USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county > Part 48
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year as a clerk. In June, 1878, he took the degree of bachelor of laws, from the univer- sity of Pennsylvania, and the same month was admitted to practice at the Philadelphia bar, and in July, 1879, was admitted to the bar of Delaware county. Mr. Pendleton began prac- ticing in Chester city in October, 1881. His practice has been mainly in the civil courts, in equity, real estate, and orphans' court busi- ness, occasionally appearing in cases in the criminal courts, as in the celebrated Pfitzen- meyer trial, in which he was one of the coun- sel for defense. In the habeas corpus pro- ceedings of that case he made the opening address to the court, and his clear, polished and forcible presentation was the subject of favorable comment alike from the bench, bar and spectators. His plea before the jury in the ensuing trial has been characterized by a competent critic as the most logical and fin- ished argument of that exceptionally able and brilliant defense. But not only before court and jury, but in other branches of his profes- sion Mr. Pendleton has made his mark. He is a contributor to legal literature that has been given a valued place in many lawyers' libraries. A specially able work is his book on Debtors' Exemption in Pennsylvania, pub- lished in 1886, and now a recognized text book in use by the bench and bar of this State. He possesses decided literary tastes, and has ap- peared on the lecture platform and is a writer on literary topics.
On December 30, 1879, Garnett Pendleton was united in marriage with Helena Ward, daughter of Dr. William Ward, at that time a missionary to the Assam region of Burmah.
In politics Mr. Pendleton has always been an earnest and active republican. Since 1876, when he cast his first vote for Hayes, he has taken the stump in nearly every presidential campaign for the nominees of the Republican party. He has served at various times as a member of the Republican county committee, and has frequently represented his borough in county conventions. He has for years served
as solicitor for the borough of Upland. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum and the college fraternity of Delta Psi. He has been a consistent and useful member of the Upland Baptist church since 1869, and is one of the managers of the Young Men's Christian asso- ciation of Chester, and the president of the Delaware County Sunday School association. By one who is well acquainted with him, Mr. Pendleton is described as follows. He is " a public speaker of force and eloquence. His manner is easy, his language carefully selected, while there is an earnestness in his words that carries conviction. He has led a life above reproach, and enjoys a reputation for strict probity and honesty." ʻ
Garnett Pendleton is of Virginia descent. His remote ancestor, Philip Pendleton. set- tled in St. Mark's township, Culpeper county, Virginia, in 1633. His paternal great-grand- father, Henry Pendleton, presided over a meeting of freeholders and other inhabitants of Culpeper county, at the Culpeper court- house, on July 7, 1774, to consider the most effective method to preserve the rights and liberties of America. It was there resolved "that importing slaves and convict servants is injurious to this colony, as it obstructs the population of it with freemen and useful man- ufactures : and that we will not buy any such slaves or convict servants hereafter to be im- ported." He also fought in the war of the Revolution. John Pendleton (grandfather) married Frances J. Thompson, the aunt of Hon. Richard W. Thompson, of Terre Haute, Indiana, who was Secretary of the Navy un- der President Hayes. John Pendleton was a member of the Kentucky legislature for a num - ber of years. Rev. James M. Pendleton, D. D. (father), was a prominent minister of the Baptist denomination from 1830 to 1891, and held important pastorates in Kentucky, Ten- nessee, Ohio and Pennsylvania, in which last named State he gave the Upland Baptist pul- pit a wide reputation for its eloquence and able disputation. He was an ardent admirer
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of Henry Clay and a strong Union man, hav- ing to leave Tennessee in 1862 on account of his loyalty to the Union. Dr. Pendleton was the author of numerous treatises upon theo- logical topics, and also a voluminous contrib- utor to the denominational press. Dr. Pen- dleton married Catharine Garnett, a daughter of Hon. Richard Garnett, for forty years circuit court clerk of Barren county, Kentucky, and a member for several terms of the State leg- islature. Richard Garnett's wife was a daugh- ter of Robert Stockton, a Baptist minister, who was imprisoned in Virginia for preaching the Gospel without having taken episcopal orders.
H ON. JOHN LARKIN, Jr., president of the First National bank, is one of four men to whom the city of Chester is indebted for much of its present prosperity, the others being John P. Crozer, John M. Broomall and James Campbell. John Larkin, paternal great- grandfather of John Larkin, jr., was a native of England, and came to Pennsylvania during the colonial period, settling in what is now Delaware county. His son, Joseph Larkin (grandfather), married Miss Salkeld and reared a family of six children, of whom one was John Larkin (father), who was born June 23, in 1766, and after attaining manhood married Martha Thomas, of Welsh decent, and their son, John Larkin, jr., whose name heads this sketch, was born October 3, 1804, in Concord township, Delaware county. He received an ordinary common school education, and at an early age engaged in the mercantile business at Chichester, this county. After one year at that place he removed to Marcus Hook, where he conducted a successful business for three years. From 1832 to 1839 he ran a trading vessel between Marcus Hook and Philadel- phia. In 1840 he was elected sheriff of Dela- ware county, which position he filled with sig- nal ability, and about that time purchased a valuable farm of one hundred and fifty-five acres in Lower Chichester township. His
popularity with the people increased to such an extent that in 1844 he was elected to a seat in the State legislature, and served with dis- tinction in that body during the sessions of 1845 and 1846. In 1848 he removed to Ches- ter and was ever afterward closely identified with the manufacturing and commercial inter- ests of this city. He formed a partnership with William Booth in 1849, and they estab- lished a packet line between Chester and Phil- adelphia, in the interest of the lumber and coal trade. This enterprise was successfully con- ducted until the fall of 1852, and the next year Mr. Larkin traded for a body of land contain- ing eighty-five acres, the site of the old race track in North Chester, and had it surveyed and layed out into town lots, thus creating one of the most important additions to this city. Here he built one hundred and forty-six dwell- ing houses for himself, and erected thirteen cot- ton and other factories for others, selling his last lot in 1881. In 1870 he purchased twenty-three acres at Marcus Hook and laid it out into town lots, alleys and streets. On this property he built sixty residences, one hosiery mill, two foundries, two machine shops, and other busi- ness establishments. There seemed to be no limit to his energy, and all his investments and enterprises were carried forward to a success- ful issue as if by an irresistible force.
In 1827 he married Charlotte Morton, a daughter of Capt. Erasmus Morton, who died in 1847, leaving behind her a family of seven children : Charles C .. Caroline, wife of John M. Broomall : John M., deceased ; Lewis M., deceased ; Nathan, Francis, Henry, deceased, and Mary, who became the wife of Thomas Gilbert. Mr. Larkin afterward married Mary A. Boggs, and by this second union had two children, Clarence B. and Ella, the latter of whom married Richard Wetherill. Mrs. Mary A. Larkin died in 1877.
In political sentiment John Larkin, jr., was a whig and republican. For eleven years he was a member of the borough council of Ches- ter, during six of which he served as president
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of that body. He was elected to the office of mayor at the time the city government was or- ganized, and continued to occupy that posi- tion by successive re-elections for a period of six years, after which he declined to accept it again. It is said he never accepted a cent of the 'salary attached to the office, contributing his services freely for the public good. He was one of the originators of the Chester Ru- ral cemetery, and served as president of the company for a number of years. He was also a leading spirit in the Chester Mutual Insur- ance Company, and the First National bank of Chester, both of which organizations he served as president and chief executive. Be- ing a man of sound judgment, untiring energy and good business insight, he took rank with the foremost business men and ablest financiers of southeastern Pennsylvania.
JOSEPH OSGOOD WILSON, the
master mechanic of the Arasapha Manu- facturing Company, and a veteran of the civil war, was born November 27, 1843, at Dupont's Powder works, now known as Rockland, New Castle county, Delaware. His father, Joseph Wilson, was a native of England, who grew to manhood in that country, and after obtaining a good education, learned the business of cot- ton manufacturing, and married an English lady named Ann Mather, by whom he had one son, William, who still resides in England. Mrs. Wilson died about 1826, and through grief over that bereavement, Mr. Wilson de- termined to leave his native land and come to America. Arriving in this country he first settled at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where he lived for a number of years. During this time he made the acquaintance and married Ann T. Osgood, a native of Massachusetts, whose father, Major Richard Osgood, was a com- manding officer in the State militia, and took an active part in public affairs. About 1830 Mr. Wilson removed to Philadelphia, where there was greater demand for skilled labor,
and entered the employ of Stephens & Son, cloth manufacturers of that city. Later he removed to Brandywine, and last of all to Chester, still connected with the business of Stephens & Son. He continued to reside in this city until his death in 1865, in the seven- ty-fifth year of his age. Politically he was an old line whig and a great admirer of Henry Clay. He was for years an active party worker, and an enthusiastic supporter of Amer- ican institutions, evincing an almost unbounded patriotism though so recently a citizen of Eng- land. In religion he was an Episcopalian, and was also a member of Washington Lodge, No. 2, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. of Philadelphia. Being a man of bright intel- lect and fine education, he took an active part in all local affairs, and was highly respected and loved by all who knew him, for his high moral qualities and nnimpeachable integrity of character. By his marriage to Ann T. Os- good he had a family of eleven children, five sons and six daughters : Mary A. (1), deceased in infancy; Mary A. (2), became the wife of Daniel Scanlan ; Sarah, married Samuel L. Scanlan, a brother of Daniel; Ruth, Emily, deceased in childhood : Richard (1), deceased in infancy : Richard (2), Eliza, Joseph O. (1), deceased in infancy: Joseph O. (2), the sub- ject of this sketch : and John H. Mrs. Ann T. Wilson died March 12, 1892, on her eighty- third birthday.
Joseph Osgood Wilson was reared in his native county of New Castle, and attended the public schools of Christiana Hundred until his thirteenth year, when he began devoting his attention to technical studies connected with engineering and machinery. At seventeen he began an apprenticeship at his present trade, in order to learn the practical part of engineer- ing, with Miller & Allen, corner of Broad street and Morton avenue, in the city of Chester. Here he remained for three years until after the breaking out of the civil war. He at once attempted to enlist in the Federal service, but was refused on account of his youth, and later
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enlisted in the navy as fireman on the sloop of war Tuscarora, which carried eight guns - two thirty-pound Parrots, one eleven-inch Columbiand, one hundred-pound Parrott, and four sixty-eight pounder guns. This vessel was built in the short space of ninety days, and was in commission just one hundred days from the time its construction began. It was commanded by Capt. James M. Fraley, and was one of the fastest cruisers in the service. It was employed on the south Atlantic coast, chiefly between Fortress Monroe and the Gulf of Mexico, in maintaining the blockade of southern ports. Mr. Wilson continued to serve on board this vessel until after the col- lapse of the Southern Confederacy, and no part of his career has given him greater satis- faction, or been a source of so much just pride as the service he rendered his country in the time of her sorest need. He has indeed al- ways been public spirited and patriotic, ever ready to do his duty and always anxious for the maintenance and perpetuation of Amer- ican institutions. After the close of the civil war Mr. Wilson returned to Pennsylvania and resumed work at his trade, entering the employ of Charles A. Widener, of Chester, as engineer and machinist. He remained with Mr. Widener for one year, and then became engineer for a Marylaud gold mining company, who were operating near Green's Landing, at the falls of the Potomac river. In September, 1866, he returned to Chester and became en- gineer of the Algodon mills in this city, where he remained for a period of five years. He then went to Salisbury, Massachusetts, where he worked at his trade for a short time, after which he once more returned to Chester, and has lived here ever since. He was engaged in setting up cotton manufacturing machinery for various companies in this city after his return, and was in the employ of several firms as en- gineer and machinist. In 1890 he accepted his present position with the Arasapha Manu- facturing Company, and has since that time devoted his energies exclusively to their busi-
ness. Being endowed with tact and ability, together with great energy of character, Mr. Wilson has profited by his wide experience, and has become one of the best engineers and machinists of this city.
Politically Mr. Wilson is a republican, and an ardent supporter of the principles of his party. He is a member of Wilde Post, No. 25, Grand Army of the Republic, and of Provi- dence avenue Methodist Episcopal church, in which latter he was one of the originators, and has long taken an active part, and is now treasurer of its board of trustees and a mem- ber of its board of stewards.
On April 8, 1869, Joseph O. Wilson was united by marriage to Isabel Cornog, a daugh- ter of Robert G. Cornog, formerly of Norris- town, but now deceased, and a former resident of the city of Chester. To Mr. and Mrs. Wil- son has been born a family of nine children, two sons and seven daughters: Sarah L., Elleanor J .. Frank O., Charles W., Anna T., Mary P., Isabella, Josephine and Charlotte.
G EORGE C. HETZEL, whose name is familiar in all parts of America in connec- tion with the manufacture of worsted and woolen goods for men's wear, is the founder and present head of the mammoth manufac- turing firm of George C. Hetzel & Co., of Ches- ter, and in addition to large interests in many other enterprises is also president of the Ches- ter, Darby & Philadelphia Railway Company, of this county, the success of which latter un- dertaking is largely due to his public spirit, energy and fine executive ability. He resides in the village of Ridley Park, and has been one of the chief benefactors of that growing town. Mr. Hetzel is the eldest son of John G. and Caroline (Naegele) Hetzel, and was born in the city of Philadelphia, January 3, 1858. His father was a native of Wurtem- burg, Germany, born in 1830, and was reared and educated in his native city. After attain- ing manhood he came to America and settled
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in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a democrat in politics, a member of the Luth- eran church, and continued to reside in Phila- delphia until his death in the forty-sixth year of his age. In 1856 he married Caroline Nae- gele, a native of Germany, by which union he had six children, four sons and two daugh- ters.
George C. Hetzel grew to manhood in Phil- adelphia, and was educated in the public schools of that city. At the age of sixteen he left school to accept a clerkship in the office of the United States Plate Glass Insurance Com- pany at Philadelphia, and remained in the employ of that corporation until he had at- tained the age of twenty-one. He then formed a partnership with B. W. Greer, under the firm name of Greer & Hetzel, and began his present manufacturing business. This was in 1879, and the mill was located at Sixteenth and Reed streets, Philadelphia, the plant con- sisting of thirty-two Bridesburg looms, on which ginghams and shirting cheviots were woven.
In 1881 the machinery of this mill was re- moved to Eighteenth street and Washington avenue, the capacity increased to eighty-two looms, and they began the manufacture of the finest shirtings and madras cloth, which had hitherto been made only in Europe. This branch of the business proving very success- ful, it soon became necessary to increase their facilities for manufacture, and for this purpose the machinery was again moved, in 1883, to the new mill just then completed by William Arrott at Thirteenth and Carpenter streets, and the plant was further enlarged to one hun- dred and thirty-two looms. After a varied ex- perience in producing all kinds of cotton goods the business was gradually changed to the man- ufacture of men's wear-worsteds and woolens. The original machinery was all sold and re- placed by Knowles' fancy looms, to which was added the necessary finishing and dyeing ma- chinery. In 1888 Mr. Hetzel purchased his partner's interest in the business, and shortly
afterward admitted Job Smith and George W. Atherholt into partnership under the present style of George C. Hetzel & Co. Both the new partners had been employees of the old firm, and under the new arrangement Mr. Smith became superintendent of the business and Mr. Atherholt became bookkeeper. In 1890 Charles G. Hetzel was admitted to the firm. In 1890 the machinery was removed to the new mills erected for them at Front and Broomall streets in the city of Chester, where they occupy an entire square, and consist of a one story weave shed, one hundred and eighty by one hundred and sixty-five feet in dimensions, with a glass roof ; the main building, three stories high, fifty by one hundred and ninety-two feet, in which are the warp dressing, designing, wind- ing, spooling and finishing departments and the offices and packing rooms ; a dye house thirty-two by fifty-three feet ; boiler and en- gine houses, fifty-four by sixty feet ; machine shop, seventeen by seventeen feet ; dryer house sixteen by sixty-two feet ; and a drug house eighteen by thirty-six feet. These buildings are all of brick, are fitted throughout with au- tomatic sprinklers, and supplied with every- thing necessary to bring the entire plant up to the requirements of a first-class modern manu- facturing establishment. Its equipment now consists of one hundred and eight Knowles thirty-two harness broad looms, together with all preparatory dyeing and finishing machiney. The power is supplied by a two hundred and fifty horse power Green automatic cut-off en- gine and four one hundred horse power boilers.
The goods manufactured by the present firm in 1889, the first year of its existence, aggregated twenty thousand dollars in value, and the yearly product of their mills has stead- ily increased until it now amounts to one mil- lion dollars annually. They employ three hundred and fifty people, and keep the mills in constant operation, manufacturing fancy worsted suitings, trouserings and ladies' cloak- ings. The management of the business has been such as to reflect credit on the proprietors,
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and their high commercial standing is but the legitimate result of the intelligent, progressive and liberal spirit which has characterized the operations of these works from their very incep- tion.
In addition to this model manufacturing business, which stands as a monument to the brains and industry of Mr. Hetzel, he is also connected with many other industrial enter- prises here and elsewhere. Among these may be mentioned the United States Plate Glass Insurance Company of Philadelphia, in which he is a director, and the Keystone Pressed Brick Company, of Trainer, Delaware county, in which he holds a like place. He is also president of the Chester & Darby Telford Road Company, and occupies the same position in the Chester, Darby & Philadelphia Railway Company. He was one of the incorporators and is now a director in the Philadelphia Bourse, and is a member of the Manufacturers club, and of the Art club of Philadelphia. Politically Mr. Hetzel is a republican, and in religion a member of the Ridley Park Presby- terian church, on which he is serving as pres- ident of its board of trustees.
THOMAS J. HALDEMAN, president
of the First National bank of Media, and a relative of Benjamin West, the world renowned painter, is a son of Isaac and Eliza (West) Haldeman, and was born in Marple township, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, July 14, 1833. His paternal great-grandfather, Christian Haldeman, was a native of Germany, and came with two of his brothers to Pennsylvania. His son, Abram Haldeman (grandfather ), mar- ried Mary Showalter, and of their children one was Isaac Haldeman, the father of the subject of this sketch. Isaac Haldeman was born in Charlestown township, Chester county, September 15, 1797. He was industrious, and after assisting his parents for several years, he came, in 1827, to what is now called Broomall, in Marple township, where with
only a capital of one hundred and fifty dollars, he engaged in the general mercantile business. Abundant success crowned his efforts, and in 1840 he came to the site of Media, where thir- teen years later he built the present dry goods and grocery house of his son, T. J. Haldeman (subject), at the corner of State and Olive streets. In 1857 Mr. Haldeman retired from the general mercantile business, and made Media his home until his death, which occurred August 13, 1878, when he was in the eighty- first year of his age. He was a Quaker and a republican, and so filled all his contracts in the spirit and to the letter that he won a rep- utation for integrity, the lustre of which time has not served to diminish. Mr. Haldeman was president of the First National bank of Media from its organization until his death, and served as the first president of the borough council of Media, of which he was a member for eighteen years. Isaac Haldeman, on Jan- uary 31, 1828, married Eliza West, a daughter of Thomas West, of Delaware county, and a relative of Benjamin West, the great Amer- ican painter. They reared a family of four children : Elizabeth W., Thomas J., Isaac L., and Mary H., wife of Edgar T. Miller.
Thomas J. Haldeman received his educa- tion in the public schools and in Pine Grove academy, and then turned his attention to the general mercantile business, to which he had been carefully trained by his father. After assisting his father until 1857, he and his brother, Isaac L., purchased the store, and did business under the firm name of T. J. & I. L. Haldeman, up to 1879, in which year Mr. Haldeman purchased his brother's inter- est. Since then Mr. Haldeman has steadily built up a general mercantile business that is second to none in the county. He does a very large and extensive wholesale and retail busi- ness that extends over the northern part of the county, and handles dry goods, groceries, flour, feed, and everything to be found in a first class general mercantile establishment.
In politics Mr. Haldeman is a republican,
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and has served several terms as a member of .the borough council. He has been a member of Friends meeting for several years, and is unmarried. Mr. Haldeman is president of the First National bank of Media, having suc- ceeded his father in that position in 1878. He is also treasurer and manager of the Media academy, and in all his varied business rela- tions is noted for the high sense of honor for which his honored father was distinguished.
W ILLIAM M. BOULDEN, a self-made
man, and who has worked as a contrac- tor on some of the largest and finest vessels in the world, was born in Cecil connty, Maryland, January 18, 1857, and is a son of Isaac and Mary ( Moore ) Boulden. His pater- nal great-grandfather, Jesse Simpers, was a native of Cecil county, Maryland, where he owned five thousand acres of land. He was a Methodist. Jesse Boulden served in the war of 1812, and married Anna Simpers, by whom he had twelve children : Jesse, Lewis, Johnson, John, Washington, Richard, Mar- garette Holden, Anna Underwood, Elizabeth Neal, Isaac, Sarah Armstrong and Mary Sim- pers. Isaac Boulden (father) was a farmer. and died in Cecil county, November 14, 1868, at the early age of thirty-four years. He was a Methodist and a democrat, and married Mary, daughter of William and Margaret (Steele) Moore. Mr. and Mrs. Boulden were the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters : Georgiana Culp (deceased ), William M., Laura, Washington, John and Sarah.
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