USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county > Part 42
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ceived the thirty-second degree in the Mystic Brotherhood.
Mr. Ashmead has been twice married. First to Rebecca Frances Warner, daughter of Cap- tain Richard N. Warner, of Alexandria, Vir- ginia, and second to Emma Campbell, daugh- ter of James and Angelina (Garsed ) Campbell. Her father, James Campbell, is prominently identified with the industrial history of Chester, and was its pioneer manufacturer. By the first marriage he had one child, John Wayne Ashmead, a young man of exceeding promise, who died shortly after attaining his eighteenth year.
W ALTER C. PENNELL, a prominent young business man of Chester, who has been engaged in the flour, feed and coal busi- ness here for some time, is a descendant of two of the oldest families of Pennsylvania. He is a son of Nathan and Elizabeth (Pawl- ing) Pennell, and was born June 22, 1860, in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Pennells are of English descent, and trace their ancestry back to the early days of Quaker settlement on the banks of the Delaware. James Pennell, paternal grandfather of Walter C. Pennell, was a native of Chester, where he was reared and educated. He was a black- smith by trade, and in early manhood removed to the city of Philadelphia, where he followed his occupation during most of his active life, becoming quite prosperous. In religion he was a member of the Society of Friends, and died at his home in Philadelphia in 1866, aged sixty-four years, sixty of which had been passed as a resident of that city. He married and had a family of children, one of whom was Nathan Pennell (father), who was born in Philadelphia in 1823. There he grew to man- hood and received a superior English educa- tion in the public schools. After leaving school he learned the carpenter trade, and resided in his native city until 1861, when he removed to Delaware county, where he purchased a farm, and for fourteen years was successfully
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1875 he removed to the city of Chester, where he has ever since resided, practically retired from ac- tive business, though devoting considerable time to looking after his real estate interests, which are quite extensive. He is now well advanced in his seventieth year, and still hale and hearty for a man of his age. In politics he is a republican, but his quiet tastes have never led him into active participation in political affairs. He married Elizabeth Pawl- ing, of Philadelphia. Mrs. Elizabeth Pennell died at her home in this city in 1892, in the seventieth year of her age.
Walter C. Pennell was principally reared in the city of Chester, to which his parents removed when he was yet a boy. He acquired his education in the public schools of this city, and afterward engaged in different enter- prises with varying success, until 1891, when he embarked in his present successful flour, feed, coal, sand, wood and coke business at No. 419 West Front street, with a branch office at No. 704 Edgmont avenue. By his own enterprising methods and strict attention to business he has built up a prosperous trade, handling all the choicest brands of flour, to- gether with feed, coal, sand, wood and coke, and bids fair to write his name permanently in the business history of this city. Politically Mr. Pennell is a stanch republican, but has never taken any prominent part in politics. He is a member of Washington Camp, No. 43, Patriotic Order Sons of America, and un- married.
The maternal grandfather of Walter C. Pen- nell was a native of Philadelphia, where he carried on the blacksmith business for many years. He married a Miss Harding, whose ancestors came over with William Penn. The latter part of his life was passed in Mont- gomery county, this State, where he died. His father was also a blacksmith. The Pawl- ings are of English extraction, and have been residents of Pennsylvania since colonial times.
TAYLOR GREEN, a prominent young
grocer of the city of Chester, and secre- tary of the Knights of Malta here, is a son of Thomas T. and Ellen (Ogden) Green, and was born November 30, 1868, in the city of Wilmington, Delaware. The Green family. was early settled in this part of Pennsylvania. Thomas Green, paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Chester county, where he passed nearly all his life, and died at an advanced age. He married and reared a family of children, one of his sons being Thomas T. Green (father), who was born and reared in Chester county, but now resides at South Chester. For several years he was a citizen of Wilmington, Delaware. but for nearly a quarter of a century has lived in Chester and South Chester, this county. His vocation is that of a ship-carpenter, to which business he has devoted nearly all of his active life. In political sentiment he is a stanch republican, always giving his party a loyal support. He married Ellen Ogden.
Taylor Green was reared principally in the city of Chester, to which his parents removed when he was quite young. He obtained a good English education in the public schools here, and at the age of seventeen accepted a position as clerk in a leading grocery house in this city. After one year spent in this posi- tion, during which he familiarized himself with the business in all its branches, he re- signed his place and embarked in the grocery trade on his own account. This enterprise he has ever since successfully conducted, and now has a large trade and a fine stock of superior goods, including all kinds of plain and fancy groceries. Although he is one of the youngest merchants in the city, Mr. Green has already displayed a business sagacity and sound judgment, which promise to place him among the foremost men in his line at no dis- tant day.
In 1890 Mr. Green was united by marriage to Frances Moore, youngest daughter of Louis Moore, of this city. Mr. Green is a member
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of the Knights of Malta, being secretary of the local lodge of this fraternity, and is a reg- ular attendant and liberal contributor to the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically he is in accord with the traditions of his family, being an ardent republican, though not a bit- ter partizan. By his careful business methods and general uprightness of conduct he has won the confidence of the people, and bids fair to score a brilliant success in the busy marts of trade.
L EWIS R. HEACOCK, the efficient su-
perintendent of the Rural cemetery at Chester, is a son of Thomas and Annie (Rob- erts ) Heacock, and was born April 6, 1849, in Middletown township, Delaware county, Penn- sylvania. The family is of English descent, and was planted in America by John Heacock and his wife, Ann, who came over in the sail- ing vessel Three Sisters in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and settled in this part of Pennsylvania. They were Quakers, and most of their descendants have adhered to that faith. Joseph Heacock, paternal grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was a na- tive of Middletown township, this county, and resided here all his life, dying in 1876, when well advanced in the eighty-third year of his age. He was a farmer by occupation, becom- ing very successful, and married and had a family of children, the youngest of whom was Thomas Heacock (father), who was born on the old homestead in Middletown township in 1825, and now resides in Media, this county. where he has lived for nearly twelve years. He is employed as watchman by the Charter bank of that borough, and is still hale and hearty, though now in his sixty-eighth year. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a regular attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married Annie Roberts, a native of Pottstown, Mont- gomery county. They had a family of chil- dren. Mrs. Heacock died in 1854, when her son, Lewis R., was in his fifth year.
Lewis R. Heacock was reared principally on his father's farm in Middletown township, this county, and obtained his education in the public schools of his native township. He worked as a farm laborer until 1874, when he came to the city of Chester and engaged in various kinds of work until 1887, at which time he was made superintendent of the Ches- ter Rural cemetery, and has acceptably filled that position ever since.
In March, 1877, Mr. Heacock was wedded to Mary Waddell, a daughter of Maris T. Waddell, of this county, and to them have been born several children, only one of whom is now living, a daughter, named Emma E. Mrs. Heacock is a native of Aston township. Her father, Maris T. Waddell, was killed by being thrown from a wagon at Rockdale in 1859, when in the fiftieth year of his age. His widow, whose maiden name was Phœbe Hea- cock, a daughter of Joseph Heacock, now re- sides with her son-in-law, the subject of this sketch. Lewis R. Heacock is a regular at- tendant at the Methodist Episcopal church, a member of Chester Lodge, No. 92, Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, and is independent in politics, voting only for such men and such measures as in his judgment are best calculated to subserve the public good.
R ICHARD H. DOWNES, goverment inspector of dredging on a number of islands near Philadelphia, this county, and a well known and highly esteemed citizen of MarcusHook, is a son of John and Ann (Locke ) Downes, and was born at Marcus Hook, Del- aware county, Pennsylvania, February 12, 1847. The Downes family is of English ex- traction and ranks with the oldest in our sister Commonwealth of Maryland. Richard H. Downes, paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a prominent and wealthy physi- cian of Queen Anne county, Maryland, where he owned large estates and where he died about 1840, aged unknown years. In that
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county John Downes (father ) was born in 1812, and during his early years mastered the rudi- ments of what was intended to be a liberal ed- ucation. He had conceived a love for the sea, however, and failing to obtain parental consent to his plans for a sea-faring life, he ran away from home while yet a boy, and making his way to the port of Philadelphia, shipped on board a sailing vessel and began his acquisi- tion of nautical knowledge. He followed the sea for a number of years, and then returning to Philadelphia, he located at Marcus Hook and commenced running on a line of sail ves- sels known as the Marcus Hook packet line, and owned by John Larkin, of the city of Chester. These boats ran between Marcus Hook and Philadelphia, and John Downes was connected with this line for many years. He seemed passionately fond of the water, and when not engaged in boating spent much of his time in fishing along the streams of the sur- rounding country, never appearing to be sat- isfied when away from the water. He made no attempt at a reconciliation with his father, and when the latter died he would not go to Maryland to claim his interest in the large estate left by Dr. Downes. He continued to reside at Marcus Hook until his death, May 16, 1879, when in the sixty-seventh year of his age. In religion John Downes was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a re- publican in political faith. On October 1, 1834, he married Ann Locke, a native of Brandy- wine Hundred, New Castle county, Delaware, and a daughter of James Locke. She was of English descent, a member of the same church as her husband, and died October 7, 1881, aged sixty-seven years. They were the par- ents of eight children, five sons and three daughters : Hannah, Thomas, Ellen, John, Isa- * bella, Richard Henry, Joshua Humphris, and James Randolph.
Richard H. Downes grew to manhood in the village of Marcus Hook, obtaining a good prac- tical education in the public schools. Inher- iting to some extent the disposition and char-
acteristics of his father, he early developed a love for outdoor life and the water, and since leaving school his principal employment has been fishing and dealing in fish, in which he has been quite successful.
On the 25th day of February, 1868, Mr. Downes was united in marriage to Sarah E. Barlow, a daughter of Malachi Barlow, of this county. To Mr. and Mrs. Downes were born two daughters, the elder, Bertha E., now the wife of Clarence U. Petitdemange, of Carpen- ter, Delaware, and the younger, Carrie F., liv- ing at home with her parents. The entire fam- ily are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Downes is secretary of the board of trustees of his church and superin- tendent of the Sunday school at Marcus Hook. In his political affiliations Mr. Downes is a stanch republican, and has been frequently elected to and filled the offices of constable and school director, serving for a time as treas- urer of the school board. He takes an active interest in local politics and public affairs, and since 1891 has been acting as government in- spector on Smith and Winfield islands and other islands in the vicinity, and is justly re- garded as among the best and most useful citi- zens of the community.
W ILLIAM S. BLAKELY, who for twenty years has been prominently con- nected with the cotton manufacturing interests of the city of Chester, is one of the successful business men of Delaware county. He was born at Knowlton, this county, March 28, 1853, and is seventh of the nine children of Abraham and Maria (Miles) Blakely. His education was obtained in the public schools of Chester and Hyatt's Military academy of this city. After completing his studies at the latter institution he entered his father's mills to learn the business of a cotton manufacturer. On January 1, 1874, at the age of twenty, he became a member of the firm of A. Blakely & Sons, and remained identified with that firm
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
until 1885, when it was merged into the cor- poration since known as the Arasaph Manu- facturing Company. Upon the organization of the latter concern William S. Blakely was elected treasurer, and has held that position ever since. They employ two hundred and fifty people, and do an annual business of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, pay- ing out more than one hundred thousand dol- lars in wages every year.
In 1881 Mr. Blakely organized the Lincoln Manufacturing Company at Chester, for the purpose of manufacturing cotton yarns. He became treasurer of the company upon its or- ganization and so remained until 1889, when he withdrew from the company. In 1892 he organized the Standard Spinning Company, which fitted up a factory with a capacity of four thousand five hundred spindles, for the purpose of manufacturing hosiery yarns, and employs about sixty operatives. Mr. Blakely is also treasurer of this organization, and in the able and successful manner in which he has managed the monetary affairs of these various companies, has proved himself em- phatically " the right man in the right place." In addition to his cotton manufacturing inter- ests, Mr. Blakely is a stockholder in a number of other corporations and companies in Ches- ter and elsewhere, and is also a director in the Chester National bank.
On April 19. 1883, Mr. Blakely was united in marriage with Mae Ashburn King, a dangh- ter of Dr. Samuel King, of Delaware county. To Mr. and Mrs. Blakely has been born a family of four children, two sons and two daughters : Alice Nannette, William S., jr., Margery and Lyndon, all living and residing with their parents in their beautiful home on Providence avenue in the city of Chester.
Politically William S. Blakely has always been an ardent republican, and has occasion- ally taken an active part in local politics. He and Mrs. Blakely are members of the Mad- ison street Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mr. Blakely is serving as trustee. 19 a
Abraham Blakely (father) was a native of England, and died at his home in the city of Chester in 1886, aged seventy-nine years. He was a successful cotton manufacturer. He married Maria Miles, a native of Pennsylvania. By that union he had a family of nine chil- dren, three sons and six daughters : Benjamin, Eliza E. Gilroy, Sophia D. Wilson, Sadie E. Esrey, Elizabeth Graham, Anna M. Lister, William S., the subject of the foregoing sketch; Allie and Henry G.
J AMES GARDNER, a retired business man of the city of Chester, who has won his fortune by his own unaided efforts, and is now quietly enjoying the fruits of an active and successful career, is a son of Samnel and Mary (Campbell) Gardner, and was born August 15, 1838, in the city of Belfast, Ire- land. His father was also a native of Belfast, and died there when the subject of this sketch was a small child. His mother was born in Scotland, and died in Belfast, Ireland, in 1875. Samuel Gardner was of Scotch-Irish descent, a sawyer by trade, and a member of the Pres- byterian church.
James Gardner came to the United States in 1850, when twelve years of age, and located in Delaware county, near the city of Chester. His education was received partly in the Na- tional schools of Belfast, and partly in the public schools of this county. In 1866 Mr. Gardner entered the wholesale liquor house
of Col. S. E. Dyer, in the city of Chester, as a clerk and book-keeper, and remained there for several years. He then formed a partner- ship with John E. Dyer, under the style of Dyer & Gardner, and engaged in the wholesale liquor business on his own account. This enter- prise was continued successfully for six or seven years, Mr. Gardner meanwhile becoming in- terested in the bakery business in this city. After relinquishing the liquor trade he devoted his entire attention to the bakery business, which he conducted with great success until
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1889, when he disposed of his interests and retired from active business. He now resides in his handsome brick residence at No. 1135 Edgmont avenue, which he erected in 1888, and gives his attention mainly to looking after his large real estate interests in this city. He is a stockholder in the Chester electric rail- way and in the Chester National bank, and is a great admirer of fine horses, of which he owns a number. Mr. Gardner began life as a poor boy, with no influential friends to help him, and by his own ability and indomitable industry has fairly conquered fortune, and finds himself in middle life with an abundance of this world's goods and ample provision made for his later years.
In 1868 James Gardner and Elizabeth Clark were united in marriage in this city. She was a daughter of Dennis Clark, of Chester, and died September 29, 1892, leaving two daugh- ters : Jane and Mary. The former is now the wife of William Oglesby, of the city of Ches- ter, and the latter is living at home with her father. Mr. Gardner is independent in polit- ical matters, as in financial affairs, and stands as a fine example of the self made men of his time.
S. (. MeCARDELL, proprietor of the Model meat market and supply store in Chester, at the corner of Third and Concord avenue, is a native of Little Britain township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and was born March 21, 1865. His parents were William G. and Philina ( Shade) McCardell. William G. McCardell (father) was born in the same township as the son, and was a carpenter and contractor by trade. In 1872, with his family he removed to Chester, returning to Lancaster county in 1877, and in 1882 came back to Chester, where he has since resided. He is a democrat in politics ; a member of Upland Lodge, I. O. O. F., and is also a member in good standing of Monaponoka Tribe of Red Men. In 1864 he was married to Philina Shade, and to their marriage were born three
children : India Cope, Gertrude Lee and Sam- uel C. Green McCardell (great-grandfather) was born in Ireland, and emigrated to America about the breaking out of the Revolutionary war in company with a brother, and settled in Lancaster county. Henry Harrison McCardell (grandfather ), was born and reared in Little Britain township, Lancaster county, Pennsyl- vania, where he attended the country schools and learned the trade of carpenter, which he followed all his life. A democrat in politics, of the Jefferson school, he was for many years tax collector and assessor of his township. A man of strong physical constitution, popular among his neighbors, an Odd Fellow, and a member in good standing in the Presbyterian church. He married Lydia A. Geisinger. To this union were born five sons and two daughters : John, Louis, Henry, Abner, Wil- liam, Lydia J. and Lizzie Ellen.
S. C. McCardell is one of the successful young business men in Chester, having received but a common school education, but he has won his way through hard work and good bus- iness ability. His present business he estab- lished on October 19, 1889, and which has attracted a large and desirable patronage. The premises occupied comprise a salesroom, twenty-five by eighty feet in dimensions, the cellar being used for storage of heavy goods and duplicate stock. One side of the sales- room is devoted to meats, the other to fine groceries and provisions. It is attractively fitted up, well equipped with modern trade requisites, including a large refrigerator with a capacity of two thousand pounds of ice, nsed for the preservation of meats and other per- ishable goods during the hot season. This stock embraces the choicest varieties of beef, veal, mutton, lamb and pork ; also salt, smoked and dried meats, bologna and sausage. In his other department is kept fine teas, coffees, sugar, spices, culinary and laundry supplies, the most reputable brands of canned and bot- tled goods, pickles, preserves, syrups, tahle delicacies of all kinds, farm, garden and dairy
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produce of every description. He has three competent assistants employed in managing this market. In connection with the market he has two wagons employed, one as delivery and the other as butcher wagon. At the age of seventeen Mr. McCardell left school, after having attended for some time Prof. Andrew's preparatory school for college, in Lancaster county. He became a clerk for George E. Glothin, grocer, and with whom he learned his trade. Here he remained for two years, at the end of which time he entered the em- ploy of C. G. Neal, also a grocer, where he continued for one year, when he became a clerk in a grocery and provision store in Phil- adelphia, and in 1889 he started out in his pres- ent business for himself.
On June 9, 1890, Mr. McCardell was mar- ried to Sallie R. Coburn. a daughter of William Coburn, of the city of Chester. To this union one child has been born, on December 4, 1893, Eloyse Ray.
OHN A. WOOD, a prominent young grocer and provision dealer of Chester, Delaware county, who owns two stores on Edgmont avenue, and does an extensive busi- ness, was born in this city September 22, 1868, and is the eighth of the nine children of John and Sarah A. (Dewsnap) Wood. The Woods are of English descent, John Wood (father ) being born and reared in Lancashire, England, where he resided until 1865, when he emigrated to America and settled in the village of Up- land, Delaware county, Pennsylvania. He was the youngest of the three sons of Daniel and Jenet Wood, the others being Duncan and Daniel. The elder, DanielWood (grandfather ), was a soldier in the English army, and accom- panied the British forces to America during the war of 1812. He was wounded in the left foot, made a prisoner of war, and confined at Pittsburg, and after peace was declared he re- turned to England, where he died at an ad- vanced age. He was born in 1792, served in
the 2d Royal Lancashire militia. +Ist regiment foot, Royal artillery and Royal marines, being discharged July 26, 1824. After a period of twenty-one years he again enlisted in a local military organization, and served for fourteen years as bellman of the town of Ashton, by ap- pointment of the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Hansford and Warrington. In 1814 he sailed from Amer- ica to France, in 1815 returned to England, in 1816 served in Ireland, and the next year in Scotland. In 1820 he married Jenet Loudon, daughter of Duncan and Florence (Living- stone ) Loudon, who died October 23, 1848. Their second son, Daniel Wood, came to Amer- ica about 1848 and it is thought enlisted in the United States army and was killed in the war with Mexico, as all efforts to trace him after- ward proved futile. John Wood father ) was a dyer by occupation and after coming to Penn- sylvania engaged largely in the manufacture of cloth at Chester, this county, where he still resides, being now in the sixtieth year of his age. In politics he is a republican and in re- ligion Episcopalian. At the time of our civil war he was engaged in the railway service. He married Sarah A. Dewsnap, of England, and to them was born a family of nine children : Mary Jane Carr, now deceased ; Daniel, Jean- nette Ashton, Walter, one who died in infancy, Herbert, Lizzie, John A., subject of this sketch, and James D.
John A. Wood was reared in his native city of Chester and obtained his education in the public schools. Leaving school at an early age he entered the employ of W. H. Eves, grocer, of Chester, with whom heremained for a period of eight years. In 1891 he embarked in the grocery business on his own account on Edgmont avenue, this city, where he has suc- cessfully conducted a growing trade to the pres- ent time. In August, 1893, he purchased the grocery and provision business of L. D. Jones, at 1143 Edgmont avenue, and since that time has been running both stores with remarkable success, having the largest and best trade in that part of the city. In 1891 he did a busi-
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