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 47
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Adhering to the political traditions of his family, Mr. Smith has always been a demo- crat of broad and liberal views, and is a local leader of great influence. He has twice been a delegate to the National con-
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
ventions of his party-in 1884 and again in 1888-and in the former was one of the five original Cleveland men in his delega- tion. Hle was frequently sent as a delegate to the State conventions of the Democratie party while a resident of Berks county, and actively supported Robert E. Pattison in the convention that first nominated him for governor of Pennsylvania. He has also represented his distriet in county conven- tions since coming to Chester. Mr. Smith is a man of medium height but portly build, and measures fifty-six inches around the body. He is fond of sport, keeps thirty- five hounds, and is cousidered one of the best shots in this section. By an extensive course of reading he has acquired a vast fund of general information, and is a ready, pleasant and entertaining conversationalist.
On January 21, 1854, Mr. Smith united in marriage with Elnora Leinbach, a daugh- ter of William Leinbach, of Spring town- ship, near Reading, this State. To them was born a family of thirteen children, ten of whom are still living: Margaret, died at the age of two and a half years; Charles, dead; Kate, married Charles Hatch, assistant cashier of the Merchant's bank of Philadelphia; Douglass, a druggist, now deceased, who married Bessie Lincoln, who survives him and resides at Birdboro; Mary, Edmund L., Bessie, J. Bright, Harry W., John F., George H., and Joseph, the latter nine still living at home with their parents.
John F. Smith, paternal great-grandfather of George Smith, jr., was a native of Prussia, and was professor in a school at Halle, and also a minister in the Lutheran church. During the Revolutionary war he emigra- ted to America and had charge of a church at Philadelphia, which was used for a time by the British soldiers. He married and
was the father of two sons, Frederick and Jacob. Frederick Smith (grandfather ) was educated for the law, and became prominent at the bar and on the bench. Ile served as district attorney of Berks county, practiced in Philadelphia and in Lehigh and North- ampton counties, and was commissioned attorney general of the State under Gov. J. A. Shulze, December 18, 1823, only two days after the governor took the oath of office. After the expiration of his term in that position he was, in 1827, appointed as an associate judge of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, receiving his commission Jan- uary 31, 1828. He was an able advocate of the doctrines of the Democratic party and a strict constructionist on constitutional questions. He was reared in the Lutheran faith and was a prominent member and lib- eral supporter of that church nearly all his life. He married Catharine Leif, of Pottstown, by whom he had a family of six children : Mary, married Henry Snyder, a son of Governor Simon Sny- der; Fredericka, wedded Edward P. Pear- son, a prominent lawyer of Reading and Philadelphia; Sarah, deceased; John F., who married Ann Snyder of Berks county, by whom he had six children -J. Fraley, a wealthy dry goods merchant of Philadelphia, and William M., a distin- guished lawyer of Philadelphia ; Henry and Frederick, and Mary and Amelia. George L. Smith (father) was born in the old Smith mansion at Reading, this State, March 15. 1802, where he was reared and educated. At the age of sixteen he apprenticed him- self to a miller at what was then known as the "Governor Hiester mill," so named for its owner, Gov. Joseph Hiester. Some years afterward he purchased and operated this mill, building up a large and remunerative
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
trade. He increased the efficiency. of the mill, extended the field of his operations and sought the markets of Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. Subsequently he associated himself with the late Lewis Reese, under the firm name of Smith & Reese, and they conducted an extensive business for a number of years, having one of the leading plants in western Pennsyl- vania. Reese had formerly managed Frick's mills on the Schuylkill river. In 1830 Mr. Smith was commissioned register of Berks county by Gov. George Wolf, and in 1839 by Gov. David R. Porter flour inspector, serving in that capacity alto- gether for nearly twelve years. He was a delegate to the Democratic Na- tional convention of 1832, which nominated Andrew Jackson for the presidency, and was a firm supporter of Old Hickory; and was a member of the State convention that nominated Governor Wolfin 1829. In 1843 he was appointed to nominate a board of canal commissioners, and received a vote of thanks for that service. In 1853 Mr. Smith disposed of his interest in the Governor Hiester mill, and united with his son, George Smith, jr., in the milling business at Birds- boro, Berks county, in which he was inter- ested until 1859, when he retired and there- after devoted his attention mainly to look- ing after his real estate interests until his death, September 29, 1878, when in the seventy-sixth year of his age. He married Margaret Bright in 1821, and reared a family of seven children, four sous and three daughters. The eldest of these sons was Jacob B. Smith, who graduated from the Georgetown academy, read law with his uncles, Edward P. Pearson and Henry W. Smith. and removed to Colorado, where he was the first judge elected in that State.
He died at Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1886, after a long and brilliant career as a lawyer and jurist. Maj. Edmund Smith, the sec- ond son, graduated from Georgetown, Dis- trict of Columbia, in 1849, taking second honors, and was admitted to the bar of Berks county in 1851. Six years later he was elected to the legislature from that county, and when the civil war opened he enlisted as a private in the Ringgold artillery, and was afterward made captain of a company. He served under General Mcclellan and par- ticipated in most of the battles fought by the army of the Potomac. Thirteen months of his time was spent in Libby prison, from which he escaped only to be recaptured after six weeks of liberty employed in un- successful attempts to reach the Federal lines. The third son of George L. and Margaret Smith was George, the subject of this sketch, and their youngest son was Charles F., who died in 1863, in the twenty- fifth year of bis age. Their three daughters were: Angelina, who married Dr. Lemuel Stewart, and is now deceased; Mary, the wife of Joseph Depuy Davis, a retired law- yer of Reading, this State; and Kate, who has spent much of her time in Europe, vis- iting nearly all the historic places in the old world.
OHN C. SAYLOR, a prominent busi- ness man, and the proprietor of the widely known Saylor's flouring mill, of Parker Ford, and whose industral career has been one of remarkable and continued success, is a son of George C. and Catherine (Sholl) Saylor, and was born August 30, 1823, in Wittenberg, Germany. He was reared principally in Montgomery county, being brought there when he was but seven years of age. He received his education
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
in the common schools, and went out into the great business world to do for himself at thirteen years of age, as a driver on the towpath of the Seuylkill canal. He rose from post to post on the canal, until he was captain of a boat in less than six years from commencing at the bottom round of canal life, and before he was nineteen years of age. He left the field of his youthful labors to learn the trade of miller, and soon ell- tered upon his present successful business career. In 1845 he rented a mill in Berks county, which he operated until 1854. When Mr. Saylor came to East Coventry township, he purchased his present flouring mill near Parker Ford. This mill is first class in every respect, and has been thor- oughly equipped with the latest and most improved milling machinery. The products of the mill so well recommend themselves that there is an extensive and continnally increasing demand for them in Chester and adjoining counties. In addition to his mill property Mr. Saylor owns forty acres of productive land, and holds stock in the Na- tional bank of Spring City. He is a repub- liean in politics, and has served his town- ship as treasurer and as a member of its school board. He is a member of Mana- tawny Lodge, No. 214, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Stichter Lodge, No. 254, Free and Accepted Masons of Potts- town, Montgomery county.
John C. Saylor is of German descent, and the Saylor family is traced back for several centuries in the local history of that part of Germany in which George C. Saylor, the father of John C. Saylor, was born. George C. Saylor came from Germany to Mont- gomery county, and in 1860 removed to the vicinity of Parker Ford, where he died one year later, in 1861, when in the sixty-sixth
year of his age. He was a well-to-do farmer, managing his business with ability and pri- dence, and securing for himself a comforta- ble home. He was a democrat until the commencement of the late war, and then became a republican. He was a consistent member of the Lutheran church, and mar- ried Catherine Sholl, who died in 1856. Their children are : Adam, formerly steward of the Montgomery County home, and now a resident of Pottstown, that county ; John C., and Margaret, wife of George Miller.
Mr. Saylor married Rosanna Geigner, daughter of Joseph Geigner, of Montgomery county. Their children are : Catharine M., wife of J. Ellis Orr, superintendent of the Mt. Penn stove works, of Reading, this State; Irvin married Mary C. Forges, and is superintendent of his father's mill; Al- fred, who married Jennie Prizer, and is an editor and publisher in Philadelphia ; Lewis. married Lizzie Harley, and has been en- gaged for some time in the printing and publishing business at Pottstown, Mont- gomery county ; Alice, wife of Sylvester Pennypacker, who is a resident of Phila- delphia, where he is engaged in the milk business ; Emma; John, who married Lizzie Carter, and is a foreman in one of the shops of the Great Baldwin Locomotive works of Philadelphia; Edward, a machinist, now in Europe; Harvey, a pattern maker at the Baldwin Locomotive works; Mary, wife of M. C. Ilaspel, shipping elerk of Devlin's Philadelphia hardware house ; and Charles, a machinist.
John C. Saylor is an active and influen- tial member of the Lutheran church. In business he has always been distinguished for his clear perception and sound judg- ment. His almost imiform success attests
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this, while his transactions are always char- acterized by prudence and good fortune. An indulgent father, he is nevertheless a thoughtful and considerate parent. He has always counseled his children to tread those paths which lead to usefulness, honor and happiness, and they, profiting by his advice and example, have become respected and useful members of society. As a man Mr. Saylor stands high, and ås a citizen is full of public spirit, and ever anxious to advance the general welfare of his town and county.
M ORDECAI THOMAS, residing near White Horse, is a splendid representa- tive of that class known as independent farmers. By the exercise of energy, fru- gality and good business judgment, he has accumulated a handsome competency, and is now practically retired and living in the enjoyment of the fruits of his industry. He is the only son of Ezra and Susan ( Massey) Thomas, and a native of Willis- town township, Chester county, Pennsyl- vania, where he was born May 15, 1832. His education was obtained in Joshua Hoopes' school, at West Chester, and in that conducted by Daniel Foulke, at Gwynedd. After leaving school le engaged in farming in Willistown township, and has followed that occupation principally all his life. He owns a fine farm of one hundred and nine acres, all improved, and is now in inde- pendent circumstances. In politics he is a stanch republican, and has served as school director two terms.
On November 7, 1871, Mr. Thomas was united in marriage to Ida Garrett, a daugh- ter of Davis and Elizabeth ( Wilson) Gar- rett, of Hockessin, Delaware. To them has been born a family of three children, two
sons and a daughter: Lizzie, Ezra and Har- vey, all living at home with their parents.
The family to which Mr. Thomas be- longs is of Welsh descent, and takes rank with the oldest and best known families of the Commonwealth. Jacob Thomas, pa- ternal great-grandfather, was a native of Wales, born in 1712. He was a farmer, married and reared a family, among whom was Mordecai Thomas (grandfather), born July 21, 1767, who lived nearly all his life in Willistown township, Chester county, where he died May 7, 1837. The latter learned the trade of cabinet maker in early life, and combined that occupation with farming, being very successful in both, and accumulating considerable property. He was a strict member of the Society of Friends, and married Lydia Hoopes, by whom he had a family of ten children, seven of whom were sons: Isaac, Ezra, Emmor, George, Jesse, Hoopes, Mary A., Eliza, and Mordecai-all of whom are now deceased. Ezra Thomas (father) was born in Willis- town township, this county, May 17, 1799, and died here October 18, 1871, aged sev- enty-two years. He spent his life in agri- cultural pursuits, and owned and operated two excellent farms, being considered one of the leading and most progressive farmers of his day. Politically, he was first a whig and later became a republican, and served his township as school director for a period of six years. He was reared in the Quaker faith and adhered to it all his life. On May 12, 1831, he married Susan Massey, a daugh- ter. of James Massey, at that time residing near White Horse, this county. By this marriage he had a family consisting of one son and two daughters : Mordecai, the sub- ject of this sketch; Anna Mary, who mar- ried Franklin Leonard (now deceased ), and
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lives near White Horse; and Lydia, de- ceased.
James Massey, maternal grandfather of Mordecai Thomas, was born in England, but emigrated to the United States while yet a young man. He settled in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and lived most of his life near White Horse, where he died. By oc- cupation he was a farmer, and was the father of four children: James, William, Susan, and one that died in infancy. Susan, mother of Mordecai Thomas, died in 1849, in the forty-eighth year of her age.
W ILLIAM L. PAXSON, a prosper- ons farmer, residing near Black Horse post office, is the seventh in line of deseent from James Paxson, an English Quaker, who settled in Pennsylvania in 1682. William I .. is the eldest son of Timothy and Martha (Lippincott ) Paxson, and was horn where he now resides, in West Sadsbury township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, November 18, 1836. IIe was reared on the home farm here, and received superior education in the common schools and academies of his native county. After finishing his studies he engaged in teaching for a while in this county, and was known as an earnest and successful teacher. Later he adopted agriculture as his life voeation, and has since been continuously engaged in the cultivation of the soil, stock raising and dairying, generally keeping from fifteen to twenty fine cows. He now owns one hun-
dred and thirty acres of choice farming land in West Sadsbury township, all well im- proved, beside some woodland, also located in this township. The property includes the old homestead formerly owned by his father, and is situated on the Philadelphia
and Lancaster pike-built in 1792-and on the ridge which divides the waters of the Susquehanna river from those of the Dela- ware.
On January 19, 1869, Mr. Paxson was married to Rebecca Kling, a daughter of David and Mary Kling, of Lancaster county, this State. She died in 1875, at the age of twenty-five, leaving no children. On Feb- ruary 21, 1878, he was again married, wed- ding for his second wife llannah Wilson, a daughter of Joshua and Hannah Wilson, of East Fallowfield township, this county. To this union was born a family of three chil- dren, two of whom survive: Benjamin and Mareenha, both living at home with their parents. Mrs. Paxson was born November 13, 1840. ller ancestors came over to America just three months later than the time the first Paxsons arrived.
Politically Mr. Paxson is a stanch repub- lican, and has served his township for six- teen years as school director, besides hold- ing other township offices. He takes great interest in the cause of edneation and has made a useful and efficient school officer, and given entire satisfaction in every position he has been called upon to ocenpy. In religion he adheres to the traditions of the early Paxsons, and has been a life long member of the Ifieksite branch of the Society of Friends. He is a man of intelligence and character, well posted on all current topics, and is most highly respected by his neigh- bors and all who know him.
The Paxsons, as has been said, are of English descent. and this branch of the family in America traces its ancestry back to James Paxson, who was born in Eng- land, but eame to this country while yet a young man in the good ship Samuel, to- gether with his brothers. Henry and Wil-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
liam, in 1682. William settled on land two miles east of where Langhorne now stands, in Bucks county, this State, while James Paxson located near Solesberry, in the same county. Henry Paxson settled near New- town, that county. They are all Quakers.
Joseph Paxson, great-grandfather of Wil- liam L., and fourth in regular line of de- scent from James Paxson, the original immi- grant, settled in Sadsbury township, Ches- ter county, about the close of the revolu- tionary war. He purchased more than seven hundred acres of land here, married, and was the father of fifteen children, of whom Joseph Paxson (grandfather) was the eldest. He died in 1827, aged sixty-eight years. In politics he was a whig, and was serving as one of the directors when the present poor farm near West Chester was purchased by the county. His wife was Phebe Cooper, by whom he had a family of five children, and one of his sons was Timothy Paxson (father), who was born in Sadsbury town- ship, in December, 1800, where he lived nearly all his life. He was engaged in the mercantile business for a number of years, and erected the building now occupied by William L. Paxson as a residence, for dwel- ling and storehouse. Here he kept a gen- eral country store, and was also postmaster for many years, the office being known as Black Horse postoffice. He also owned and operated a farm, was an old-line whig in politics, and a strict member of the Hicksite branch of the Society of Friends. In 1834 he married Martha Lippincott, a daughter of William and Ann Lippincott, of West- field, Burlington county, New Jersey, by whom he had five children. He died March 28, 1863. The Lippincotts are among the oldest and most respected families of that State, and have furnished a number of dis-
tinguished citizens to our sister Common- wealth. Mrs. Paxson died in the summer of 1884, in the eighty-third year of her age.
S. ROBISON MARCH, burgess of Phoenixville, and a leading railroad contractor of this part of the State, who has become prominent in Masonic circles, and is widely known for his energy, ability and business success, is a son of Samuel and Rebecca (Tredenick) March, and was born October 1, 1844, in West Pikeland town- ship, Chester county, Pennsylvania. The March family is of German origin, but have been residents of Chester county for five generations. The great-grandfather of S. Robison March was a native of Germany, who emigrated to America while yet a young man and located in Pikeland town- ship, becoming one of the early settlers of Chester county. He married in this county and reared a large family. Among his sons was Nicholas March (grandfather), who was born in this county about 1783. He served in the war of 1812, and afterward became a prosperous farmer of West Pikeland town- ship, where he died at the age of sixty-nine years. He was a democrat in politics, in religion a member of the German Reformed church, and married Elizabeth Emery, by whom he has a family of ten children. Sam- uel March (father) was born on the home farm in West Pikeland township, August 24, 1808, and resided in that township all his life, dying November 3, 1867, at the age of fifty-nine years. He learned the trade of blacksmith when a young man and worked at that business for a time, but later pur- chased a farm and was afterward engaged solely in agricultural pursuits, becoming prosperous in his later years. . He was a
.
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Robison Haich.
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
member of the German Reformed church, which he served in an official capacity for many years. He was a democrat in politics and always took an active interest in the public questions of his day. He married Rebecca Tredenick in 1840, and to them was born a family of eight children. Mrs. March, born February 15, 1815, was a native of Chester county, a member of the German Reformed church, and died in 1890, after an active and useful life of three quar- ters of a century. Her father, Robert Tredeniek, was born in this county of Ger- man parentage, and her mother was a dangh- ter of Isaac Smith, an early settler and cab- inet maker of this township, who for many years furnished all the coffins needed in the surrounding country, and lived to the re- markable age of ninety-four years.
S. Robison March was reared on the home farm in West Pikeland township, and re- ceived a good practical education in the common schools of his neighborhood and at Freelands seminary in Montgomery county. After leaving school he entered the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company as clerk and telegraph operator, and remained with that company a number of years. In 1876 he came to Phoenixville and engaged in farming, which occupation he followed for five years, and in 1881 em- barked in the business of railroad contract- ing. He graded the Frazer branch of the Pennsylvania railroad from the Schuylkill river to Harveyville, and also two and a half miles on the Schuylkill Valley branch of that road. Among other large contracts executed by him was one for seven thousand yards of masonry at the Sixteenth street station of the Philadelphia & Reading rail- road, in the city of Philadelphia, and an- other for five miles of railroad in Hunting-
don county, for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He has also done the masonry for several large bridges on these roads, be- side completing many other railroad con- traets. He is now (1892) engaged in building a branch road, and grading for a new freight yard and doing the masonry work on the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's new depot building at Phoenixville. Mr. March has also been engaged in real estate trans- actions, having built and sold a large num- ber of the finest houses in Phoenixville, and purchased several farms in the county, which he improved and then sold again. He has been successful in his various under- takings, which may be ascribed principally to his energy and ability for looking after the details of his business.
On March 22, 1866, he united in marriage with Mary A. Fry, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Fry, of West Vincent town- ship, this county. To them was born a family of three children, a son and two daughters: Ida L., who died January 18, 1892, in her twenty-fifth year; Bertha E., and S. Roy, the two latter now living at home with their parents.
Politically Mr. March is a democrat, giv- ing his party a right loyal support on all national questions, but inelined to indepen- dence in local polities. He served as sec- retary of the school board in West Pikeland township, and in the spring of 1890 was elected to the position of burgess of Phoenix- ville, which he filled in a manner so satis- factory to the people that he was re-elected in 1891 by an increased majority, and chosen for a third time to the same office in 1892-an event which never before occurred in the history of Phoenixville. Mr. March is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, in which he has served as deacon
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
and elder. ' He is also prominent in Masonic circles, being a member of Phoenix Lodge, No. 75, Free and Accepted Masons ; Phoenix Chapter, No. 198, Royal Arch Masons ; Pal- estine Council, No. 8, Royal and Select Mas- ters; and Jerusalem Commandery, No. 15, Knights Templar, and has filled all the chairs in these various bodies. He is also a member of Caldwell Consistory, S ... P ... R ... S ... 32º, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Masons, and a man who is everywhere popular be- cause of his affability, personal worth and energetic character.
SLATER B. RUSSELL, who is promi- nently identified with the insurance and real estate business of West Chester, is the eldest son of Jolin Neal and Amelia (Kirk) Russell, and was born in Drumore township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the 18th of June, 1834. His paternal great-grandfather, Paul Russell (or Roussel, as originally spelled), was a native of Al- sace, Germany, but emigrated to America about 1720, and settled in Chester county, this State. His son, John Russell (grand- father), was born in Chester county, but removed to New Castle . county, Delaware, and from thence, in 1806, to Lancaster county, this State, and located in Drumore township, where he passed the remainder of his life. He was a farmer by occupation, and in politics a Jacksonian democrat. He married Ann Neal, by whom he had an only son, John Neal Russell, father of the subject of this sketch, who was born July 3, 1804, in New Castle county, Delaware. When only two years old he was brought by his parents to Lancaster county, this State, and there lived until his death, which occurred December 23, 1876, at the age of seventy-
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