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 51
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COL. DANIEL FOULKE MOORE,
junior member of the well-known roof- ing firm of Caswell & Moore, Phoenixville, this county, who served in the civil war, and for a number of years was a telegraph operator for the Reading Railroad Com- pany, is a son of Edwin and Phœbe (Foulke) Moore, and was born in Upper Merion town- ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, July 24, 1841. The Moores are of ancient Scotch lineage, but have been settled in Montgomery county, this State, since the revolutionary period. Richard Moore (grand- father), was a native of Montgomery county, a farmer by occupation, and passed all his life in that county. There too, his son, Ed- win More (father), was born in 1811, and after obtaining such education as could be had in the common schools of that day, en- gaged in farming. He was pushing and energetic, endowed with good judgment and fine business ability, and became one of the largest and most prosperous farmers of his native county, where he remained un- til 1890, when he rented his farm and re-
Col. Daniel Stouthe Meri.
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
moved to Norristown, where he now resides, retired from active business. He served as president of the Montgomery County Agri- cultural society for a number of years, and as school director, always taking an active part in educational matters. For several years he was a member and director of the Montgomery County Fire Insurance Com- pany. In polities he is a stanch republiean, and has at all times manifested a deep in- terest in political and other publie ques- tions. He is a member of the Society of Friends, but enlisted and served with the emergency men at the battle of Antietam. He married Phoebe Foulke in 1834, by whom he had a family of five children. She was a native of Gwynedd township, Mont- gomery county, a member of the Society of Friends, and died July 4, 1876, in the sixty- fifth year of her age. The Foulke family was planted in America in 1698 by Edward Foulke, who came over from Wales in that year and settled in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. In writing his biography he traces the Foulkes baek to Shirid Flaidd, a well-known figure in Welsh history, who resided at Rhiwardoy, and is frequently al- Inded to in Welsh chronicles of the latter half of the twelfth century. He was lord of Penllyn, a "cantraf," containing five parishes north of Bala lake, and he has been described as founder of one of the fif- teen noble tribes of North Wales. Edward Foulke, the immigrant of 1698, gave the name of Gwynedd to the settlement, which grew np where he located. There Joseph Foulke, maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born about 1783. He was the fourth in line of descent fron Ed- ward Foulke, and after attaining manhood and acquiring a good education, he founded a boarding school for boys at Gwynedd,
which he conducted for nearly a lifetime. He was also a famous Quaker preacher, with strong anti-slavery proclivities, and actively interested in all the reform move- ments of his day. He became an eminent mathematician, and originated the Friends' almanac, himself making for many years all the astronomical calculations for that publication. This almanac is now published and its calculations made by his son, Dr. Joseph Fonlke, of Bneks county, this State. Joseph Foulke died in 1863, at his home in Gwynedd, having attained the scripturally allotted age of four score years.
Daniel Foulke Moore was reared on the home farm in Montgomery county until he had attained his twentieth year, receiving' his education in the common schools and at the Gwynedd seminary conducted by his maternal grandfather. At the age of twenty he became a telegraph operator, entering the service of the Reading Railroad Com- pany at Reading, this State. Ile remained in the employ of this company until 1862, being stationed successively at Reading and Harrisburg, and in that year resigned his position and enlisted as a private in Co. E, 128th Pennsylvania infantry for nine months. He participated in the battles of Antietam and Chancellorsville and other minor en- gagements and skirmishes, and after the ex- piration of his term of service re-enlisted in Co. D, 31st Pennsylvania guards, known as "emergency men," and served four months. In 1863 he again entered the employ of the Reading Railroad Company as a telegraph operator, being stationed at Phoenixville, this county, where he faithfully performed the duties of his position until January, 1870, when he resigned, and in connection with E. L. Caswell, under the firm name of Caswell & Moore, engaged in
26
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
the business of furnishing and putting on tin, slate and corrugated iron roofs. This is the oldest firm of its kind in Phoenixville, and in addition to its main business of building and roofing houses, it also does plumbing, steam and gas fitting, and sells stoves, tinware and house furnishing goods. The business was originally founded in 1855 by the senior member of the present firm. These gentlemen have built up a fine trade and carry a large stock of everything in their line. Their store is located at No. 237 Bridge street.
In 1867 Colonel Moore was married to Melissa Conard, of Upper Merion township, Montgomery county, this State. She died in 1869, leaving an infant son who survived its mother only three months. Some eight years later, in 1877, Colonel Moore was again married, this time wedding Emily M. Ashenfelter, a daughter of Henry Ashen- felter, of Phoenixville. To this union has been born one child, a daughter, named Martha Washington.
Daniel Foulke Moore is a member of the Society of Friends, as have been many of his family. He is also connected with Phoenix Lodge, No. 75, Free and Accepted Masons, aud is a member of White Post, No. 45, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is past commander. When the militia was organized here, in 1871, he was placed on the staff of Gen. J. R. Dobson as assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of colonel, which title he still bears. Colonel Moore is a stanch republican in his political convictions and has the honor of being the last republican burgess of Phoenixville. He has always taken an active part in politics, and is at present (1892) a prominent candi- date for member of the legislature from his district.
LIVER H. SMEDLEY, whose par- ents were Bartholomew and Margaret (Hoopes) Smedley, is another agriculturalist who has spent a long and active life on the farm where he was born, tilling the broad acres formerly owned by his ancestors, and finding in his annual round of labor a contentment more satisfying if not so in- tense as that enjoyed by the "globe trotter," so called, who visits all climes and is ap- parently at home in every land. Mr. Smed- ley was born October 3, 1839, on the old homestead in East Goshen township, this county, and received his early education in the public schools of his neighborhood, which was afterward supplemented by an extended course in the State Normal school at Millersville. After completing his studies he engaged in farming on the home place, which passed into his possession in 1864, and has since given his time exclusively to agricultural pursuits. His farm contains one hundred and nineteen acress of valuable land, and is well improved and kept in good condition. Politically he is a republican and takes an interest in all public questions, though taking no active part in politics. In religion he is a Presbyterian and a member of the West Chester church of that denon- ination. He is also a member of Goshen Grange, No. 121, Patrons of Husbandry, and takes an active interest in all questions affecting the interests of the farmers of this country.
On October 25, 1865, Mr. Smedley was wedded to Mary E. Megilligan, a danghter of James and Hannah Megilligan, of the city of Wilmington, Delaware. To Mr. and Mrs. Smedley has been born a family of four children, two sons and two daughters: Frank B., who married Emma Hendrickson, and now resides in East Goshen ; J. Eugene,
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
who is now at Colorado Springs, Colorado; Margaret H. and Bertha M., both living at home with their parents.
The Smedley family is of English descent and was planted in America about 1683, by George Smedley, a Quaker, who came from Derbyshire, and settled at Darby, Pennsyl- vania. Jesse Smedley, paternal grandfather of Oliver H., was a native of Delaware county, this State, aud passed all his active and useful life in that county, dying at Media, in 1850. He married and reared a family, one of whom was Bartholomew Smedley (father), who was born in Delaware county, but in 1838 removed to Chester county, and settled in the eastern part of East Goshen township, where he resided until his death in 1864. He was a farmer all his life and on coming to this county purchased the farm now owned by his son, the subject of this sketch. In politics he was first a whig, but soon after the organi- zation of the Republican party in Pennsyl- vania he became attached thereto, and ever after gave it an active support. Religiously he was a Quaker, in which faith he had been reared, and in 1838 he married Mar- garet Hoopes, a daughter of Israel Hoopes, of New Garden township, and to their union was born a family of five children, two sons and three daughters: Oliver H., whose name introduces this sketch ; William, now decensed, married Ella Sharpless, of East Goshen township, who is also dead; Anna Mary; Anna E., became the wife of Marshall Way, burgess of West Chester; and Philena II.
Oliver H. Smedley is a first cousin of John G. Smedley, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume, and to that sketch reference is made for additional aucestral history of the Smedley family in America.
p ETER ACKER, an industrions and
prosperous farmer of Pawling, and a representative of one of the sturdy German families to which the Commonwealth owes so much, is the younger of the two sons of John and Susannah (Sloanacker) Acker, and was born on the old homestead, in Schuylkill township, Chester county, Pen- sylvania, May 12, 1836. Here he was reared and educated, and here he has always lived, quietly and industriously engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. He now owns the home farm, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres of valuable land, all well improved except ten acres of woodland. In politics he is a stanch republican, and while never taking an active part in the turmoil of prac- tical politics, yet always gives an intelligent and earnest support to the party of his choice.
On February 19, 1861, Mr. Acker was united in marriage with Martha Jones, a daughter of Enoch and Mary (Johnson) Jones, of East Vincent township, this county. and to them was born a family of three children, two sons and a daughter: Enoch J., born December 17, 1862, married Emma Stetler, and is now a prosperous young civil engineer, of Norfolk Virginia; Frances S., born September 12, 1864, married Theodore Cramer, a well known jeweler of Phoenix- ville; and Burton J., born June 29, 1876, and now (1892) attending the State Nor- mal school at West Chester. Mrs. Martha Acker died December 15, 1882, aged forty- one years.
The Ackers are of German descent, and trace their American ancestry back to Con- rad Acker, who was born in Germany, but left that country when a young man, and settled in Montgomery county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1732. He married Barbara Ruble,
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
and had an only son, Peter Acker (grand- father), who was born in Uwchlan town- ship, and after attaining his majority mar- ried Elizabeth Laugbaugh, who bore him one child, Conrad; and after her death wedded Elizabeth Beagle, by whom he had a family of nine children : Jacob, Isaac, Catharine, Mary, Sarah, Hannah, Rebecca, John, and one that died in infancy. All are now deceased except Isaac, who resides at Atglen. Peter Acker was a farmer by occupation, and passed all his life in Uwch- lan township, near Lionville, where he died at an advanced age. He owned a large quantity of land, and his farm operations were extensive. Politically he was a whig, and a Lutheran in religious belief and church membership. John Acker ( father) was a native of Uwchlan township, born on the old homestead in 1813, where he lived until his marriage, in 1833. He then re- moved to Schuylkill township, locating half a mile east of Williams Corner, where the subject of this sketch now resides. Here he passed the remainder of his days, dying in 1888, after an active life of three quar- ters of a century. His occupation was that of a farmer and stock raiser, and he became prosperous and well-to-do. In religion he adhered to the faith in which he had been reared, and was almost a life-long member of the Evangelical Lutheran church. Polit- ically he was a whig and republican. In 1833 he married Susannah Sloanacker, a daughter of Jacob Sloanacker, of East Pike- laud, and by this union had a family of two sons : Jacob S., who inarried Susannah Christman, and is now a prosperous farmer of Tredyffrin township; and Peter, whose name heads this sketch. Both are well known, useful and highly respected citizens of Chester county.
ILLIAM H. SAYLOR, postmaster
at Kenilworth, this county, and a prosperous business man of that village, is the sixth child and third son of Adam F. and Hannah (Hetzel) Saylor, and a native of Pottsgrove township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, where he was born October 10, 1856. He grew to manhood on his father's farm there, and received a good practical education in the public schools of his neighborhood. After leaving home he learned the milling business and followed that occupation some four years, when he became manager of a creamery in Potts- grove township, Montgomery county, and was thus engaged for three years and six months. In 1887 he removed to Chester county, and settled at Kenilworth, North Coventry township, where he embarked in the lumber, coal and feed business, in which he has been very successful, and now enjoys a large and increasing patronage. Politi- cally he is a republican, and shortly after locating at Kenilworth, was appointed as postmaster at that place, a position he has acceptably filled ever since. He is a promi- nent member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and also a member of the Patriotic Order Sons of America.
On September 11, 1884, Mr. Saylor was united in marriage to Hattie Funk, a daugh- ter of Jacob L. Funk. By this union he has four children : Ralph J., born July 1, 1885; Laura M., born February 24, 1887; Clyde T., born June 18, 1889; and Eveline Sue, born January 2, 1892.
The Saylors trace their trans-Atlantic origin to Germany, where Frederick Say- lor, paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born about 1793. He was reared and educated in his native land, and there married Cyntha Shaw. Some time
433
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
during the first quarter of the present cen- tury he, with his wife and two children, bid farewell to the Fatherland, and erossing the Atlantic, settled in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. There he passed the re- mainder of his days, dying near Parker Ford, in Pottsgrove township, that county, in 1861, at an advanced age. He was en- gaged in farming after his arrival in this country, and became prosperous and well- to-do. He was a democrat in polities, and a striet member of the German Lutheran church. He was the father of three ehil- dren, two sons and a daughter: Sarah, Adam F., and Capt. John C., whose sketelı appears elsewhere in this volume. Adam F. Saylor (father) was born October 29, 1819, in Germany, and was brought by his father to America when quite young. He was principally reared in Montgomery county, and received a good common school education, after which he engaged in farm- ing, and spent most of his life in that occu- pation. For a time he was steward of the Montgomery county home, and now lives in Pottstown, that county, retired. Hle mar- ried Hannah Hetzel, a daughter of John Hetzel, of Pottsgrove, and by this union had a family of twelve children : John C., who married Mary Royer, and is now a prosperous farmer and truekster of Potts- grove township, Montgomery county ; Rosa, died young ; Caroline, also dead ; Kate, now the wife of A. L. Ebert, of Pottstown ; Adam F., jr., who married Rosie Snyder, and is engaged in farming in Montgomery county ; William H., the subject of this sketch; Franklin, married Ellen Meyers, and re- sides in the State of Florida; Elmer E., wedded Annie Munshower, and is engaged in the grocey business at Royer's Ford ; H. Stephen, dead ; Rachel, the wife of Sum-
ner Frick, of Pottstown; Lizzie, now de- ceased, who married John Stauffer, of Roy- er's Ford; and Harry C.
R EV. THOMAS R. MCDOWELL, the
popular and successful pastor of Upper Octoraro Presbyterian church, near Parkes- burg, this county, is a graduate from Prince- ton Theological seminary, and a gentleman of mueh culture and refinement. He was born October 22, 1855, in New London, Chester county, Pennsylvania, his parents being James B. and Eliza (Hall) MeDowell. The McDowells are of Irish extraction and trace their aneestry baek to James McDow- ell (great-great-grandfather), who was born in the north of Ireland in 1740.and about 1758 eame to America and located in Penn- sylvania. He married Elizabeth Loughead, of Concord, and settled on land partly be- longing to her, later comprising the farms of Henry D. Hodgson and Franklin Garrett, at Lincoln station, in Lower Oxford town- ship. About 1798 he purchased from Dr. Thomas Ruston the Ruston tract of four hundred and twenty-five acres on Elk, and removed thither. He died September 12, 1815, and was buried at New London. He served through the revolutionary war, and on May 1, 1786, was commissioned as cap- tain of a troop of light horse militia in this county. His children were Mary, Jane, John, Margaret, Catharine, Elizabeth, Ann and Martha. John McDowell ( great-grand- father) was born in 1768, married Sarah Gettys, of Philadelphia, and died in 1837. He was commissioned May 1, 1789, ensign of the fourth company of foot in the fifth battalion of militia, in the county of Ches- ter, and August 1, 1814, an ensign of the ninth company of the 91st Pennsylvania
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
militia, the latter commission being signed by Governor Findlay. His son, John Mc- Dowell (grandfather), was a native of Ches- ter county, a prosperous farmer, and an at- tendent of the Presbyterian church. He married Eliza J. Carlile, by whom he had a family of four children, and died in 1860, aged sixty-nine years. James B. McDowell (father) was born near New London, this county, in 1827, and at his death, in 1864, was cashier of the Citizens' National bank of Middletown, Delaware. Previous to ac- cepting that position he had been principal of the New London academy for many years, and was widely known as a success- · ful educator. He was a prominent member and elder of the Middletown Presbyterian church, and a stanch republican in his politi- cal belief. He married Eliza Hall, who was a native of Cecil county, Maryland, and a member of the Presbyterian church. She died in 1862, aged thirty-seven years, leav- ing a family of six children. Her father, Levi Hall, was of English descent, married Elizabeth Rankin, and died in Middletown, Delaware, at the advanced age of ninety- two years.
Rev. Thomas R. McDowell was reared partly in Middletown and partly in Chester county, Pennsylvania. He was prepared for college at the West Nottingham acad- emy, Cecil county, Maryland, and entering Delaware college, Newark, Delaware, was graduated from that institution with honors in the spring of 1881. He then began the study of theology, taking a three year's course at the Princeton Theological semin- ary, from which he was graduated in June, 1884. His first work after graduation was as pastor of the Lower Brandywine Presby- terian church, near Wilmington, Delaware, but in 1889 he returned to Chester county,
and on May 22 of that year, was installed pastor of the Upper Octoraro Presbyterian church, near Parkesburg, which he has con- tinued to serve in an acceptable manner ever since. The history of this church dates back to 1720. At the present time it has a membership of four hundred and thirty- three, and its prosperous condition is largely due to the efficient labors of its enthusiastic and earnest pastor. In addition to his pas- toral duties here, he has charge of three chapels elsewhere-one at Parkesburg, an- other at Pomeroy, and a third at Sadsbury- ville.
On March 14, 1888, Rev. Thomas R. Mc- Dowell was united in holy matrimony with Sophia S. Pusey, a daughter of Edward Pusey, of Wilmington, Delaware. To them has been born three children : Edward P., James B., died at the age of fourteen months ; and J. Norman.
In political opinions Mr. McDowell is a republican, and is now serving as secretary of the school board of Sadsbury township. He is a member of Dupont Lodge, No. 29, Free and Accepted Masons, of Wilmington, Delaware; and of Centerville Lodge, No. 37, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, near the same city. He is a man of pleasant ad- dress, easily approached, and is immensely popular with his people and the general public.
R EV. CHARLES M. HADDAWAY,
the present efficient and popular pastor in charge of the Methodist Episcopal church at Glen Moore, this county, is a son of John Q. A. and Caroline M. ( Harris) Hadd- away, and was born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, April 28, 1856. His paternal grandfather, William Haddaway, was a na- tive of Talbot county, Maryland, and lived
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
most of his life at Bay Hundred, that county. He was a farmer by occupation, owning nearly five thousand acres of land, and in politics was a stanch whig, while in religion he was an active and influential member of the Methodist Episcopal church, widely known for his kindliness of heart and generous hospitality. He married a Miss Kersey, and reared a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters : Samuel H., Elizabeth Caulp, Martha Seth, Caroline Kemp, Eliza Kemp, Thomas S., Charles W., and John Q. A. (father). The latter was born at Bay Hundred, Talbot county, Maryland, January 21, 1828, where he was principally reared and educated. After attaining manhood he engaged in the dry goods business in Baltimore, and passed most of his active life in that eity. After retiring from the dry goods trade he en- gaged in the life insurance business, and also organized and for some years conducted a newspaper advertising agency in that city.
In 1847 he married Caroline M. Harris, a daughter of Capt. Samuel Harris, of Balti- more, and by this union had a family of six children, three sons and three daughters: Rev. Samuel W., a prominent minister of the Methodist Episcopal church South, who has filled leading pulpits in Baltimore and Washington city; Thomas Decatur, a well known lawyer of Washington eity; Lizzie, married E. H. Delmar, a general newsdealer of that city; Isabel J., became the wife of H. D. Gordon, who resides in Washington, where he is engaged in the real estate busi- ness; Mary E., wedded Robert L. Cohen, who is engaged with his father in the gen- eral shoe business in Washington city ; and Rev. Charles M., the subject of this sketch.
Capt. Samnel Harris (maternal grand- father) was of English descent and a na-
tive of Baltimore, but for many years followed a scafaring life, being captain of a trading vessel and serving with distinction in the United States navy during the war of 1812. He was in several engagements under Commodore Decatur, on the high seas, and his life was in many respects a very eventful one. While in command of his own vessel he circumnavigated the globe, and traded in many foreign ports, coming in contact with people of all nations, and having a number of unusual adventures. After retiring from the sea he became a wholesale merchant in Baltimore. Politically he was a democrat, and in relig- ion a strict member of the Universalist church. He was one of the projectors of the Baltimore monument erected to the memory of two young men who killed the leader of the British forees and saved that city from capture, during the war of 1812. He married a Miss Monroe, and reared a family of four children, two sons and two daughters : Thomas Decatur, Samuel, Mary. who married Prof. George W. Minnick, and Caroline M., who wedded John Q. A. IIadd- away, and became the mother of the subject of this sketch. She was educated at private schools in the city of Baltimore, now re- sides in Washington, District of Columbia, and is a member of the Evangelical Luth- eran church.
Rev. Charles M. Haddaway grew to man- hood in Baltimore and obtained a good English education in the public schools of that city. He afterward took a course in the High school of Trappe, Talbot county, Maryland, and then studied under a private tutor for a time. Later he entered Garrett Biblical institute at Evanston, Illinois, and began the study of theology. In 1875 he entered the ministry and was ordained a
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