USA > Pennsylvania > Chester County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania : comprising a historical sketch of the county, by Samuel T. Wiley, together with more than five hundred biographical sketches of the prominent men and leading citizens of the county > Part 40
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William J. Wagoner received his educa- tion in the common schools, Washington Hall academy and Oakdale seminary, and commenced life for himself as a clerk in a dry goods and grocery store at Phoenixville, where he remained for eighteen months. He then came to Spring City, where he was successively a clerk and store manager un- til 1861, when he entered the employ of the mercantile firm of Taylor & Yeager, with whom he remained up to 1862, in which year he volunteered in Capt. Cole- hower's regiment of emergency men and served ten days. Shortly afterwards (Octo-
ber 16) he was drafted, and was mustered into the federal service as a private of Con- pany B, 175th Pennsylvania infantry, in which he served until August 5, 1863, when he was honorably discharged at Philadel- phia, as corporal. Returning home from the army he was engaged for three years in teaching, and then entered the employ of Jesse Yeager, whom he left two years later to become a partner with Henry S. Francis, in the manufacture of stove tile and fire brick, in which they continued for one year, when he sold his interest to his partner. For the next three years he was not actively engaged in business, and then in 1872 accepted the position of teller in Spring City National bank, which he held until 1889, when he was elected as cashier, and has served as such ever since.
On December 24, 1868, Mr. Wagoner was united in marriage with Mary Shalkop, daughter of Charles Shalkop, of Montgom- ery county. Their union has been blessed with four children, two sons and two daugh- ters: Arete C., born December 5, 1869; Charles S., January 19, 1871, and now a law student at West Chester; Mary Norma, January 24, 1873; and William Howard, September 16, 1877.
William J. Wagoner is a democrat in politics, and has been for over eighteen years a member of the school board, of which he is now president. He is a member of Spring City Evangelical Lutheran church, of whose council he is secretary. Mr. Wag- oner is connected with various business en- terprises of his own and other boroughs. He has been a member since 1883 of the firm of Floyd, Wells & Co., of Royer's Ford, Montgomery county, whose stoves are in demand all over the United States. He is a stockholder in the Home Water
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Company of his borough, and treasurer of the Spring City Building and Loan associ- ation, which was organized March 27, 1891. He is also active and prominent in the Ma- sonic Fraternity and the Knights of Pythias. He is a past master and treasurer of Spring City Lodge, No. 553, Free and Accepted Masons; past high priest of Phoenix Chap- ter, No. 198, Royal Arch Masons; a mem- ber of Jerusalem Commandery, No. 15, Knights Templar, of Phoenixville; and past high chancellor of Spring City Lodge, No. 91, Knights of Pythias. William J. Wag- oner is a self made man, having acquired the means while serving as a clerk to ob- tain his education and to take a business course at Crittenden's Commercial college, of Philadelphia, from which he was gradu- ated August 30, 1872. He has served faith- fully and with credit in every position which he has held, and as cashier of the Spring City National bank he has done much to render it popular with the public and build up its present large volume of business.
Cº OL. WILLIAM GALLAGHER is a
veteran of the civil war, who afterward served in the regular army, and later be- came a successful and prosperous hotel- keeper in this county, and served one term as sheriff. He is a self-made man, and his career finely illustrates what may be ac- complished by energy and hard work, in the absence of all help except an inherited disposition for self-help. He was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Au- gust 21, 1842. Ilis father, John Gallagher, was a native of the Emerald Isle, but em- igrated to America and settled in Phila- delphia, where he fell a victim to the cholera scourge of 1848. He was a laborer by oc-
cupation, and his only son is William Gal- lagher, the subject of this sketch.
William Gallagher was so unfortunate as to lose both his parents when only five years of age, and when eight years old was bound to a farmer of New London town- ship, where he lived until 1860. He at- tended the public schools of New London, and obtained a fair English education. From New London he went to Newark, Delaware, and August 20, 1861, he enlisted in Co. B, 2d Pennsylvania cavalry, as a private, and was promoted to the rank of first sergeant. In December, 1863, he re- enlisted in Co. I of the same regiment, and served in that company until October, 1864, when he was transferred to his old company, and with it continued on active duty until the war ended, being discharged July 13, 1865, at Cloud's Mills, Virginia. During his term of service he participated in fifty- six engagements, in the States of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, among them being the battles of Cedar Mountain, second Bull Run, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Todd's Tavern, Cold Harbor, Five Forks, and many other hotly contested fields. He was with Sheridan on his raids around Richmond, and was present at Appomatox Courthouse when the tottering fortunes of the confederacy were finally overthrown in the surrender of General Lee.
But the military ambition of Colonel Gallagher was not yet satisfied. After the close of the great civil war, on September 23, 1865, he enlisted in Co. B, 15th United States infantry, for three years, and was on duty for a time at Mobile and Huntsville, Alabama. September 15, 1866, he was promoted to be corporal of his company, and January 31, 1867, was made sergeant. On May 31, of the same year, he became
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
first sergeant, and was stationed consecu- tively at Forts Morgan, Gaines, and Mar- shall. At the expiration of his term of en- listment, September 23, 1868, he was mus- tered out at Sulphur Springs, Texas, and soon after returned to Pennsylvania. The military spirit was still strong within him, and in 1875 he organized a company of National guards, of which he became cap- tain. On August 9 of that year he was commissioned major of the 11th Pennsyl- vania National guards, and June 23, 1877, was made lieutenant colonel of his regi- ment.
Since retiring from the army Colonel Gal- lagher has largely devoted his time to the business of hotel-keeper. He conducted the Octoraro house for a period of eleven years, and made a fine reputation as a hotel manager. Afterward he conducted the Ox- ford house for three years, and then spent a year at Cochran in the same business. Dur- ing 1886 he ran a hotel at Kennett Square. April 1, 1891, he assumed charge of the Mansion house at West Chester, but sold out in the following December to John A. Hannum, and has now retired from active business.
Colonel Gallagher married Eliza J. Toy, daughter of John T. Toy, of Hopewell, Chester county, on June 30, 1869. and to this union was born a family of three chil- dren-a son and two daughters: Florence V., who married G. Warren Zerr, a farmer of Geiger, Berks county, this State; Wil- liam B., living at home; and Maud Hoyt, also at home with her parents.
In his political affiliations Colonel Gal- lagher has always been republican, and is an able local leader, with great influence in the councils of his party. In the fall of 1887 he was elected to the responsible po-
sition of sheriff of Chester county, for a term of three years, and discharged the duties of that office with fidelity and up- rightness. He is now (1892) a prominent candidate for a seat in the house of repre- sentatives of Pennsylvania. In Masonic circles he is also distinguished, being a member of Oxford Lodge, No. 353, Free and Accepted Masons; Oxford Chapter, No. 223, Royal Arch Masons; and Centen- nial Commandery, No. 55, Knights Temp- lar, of Coatesville. He was instrumental in organizing William S. Thompson Post, No. 132, at Oxford, of which he is a lead- ing member, and in which he served for a time as adjutant.
R OBERT FARLEY, M. D., a graduate of the well-known Hahnemann Medi- cal college of Philadelphia, and one of the young and successful physicians of Phoenix- ville and Chester county, is a son of Wil- liam and Sarah A. ( Fimple) Farley, and was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, September 12, 1859. William Far- ley is of Scotch descent, but was born in the north of Ireland, which was a favorite place of settlement for the persecuted Scotch during the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- turies, and in whose counties many Scotch have settled during the present century. He was reared and received his education in his native country, which he left in 1840 to settle in Philadelphia, where he was ac- tively engaged for thirty years in the man- ufacture of woolen and cotton goods. He so well managed his business that he passed safely through the several panics that oc- curred during the period in which he was engaged in manufacturing, and so conducted his operations as not to be injured by the
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
sharp competition which he encountered at different times. He did a large and suc- cessful business, and after retiring from the manufacturing business he was engaged un- til a few years ago in farming in Chester couty, when he retired from active business life and removed to Berwyn, where he has resided ever since. His business career was remarkably successful, and he was one of the few manufacturers in his particular line of business that escaped serious loss. He is a republican in politics, and a member of the Baptist church, and married Sarah A. Fimple, who was born in Delaware county, and is a member of the same church as her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Farley reared a family of five children, three sons and two daughters.
Robert Farley was reared in Philadel- phia, and on his father's Chester county farm, and received his education in the Philadelphia schools, and later in Norris- town. Leaving school he resolved up- on a professional career in life, and made choice of medicine. He read with Dr. T. L. Adams, of Berwyn, and then entered Hahnemann Medical college, from which he was graduated in the class of 1886. Im- mediately after graduation, in March, 1886, he opened an office at Lockhaven, this State, but after remaining one year he came to Phoenixville, where he has been engaged in successful practice ever since.
On December 19, 1885, Dr. Farley was united in marriage with Sarah A. Shoema- ker, daughter of Richardson Shoemaker, of Philadelphia. To their union have been born four children, two sons and two daughters: Robert H., Jean S., Helen N., and Walter S.
In politics Dr. Farley is a republican pro- hibitionist. He is a member of the Baptist
church and the Order of Tonti. Dr. Robert Farley is a member of the Materia Medica and Organon Medica association of Phila- delphia, the Medical council of Pennsyl- vania and New Jersey, and the Interna- tional Hahnemannic association. He is one of the leading Homeopathie physicians of the State, and, by ability, skill, and success, is fast winning a prominent place and an extensive practice as a physician at Phænix- ville and in the county.
C JOHN B. COHEN, the proprietor of the West Chester Bottling Works, who has achieved business success by his own unaided efforts, is a son of Benjamin and Blomer (Silverstone) Cohen, and was born in Lon- don, England, May 7, 1842. Benjamin Cohen was a native of Warsaw, Posen, Ger- many, and went with his wife and children .- two sons and a daughter-to the city of London, where he became the first manu- facturer of matches in England. He asso- ciated his three children, Reuben, Celia, and Michael, with him in the manufacturing of matches, and in time their factory was de- stroyed by fire. He then went into the hat manufacturing, which business he continued for years, when he retired from an active business life, having surrendered his busi- ness to his children. Ile was a member of the Jewish church, and of the Masonic order, an industrious and very charitable man, beloved by all who knew him. He died in London in 1875, aged seventy-five years. He married Blomer Silverstone, a native of Warsaw, l'osen, who is still liv- ing, and is now (1892) in her cighty-seventh year, and still resides in London, with her son. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Cohen, sr.,
21
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
reared a family of eight children, six sons and two daughters.
John B. Cohen, at fourteen years of age, left the metropolis of the world to seek his fortune in the United States. He received his education in the elementary schools of England, and most of his education in the United States and by self study. He com- menced life for himself in New York city, where he learned the trade of cigar maker, working during his apprenticeship for one dollar per week and board, having to work from fifteen to eighteen hours per day. This was in the year of the great panic, 1857. During the opening of the last war in 1861, he enlisted and drilled in an Eng- lish company of volunteers, recruited at New York city, but the government would not give them the necessary support, so they had to disband. In 1865 he left New York and proceeded to St. Johns, New Bruns- wick, Dominion of Canada. After working there two years, in February, 1867, he mar- ried Ellen Jane Patton, of that city. Their union has been blessed with two children : Benjamin, born at St. Johns, and Louis, born at Saco, Maine. To this latter place he went in the latter part of 1867, where he had charge of a cigar factory until he resigned in 1869 to locate in Boston, Mass- achusetts, where he worked at his trade until 1870, when he proceeded to Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, accepted a position in that city, working at his trade for about one year. By this time he had accumulated a little money, with which he started the manufacture of cigars on a small scale. In this, his first great effort, he met with such success that he built up one of the largest cigar factories and wholesale leaf-tobacco warehouses in Philadelphia at that time. About ten years after his arrival in Phila-
delphia, having been in the tobacco business all that time, his health failed him, due to overwork and too close confinement to business, and having heard of the healthful influences of West Chester, Pennsylvania, he concluded to locate there. In the mean- time he bought out an old established bottling house in that city, and by diligent business tact and his untiring energy he has replaced the old establishment with his present West Chester Bottling Works, which has been established since 1842. These works are said to be the finest equip- ped plant of the kind in the State of Penn- sylvania. The main establishment is a four story structure, 28 x 125 feet in dimensions, supplied with all the best appliances of the trade, having a capacity of over one thous- and dozen bottles per day. Very fine and beautifully furnished offices have been fitted up at the works, which are at No. 132 East Gay street. All the finest qualities of ales, beers, porter, brownstout, and all the lead- ing brands of wines are bottled at these works, where imported champagnes, also domestic, are to be had, as well as anything else desired in his line of business. He also manufactures the finest temperance bever- ages to be had in this country, and has been awarded a silver medal and three diplomas for the superior quality and purity of same. His products are largely sold wholesale, and to families for medicinal purposes, and also on prescriptions from physicians, who rec- ommend them on account of the reputation they have for purity and superiority. He has built up a large trade in his line of business, and fills many orders from a large number of the cities and towns of the United States.
Jolın B. Cohen is independent in politics. He is a charter member of West Chester
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
Lodge, No. 42, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Southwark Lodge, No. 18, Knights of P'ythias, of Philadelphia; a life member in West Chester Lodge, No. 322, Free and Accepted Masons, and life member in West Chester Howell Chapter, No. 202, Royal Arch Masons, of which he is at present (1892) high priest. He is also a member of Eastern Pennsylvania Masonic Relief Association, and West Chester Fire Com- pany, No. 1 (volunteers), of which he was secretary. Mr. Cohen is identified to a considerable extent with the enterprise and and industries of the borough, and is a stock- holder in the assembly building, electric street railroad, electric light works, and a subscriber to the West Chester Hospital fund, and he is always known to assist heartily in any charitable enterprise or institution to the best of his ability.
E. VINTON PHILIPS, proprietor of the leading flouring mill at Downing- town, and an energetic, useful and public spirited citizen, is the eldest son of Owen Thomas and Elmira B. (Guest) Philips, and was born in East Nantmeal township, Ches- ter county, Pennsylvania, November 30,1859. Ilis paternal grandfather, Owen Philips, is said to have been one of the three emigrant ancestors of the Philips family who came to this county at an early day, two-Owen and Josiah-locating in Chester county, Penn- sylvania, and the other, Joseph, settling in East Tennessee, near Nashville. Owen Philips was a farmer by occupation, a re- publican in politics, and a strict member of the Baptist church, being instrumental in founding the East Nantmeal Baptist church, in which he served as deacon for a number of years. He took but little interest in po-
litical questions, and married Rachel Evans, by whom he had a family of seven children : Jesse, who served one term as treasurer of Chester county ; Rev. Josiah, a prominent minister of the Baptist church, who died May 28, 1890; Lewis, a farmer of East Nantmeal township; David, a member of the American Road Machine Company at Kennet Square; Joseph J., at present su- perintendent of the Philadelphia & Reading canal, formerly known as the Scofield canal ; Owen Thomas (father); and Abner E., a elerk for the Pottstown Iron Company at Pottstown. Owen Thomas Philips (father), was born in East Nantmeal township in 1837, and after attaining manhood engaged in farming, which occupation he followed for a number of years. He then disposed of his farm and is at present assisting his son in the mills at Dowingtown. Ile is a republican in political sentiment, and has always taken an active interest in public affairs, having served for a number of years as a school director in East Nantmeal town- ship. In religion he is a Baptist, and is a member and deacon of the Downingtown Baptist church. He served with the emer- gency men of 1862, is a Knight of Pythias, and married Elmira B. Guest, a daughter of John Guest, a stonemason and extensive contractor of Upper Uwchlan township. To this union was born a family of five children, three sons and two daughters: E. Vinton, the subject of this sketch; Ida L., who married Barton D. Forman, a restau- ranter of Glen Moore; Elmira K., a member of the extensive dress-making firm of Philips & Smith, at Downingtown; Josiah, a car- penter in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company; and Walter S., who graduated from the State Normal school at West Chester in 1890, and is now principal
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
of the public schools of Upland, Delaware county. After the death of his first wife Mr. Philips wedded Anna Wyun, and by this second marriage has two children: T. Arthur and Ola B.
E. Vinton Philips grew to manhood on his father's farm in East Nantmeal town- ship, and obtained his early education in the common schools there. Later he took a course of training in Prunner's academy, at North Walls, Montgomery county, and afterward became an apprentice to the mill- ing trade with James K. Laird, of Upper Uwchlan township. Upon the completion of his apprenticeship he entered the employ of the Springton Milling Company and re- mained with them one year, when he came to Dowingtown and was employed one year by Samuel J. Wright, after which he went to the Brooklyn mills, where for two years he occupied the position of foreman. He then spent a short time with the Springton Milling Company and returned to Downing- town, where he was instrumental in hav- ing the old Ringwalt mills put into opera- tion. He remained in these mills for nearly five years, and was successful in building up a very lucrative business. In 1890 he purchased a lot and erected his present large flour- ing mill, which he has operated ever since. By hard labor, careful management and strict attention to business, he has secured an ex- tensive trade and become prominent among the citizens of Downingtown, having already accumulated a handsome competence.
On March 16, 1891, Mr. Philips was united in marriage to Mary Ash, a daughter of Isaac Ash, who for fifteen years has held the position of auditor for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
In his political affiliations Mr. Philips is an ardent republican, and has served as a mem-
ber of the county committee several times. He has also been an alternate delegate to the State convention of his party, and oc- cupies the position of notary public. He acted as assistant burgess of Downingtown for two years-1889-1890-and has also served two years in his present position of auditor of the borough. He is a member of the Baptist church, and a prominent and active Sunday school worker.
T THOMAS B. DEWEES, a prominent and successful business man of Phoenix- ville, and one of the largest property own- ers in this section, who served as a first lieutenant during the civil war, is a son of Thomas B. and Elizabeth (Hause) Dewees, and was born in West Vincent township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, February 28, 1844. The Dewees are descended from French Huguenot stock, but the family has been resident in Pennsylvania since long prior to the revolutionary war. In 1703 a widow of that name came from Holland with her two sons, and settled in this State. From them have descended the now num- erous stock of Dewees in the United States. Colonel Dewees, the paternal great-grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was born in eastern Pennsylvania, and at the breaking out of the revolutionary war, owned a large flouring mill at Valley Forge. Leaving his mill as Putnam left his plow, he threw all his energies into the struggle for independence, serving as colonel in the American army. After the war closed he was engaged in the iron business, and died about 1782 at an advanced age. His son, Waters Dewees (grandfather), was born at Olney, Bucks county, this State, and after attaining manhood devoted his life to the
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
development of the iron industry of Penn- sylvania. He owned the Olney iron works, and also the Catawissa iron furnaces in Northumberland county, and the Laurel iron furnaces of Chester county. About 1840 he removed to this county, where he owned and resided at the Marsh hotel property, in East Nantmeal township. Dur- ing nearly all his life he was a prominent iron master and successful business man. He died in 1858, at his home in the city of Philadelphia, aged eighty-two years. Ile was an old-line whig in politics, and married a Miss Bull, by whom he had a family of children. Thomas B. Dewees (father) was born in Chester county in 1813, and resided here all his life. His tastes inclined toward agricultural pursuits, and he became a pros- perons and prominent farmer of West Vin- cent township. He died at his home in that township March 8, 1876, in the sixty- third year of his age. In politics he was a whig and republican, and served for many years as a school director in his township. He was a regular attendant of the Episcopal church, and in 1835 married Elizabeth Hause, a daughter of Jacob Hause, of East Nantmeal township, Chester county, and to them was born a family of twelve children. Mrs. Dewees is a native of this county, and now resides on the old homestead in West Vincent township, in the seventy-ninth year of her age.
Thomas B. Dewees grew to manhood on his father's farm, receiving his earlier edu- cation in the common schools, but later attending the academy at Freeland, Mont- gomery county, and then taking a course of training in the Tremont seminary at Norristown, in the same county. At the age of sixteen years he enlisted in Co. F, 12th Pennsylvania militia of emergency
men, and on March 10, 1864, re-enlisted as first lieutenant of Co. E, 45th United States colored infantry. He commanded this con- pany in the battles in front of Petersburg, at Bermuda Hundred, Strawberry Plains, Fort Fisher, Fair Oaks, and on the Dutch Gap canal, near Richmond. This regiment was afterward sent to Sabine Pass, Jefferson county, Texas, and did duty on the Rio Grande. December 19, 1865, he was dis- charged from the service. and returning to Pennsylvania, engaged in teaching school for a couple of years. He then embarked in the grocery business in the city of Phila- delphia, but after continuing a few months he disposed of his interests there and re- moved to Birchrunville, West Vincent town- ship, this county, where he engaged in gen- eral merchandising. He was instrumental in having a postoffice established at that place, and served as postmaster for about fifteen years. In April, 1880, he went to West Chester, and for two years was en- gaged in the men's furnishing goods busi- ness. At the end of that time he returned to Birchrunville, and in 1884 again started a general merchandise store there. In 1889 he came to Phoenixville and purchased the stove and tinware business of Kennedy & Davis, which he has since conducted. - It includes house furnishing goods, and plumb- ing in all its branches, and is located at 219 Bridge street, where the premises occupied comprise a building twenty-five by seventy feet in dimensions, with an addition of thirty-eight feet for oil cloths, and in the rear of that a tin shop, the whole being two hundred feet in depth. A large and comprehensive assortment of stoves, tinware and house furnishing goods of all descrip- tions is constantly kept on hand, and sold at reasonable prices. In the spring of 1892
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