MeDowell has been born one child, a son, named William J., now in his fifteenth year.
HOW OWARD R. SWAYNE, M. D., a young and successful physician of the city of Chester, who is a graduate of the Jef- ferson Medical college of Philadelphia, and
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one of the most active and promising young professional men in Delaware county. is a son of Joseph M. and Amanda E. ( Roeder ) Swayne, and a native of Lancaster county, this State, where he was born March 15, 1863. The Swaynes are of English extraction, the family being planted in this country in the latter part of the seventeenth century.
The paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Pennsylvania. He married and reared a family of children, one of his sons being Joseph M. Swayne (father), who is now living a retired life at No. 1634 North Fifteenth street, Philadelphia, in which city he has resided for many years. He is an orthodox Quaker and a straight republican. He married Amanda E. Roeder. Mrs. Amanda E. Swayne was born in Lehigh county, this State, of German parentage.
Howard R. Swayne was reared partly in the city of Philadelphia and partly in the adjoin- ing county of Chester. His education was ob- tained at the Friends' Select school for boys in Philadelphia and the Westtown boarding school in Chester county. Leaving school he turned his attention to preparing himself for a profession, and in the fall of 1886 began the study of medicine with Prof. William S. Forbes, of No. 1704 Walnut street, Philadelphia. Later he matriculated at the Jefferson Medical col- lege of that city, and in the spring of 1889 was duly graduated from that well known in- stitution with the degree of M. D., receiving a prize for the best anatomical preparation in his class. Immediately after graduation he began the practice of his profession at No. 1634 North Fifteenth street, that city, and remained there until the spring of 1890, at which time he removed to the city of Chester, where he has already built up a nice practice and is becoming very popular as a physician and socially. In addition to his duties as a prac- ticing physician Dr. Swayne is also engaged to some extent in the real estate business here, and has made some important deals.
Dr. Swayne is prosector for the chair of anat-
omy in the Jefferson Medical college, and is also demonstrator in the same institution. He is a member of the Pathological Medical so- ciety and the Decosta Medical society of Phil- adelphia, and of the Delaware County Medi- cal society, and is also a member of the alumni association of Jefferson Medical college. In political sentiment he is an ardent republican.
On May 17, 1890, Dr. Swayne was wedded to Laura M. Kerr, the handsome and accom- plished daughter of James Kerr, of the city of Philadelphia. The Kerrs are of English line- age, and the mother of Mrs. Swayne was a Miss Grubb, a descendant of one of the old- est families of Delaware county. To the Doc- tor and Mrs. Swayne has been born one child, a daughter, named Marian Marguerite.
JOHN R. WAY, one of the younger bus- iness men of Marcus Hook, who is now proprietor of a fine, well stocked grocery store at that place, and on the highway to enduring financial success, is the youngest son of Mercer J. and Sarah M. ( Bullock ) Way, and was born August 29, 1869. at Stanton, Delaware. The Ways are of English extraction, and the family ranks among the oldest in this country, hav- ing been planted in Massachusetts as early as 1672. The English progenitors of the family were strict Quakers, and many of their descen- dants adhered to that faith. In the latter part of the eighteenth century some of the Ways came into Pennsylvania, settling near Con- cordville, Delaware county, where John Way, paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born and reared. He was engaged for many years in conducting a hotel, or tav- ern, at that place, and became widely known. He married Sarah, daughter of Evan and Sarah Jones, born December 17, 1771, and had a family of eleven children. His death occurred at Concordville, in 1853, at the age of seventy-five years. His son, Mercer J. Way (father), was born at that village in 1827, and grew to manhood there, receiving a good
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common school education. After marriage he removed to Brooklyn, New York, and for a number of years was engaged in the lumber business in New York city. Later he served as lumber inspector in that city, and only left New York on account of his wife's health, which had become greatly impaired. In order to give her the advantage of fresh air and pure water he purchased a farm at Stanton, Dela- ware, and resided there until 1871, when he removed to Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, and embarked in the flour and feed business. Later he added a full line of groceries, and successfully conducted the grocery business here until his death in 1881, when in the fifty- fourth year of his age. Politically he was a democrat, and in religion a devout and active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, always earnest in his support of the various enterprises of his denomination, and liberal and tolerant toward the opinions of others. By his marriage to Sarah M. Bullock he had a family of eight children, two sons and-six daughters : Charlotte Rutter, Sarah Jones. Mary Emma, Charles Lewis, Lucelia Eliza- beth, Lilly. Anna Leora, and John Rutter. Mrs. Way is a daughter of Lewis and Char- lotte Bullock, and a descendant of one of the oldest families in this county. She was born in Concord township in 1828, and is conse- quently now in her sixty-fifth year. For many years she has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and now resides in the borough of Marcus Hook.
John R. Way came to this village with his parents when only two years of age, and was reared and educated here, attending the pub- lic schools until his seventeenth year. He then learned the trade of cutter of gentlemen's clothing, but not liking the business only worked at it for a short time, and in November, 1892, purchased his father's store, which had been conducted by Mrs. Way after her hus- band's death, and engaged in the grocery bus- iness at Marcus Hook on his own account. He had assisted in the management of the
store for some time previous to buying it, and had thus familiarized himself with the details of the business and acquired a practical knowl- edge of affairs, which fitted him for the success he has since attained. He now has a handsome store, well stocked with staple and fancy gro- ceries, and a steady trade, which is becoming larger and more important every year.
On December 6, 1892, Mr. Way was united in holy matrimony with Caroline J. Rebmann, oldest daughter of John Rebmann, of the borough of Marcus Hook. They have one child, Caroline Rebmann Way, born Septem- ber 18, 1893. Mr. Way adheres to the polit- ical traditions of his family, and is an ardent democrat. In business he has demonstrated the possession of fine executive ability, and being careful and accomodating in all his transactions, he is already popular and widely known, and there can be little doubt of his future success and usefulness as a business man and citizen.
WILLIAM V. SALMON, the popular paymaster of the Chester Rolling Mills, who for a number of years was closely identi- fied with the drug trade in this State and Del- aware, and is prominently connected with the Masonic organization of this city, is a son of William H. and Annie (Snitcher) Salmon, and was born at Dover, Delaware, on January 15, 1858. The Salmon family is of Welsh origin, its first representative in America being Henry Salmon, paternal great-grandfather of the subject of this sk tch, who came from his native place in Wales when about thirty years of age and settled near Dover, Delaware, where members of the family have ever since resided. He was a farmer by occupation, and oue of his sons was John Salmon (grandfather), who was born and reared in the State of Del- aware, and died in New Castle county, that State, about 1859. He was a farmer by voca- tion and also owned and operated a small grist mill. William H. Salmon (father) is a
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native of New Castle county, Delaware, where he was born in 1810 and lived until 1865, when he removed to Delaware county, Pennsylvania, settling in the city of Chester, where he still resides, being now in the seventy-third year of his age, and retired from all active business. For thirty years previous to his retirement he was engaged in the business of carpenter and contractor, and previous to that time had been roadmaster on the Delaware River railroad. Politically he was a whig and republican, in religion a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and married Annie Snitcher, a native of New Castle county, Delaware, who is a member of the same church, of remote Ger- man extraction.
William V. Salmon was brought to this city by his parents when a lad of seven summers, and spent the remainder of his boyhood days here. He attended the old Welch street school for several years, and completed his education at the Newark acadamy, Newark, Delaware. After leaving school he entered a drug store in Philadelphia, to learn the drug business, and remained there until 1874, thor- oughly familiarizing himself with all depart- ments of the retail drug trade. In 1874 he left Philadelphia, and returning to Delaware county opened the first drug store ever estab- lished in South Chester, located at the corner of Third and Morton streets. This store he successfully conducted until January, 1877, when he disposed of it, and the same year es- tablished a drug store at Odissa, New Castle county, Delaware, which he ran until 1879. He then sold the business to other parties and returned to Chester, where he soon after as- sumed the duties of paymaster in the Chester Rolling mills, and has ever since acceptably filled that responsible position. In addition to his duties as paymaster of the rolling mills Mr. Salmon is serving as treasurer of the bor- ough of South Chester, and is also financially interested in the Penn Steel Casting Company and in the street railway of South Chester.
In 1878 Mr. Salmon was married to Bella 18
H. Dennis, a daughter of Ananias Dennis, of Middletown, Delaware. To Mr. and Mrs. Salmon have been born two children, both sons : William H., now (1893) in his four- teenth year, and George A., aged twelve. Politically William V. Salmon has always been an ardent republican, and takes a deep interest in local politics. He is a member of Chester Lodge, No. 236, Free and Accepted Masons ; Chester Chapter, No. 258, Royal Arch Masons; Chester Commandery, No. 66, Knights Templar ; and of the Ancient Order of the Mystic Shrine, of Philadelphia.
DAVID S. BUNTING, one of the most successful business men of Chester, who is at the head of the largest lumber trade in the city, and is widely known and highly esteemed for his honesty, integrity and ster- ling ability, is a son of Josiah and Sarah (Sel- lers ) Bunting, and a native of the city of Phil- adelphia, where he was born September 23, 1820. He was reared principally on the old Bunting homestead at Darby, Delaware county, to which his parents removed when he was yet a child. His education was received in the Friends' school at Darby, a boarding school at West Chester, and a college at Wilmington, Delaware. Soon after completing his studies at the latter institution he engaged in farming and dairying at Upper Darby, this county, where he remained for a period of eight years. He then purchased a farm on Chester creek, and continued the combined business of a farmer and dairyman until 1862, when he dis- posed of his farm, removed to the city of Ches- ter, and in partnership with Joseph H. Hink- son, engaged in the lumber trade. The firm then formed continued in business until Mr. Hinkson's death, two years later, since which Mr. Bunting has carried on the lumber and coal busines alone. Possessed of fine execu- tive ability and a wonderful capacity for look- ing after details, the business has steadily in- creased under his energetic management until
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he now has the largest lumber trade in this city, and carries in stock the largest assort- ment of rough and dressed lumber to be found in the two counties of Delaware and Chester. This simple fact is a better commentary on the correctness of his methods, and the con- spicuous success which has crowned his com- mercial career, than whole pages of comment could be.
On March 9, 1843, Mr. Bunting wedded Han- nah P. Serrill, a daughter of Benjamin Serrill a grazier, of Darby, this county. To that union was born three daughters: Sidiery P., who married Joseph W. Sharp, president of the Na- tional bank at Berwyn, Chester county, Penn- sylvania; Elizabeth, who became the wife of J. Charles Andrews, of Darby, this county; and Sarah S., now deceased, who was the wife of Josiah Bunting, chief of the dress goods de- partment of John Wanamaker's store in Phila- delphia, and who at her death in 1888 left three sons, Joseph S., Sydney S., and Aubrey R. Bunting.
Politically the subject of this sketch is an ardent republican, and although too much en- grossed in active business to have either time or inclination for office-holding, he has been several times elected a member of the city council, and his services in that body were re- cognized as useful and important. The cor- ner stones of his eminent success in business are strict honesty in his dealings and an ac- commodating disposition which makes every patron a friend. He is pleasant and affable in manner, easily approached, and enjoys the highest esteem of all who know him.
The Buntings are of English extraction, and the family was transplanted from Europe to America about the middle of the seventeenth century. Its first representatives on this con- tinent were three brothers, one of whom settled at Crosswicks, New Jersey, another in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and the third, Samuel by name, settled at Darby, now Delaware county. From the latter David S. Bunting is descended. Samuel Bunting married a grand-
daughter of John Blunston, who emigrated from England in 1682 and settled at Darby, this county, where he took up a large tract of land.
John Blunston was a member of the Provin- cial assembly for thirteen years, and several times held the position of speaker of that body. He was also appointed by William Penn as a member of the council of state and a justice of court, and frequently acted as attorney for people in England who held land in Pennsyl- vania. Josiah Bunting, paternal grandfather of David S. Bunting, was a native of Darby, this county, where he resided all his life. He owned a fine farm there and was a consistent member of the Society of Friends. His son, Josiah Bunting (father ), was born and reared at Darby.
While yet a young man he went to Phila- delphia, and in partnership with Joseph Watson, who for five years was mayor of that city, he engaged in the lumber business there, the firm name being Watson & Bunting. They did a large business for a number of years, Mr. Bunt- ing being engaged in the lumber trade in Phil- adelphia until 1832, when he sold out and purchsed the old Bunting homestead at Darby, to which he removed in the autumn of that year. There he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1863, when in the ninety-first year of his age. He was a very successful busi- ness man, a life-long member of the Society of Friends, and a republican politically at the time of his death. In 1814 he married Sarah Sel- lers, a daughter of David Sellers, then of Phil- delphia, though a native of U'pper Darby, this county. She was born in Philiadelphia, and died at her home in Darby, this county, in 1850, aged sixty-two years.
To them was born a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters: Rachel Sel- lers, Elizabeth, David Sellers, Sarah Hunt, Josiah, Samuel Sellers and Joseph.
The Sellers family is also one of the oldest in Pennsylvania, having been founded here by Samuel Sellers, who came over from Der-
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byshire, England, in 1682, and settled at Darby, then Chester, now Delaware county.
In June, 1684, he married Anna Gibbons, also from Derbyshire, they being the first couple ever married in the "Darby Meeting" of the Society of Friends. They had six chil- dren, the third. Samuel, being born December 3, 1690, and married August 12, 1712, to Sarah Smith, also of English descent. To them were born seven children, of whom the youngest was John Sellers (great-grandfather ), who was born September 19, 1728, and died February 2, 1804. His father having erected the first twisting mill in Pennsylvania, he learned the trade of weaver, but early displayed great me- chanical ability, and invented the first wire rolling screens and sieves for cleaning grain ever made on this continent. So successful was this invention that he abandoned the mannfacture of textile fabrics and devoted his attention to wire weaving. He was elected to the assembly in 1767, and served five terms, besides holding many other positions of honor and trust. On February 26, 1749, he married Ann Gibbons, and they had among other chil- dren, Nathan, David, John and George.
David Sellers ( maternal grandfather ) was a native of Upper Darby township, this county, and after attaining manhood became a wire- worker in Philadelphia, where he erected the first wire-working establishment ever operated in America. He made by this enterprise what was considered a large fortune in those days, and became widely known. He died in 1813 aged fifty six years.
H' IRAM HATHAWAY, Jr., one of the younger members of the Chester bar, who has already won high standing in his pro- fession, and is also prominent in the politics of Delaware county, is a son of Hiram, sr., and Mariah ( Hannum) Hathaway, and was born October 27, 1863, in what is now the first ward of the city of Chester. Here he grew to manhood and has always resided. His edu-
cation was obtained in the public and private schools of this city, and after being graduated from the high school here in the spring of 1 883, he began reading law with Hon. William Ward. In the autumn of 1886 he completed his preparation for the bar, and in January, 1887, after passing the usual examination, was duly admitted to practice in the courts of Del- aware county. He immediately opened a law office in the city of Chester, where he has been continuouslyengaged in an active general prac- tice ever since. By careful attention to all business entrusted to his hands, and painstak- ing ability in his management of cases, he early won the confidence of court, bar and public, and now ranks with the most promi- nent of the younger members of the legal pro- fession in his native county.
Adhering to the political faith of his ances- tors, Mr. Hathaway has always been an ardent democrat, and for some years has taken an active part in politics, being accounted one of the ablest and safest local leaders of his party. In February, 1887, he was elected city recorder by a majority of one hundred and eighty-seven votes, while his political opponents elected the balance of the ticket by an average major- ity of nine hundred and ninety-six. In 1889 he was the democratic candidate for State senator against John B. Robinson, and while the republicans carried the connty by a ma- jority of four thousand eight hundred, Mr. Johnson's majority was cut down to one thousand five hundred and twenty-nine. In the fall of 1892 Mr. Hathaway was elected as a member of the State Constitutional Conven- tion, which convention, on account of the governor's action, never assembled.
In December, 1889, Mr. Hathaway was united in marriage to Ann R. Gray, a daughter of Col. William C. Gray, of the city of Chester. Mrs. Hathaway is a cultivated and refined lady, who is an acknowledged light and leader in the social circles she frequents.
The Hathaway family is of direct English origin, and was transplanted to America and
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settled in the New England colonies as early as 1687. Tradition links this family with that of Ann Hathaway, who was immortalized by the bard of Avon. For more than two hun- dred years the Hathaways have been respected and useful citizens of the territory comprised in the New England States, and a number of them have won prominence in various lines of endeavor. William Hathaway, paternal grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was born and reared in Connecticut, but left his native State in early manhood to settle in New York. He was a canal builder, and served as super- intendent of the Delaware & Hudson canal for many years. At one time he was also manager of the Pennsylvania Coal Company's business at Kingston, New York. To him be- longs thedistinction of having constructed the first steamboat ever run in Canadian waters. He died in the city of Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1880, after an active and successful life cov- ering eighty years. Politically he was a stanch democrat, and served as a delegate from Ulster county, New York, in the National Democratic convention that nominated " the little giant," Stephen A. Douglas, for the presidency in 1860. In the same year he was tendered the nomination for Congress from that district, but declined to accept the office. One of his sons, Hiram Hathaway, sr., (father) is a native of Rondout, now Kingston, New York, where he was born in 1836, and was reared and edu- cated in that State. In the fall of 1860 he re- moved to Chester, Delaware county, Pennsyl- vania, where he has resided ever since. He is connected with the Pennsylvania railroad, as division superintendent, with headquarters in the city of Philadelphia. Like his father before him, he has been an ardent democrat all his life, and has served as city auditor of Chester, and occupied numerous other places of trust and responsibility. His wife, Mrs. Mariah Hathaway, is a daughter of Robert E. Hannum, and a native of the city of Ches- ter. She is a member of the Episcopal church. Robert E. Hannum (maternal grandfather)
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