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 59
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sand acres of land from William Penn, by deeds of lease and release, dated July 24 and 25, 1681. He paid £100 for this land, and in 1683 embarked with his son, Dr. Richard, and a number of dependants, for Pennsylvania, his wife and daughter refusing to come with him. In a short time after arriving at Philadelphia he died, and left his new world possessions to his son, Richard, then about ten years of age. Richard Thomas, afterwards a doctor of medicine, was poorly provided for by those who came with his father, and when they had spent everything they could get of his means, cast him off with nothing but his land. He selected Lieutenant-governor Lloyd as his guardiau, and the latter, by selling some of the land, raised means to give him an edu- cation, and to study medicine. In 1695 he selected a tract of six hundred acres, on which a part of West Chester now stands. He sold some small farms off this so as to have neighbors, and built his house near the wigwams of some Indians, so that their dogs would frighten away the wild animals that were then numerons in the newly settled sections of the county. Visiting Wales in 1699, he brought his sister, Mary, over with him, his mother having died some time pre- vious. Of his land he located the larger part of it in the Chester valley, and received a patent for one thousand and sixty-five acres in the vicinity of West Chester. He took possession in 1711 of his home farm, ou which he died in 1744, aged seventy-two years. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and married Grace Atherton, by whom he had six children, one son and five daughters: Richard, Hannah (deceased ), Mrs. Hannah Mendenhall, Mrs. Mary Har- rison, Mrs. Grace Stalker, and Mrs. Eliza- beth Howell. The son, Richard Thomas,
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
was born February 22, 1713, and died Sep- tember 22, 1754. On February 10, 1739, he was married at Goshen meeting to Phæbe Ashbridge, daughter of George and Mary Ashbridge, who was born Angust 26, 1717, and died June 14, 1784, having married in 1754, William Trimble for her second hus- band. Richard and Phœbe Thomas had five children, two sons and three daughters : Mrs. Lydia Trimble, Mrs. Grace Trimble, Richard, jr., George, and Mrs. Hannah Trimble. The second son, George Thomas, was born December 21, 1746, and died August 17, 1793. He married Saralı Rob- erts, daughter of John and Jane Roberts, born January 1, 1750, and died February 20, 1840, aged ninety years. To George and Sarah Thomas were born nine children, two sons and seven daughters: Mrs. Jane Pres- ton, Phæbe, Hannah, Lydia, John R., Eliza- beth, George, Mrs. Sarah Thomas, wife of Richard Thomas (6), and Anna. The eldest son, John R. Thomas (grandfather), was born August 29,1781, and died April, 1856, aged seventy-five years. On November 19, 1806, at Downingtown meeting, he married Elizabeth Downing, daughter of Riehard and Elizabeth Downing, of East Caln, who was born October 10, 1783, and died Oeto- ber 18, 1810, leaving one child, Dr. George. After his first wife's death John R. Thomas married Martha Newbold, who died No- vember 30, 1816.
Dr. George Thomas (father) was born September 9, 1808, and grew to manhood on his father's farm. He received his edu- cation at the Westtown and the Jonathan Gause's boarding schools, and Stroud's and Germantown academies. After pursning a preparatory course in medicine he entered the university of Pennsylvania, from whose medical department he was graduated in the
class of 1829. He then traveled through- ont Europe and perfected his medical studies. After returning home his strong preference for horticulture led him to engage in horti- cultural pursuits to the exclusion of the practice of his profession. He was a whig, and succeeded his father as a director of the Bank of Chester county, and in turn was succeeded by his son, J. Preston. He was an intelligent aud well edneated man, of fine tastes and pleasing address. He died Sep- tember 26, 1887, when in the eightieth year of his age, and his remains were entombed in Downingtown Friends' burying ground. On October 20, 1841, he married Anna Mary Townsend, daughter of John W. and Sibbilla K. (Price) Townsend. She was born October 23, 1815, and is still living. To their union were born five children: . J. Preston, born August 7, 1842; George, August 5, 1845 ; Charles, October 27, 1848; John R., who died at two years of age ; and Elizabeth D., who died at four years of age.
J. Preston Thomas grew to manhood on the paternal farm, which has descended from his ancestor, Richard ap Thomas, down through heirs for seven generations without deed or title. He received his academical education in a private classical school taught by a graduate of Dickenson college, and then attended Haverford eol- lege. Leaving college he engaged in farni- ing on a part of the original tract of land taken up by Dr. Richard Thomas. He still resides there and owns one hundred and eighty-three acres of land, which is fertile and productive, and is engaged to some ex- tent in raising fine stock. During the eivil war he served at different times in the State militia and the Union army.
On December 13, 1866, Mr. Thomas mar- ried Hannah J. Gibbons, daughter of Abra-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
ham and Martha P. Gibbons, of Coatesville. To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have been born three children : Martha G., George (3), and Anna M.
J. Preston Thomas is a republican in politics. He was elected in 1887 as a di- rector of the poor of Chester county, and discharged the duties of his position so ac- ceptably that he was renominated and re- elected in 1890 for a second term of three years. He has also served his township as a member and secretary of its school board for twenty years. In financial and educa- tional matters he has been called to serve as well as in political affairs. He has been a director of the National bank of Chester county since 1872; treasurer of the Chester county Agricultural society ; is a manager of the Preston Retreat, a hospital in Phila- delphia, and of Haverford college, and has served for several years as a trustee of the West Chester State Normal school. Mr. Thomas is a birthright member of the Or- thodox Society of Friends, and is a man of intelligence, integrity and usefulness.
SAM AMUEL WYNNE, one of the most prominent and successful educators of the county, and who is the proprietor of one of the largest general mercantile estab- lishments of Phoenixville, is a son of Sam- uel, sr., and Margaret ( Brindley) Wynne, and was born in Carnarvon township, Berks county, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1846. He received his education in the common schools of his native township. Mt. Pleasant seminary and Keystone Normal school. Leaving school in 1867, he taught during that winter a school in Exeter township, Berks county. The next year he taught Hause's school in East Nantmeal township, Ches-
ter county, and the two following years he taught in Charlestown township-the first year at the Union school, and the second at Amity school. Having been so successful in this short time he was called to the prin- cipalship of the North Ward Grammar school of Phoenixville, where he labored assiduously and efficiently for nineteen years. In 1884 he embarked in the general mercantile business on Gay street, Phoenix- ville. His quarters soon became too small for his trade, and he removed across the street, and in 1889 built his present busi- ness house on the southeast corner of Gay street and Washington avenue. It is a three story brick, with mansard roof, 40x40 feet in dimensions, and is one of the finest buildings on the street, the front being built of white pressed brick -the only one of the kind in the town. His salesroom, 20x40 feet in dimensions, is handsomely equipped with every convenience, and the stock dis- played includes all kinds of dress goods, woolens, cottons, shawls, gloves, notions, fancy and staple groceries, provisions, pro- duce, tobacco, cigars, and a general line of household supplies. The goods handled are first-class in quality, fashionable and dura- ble, and are uniform in excellence. Mr. Wynne employs two experienced salesmen, and delivers goods free to all parts of the borough. He commands a large trade, and his establishment is known as one of the reliable and progressive mercantile houses of the county.
On November 14, 1872, Mr. Wynne was united in marriage with Nettie N., daughter of Lewis and Mary Free, of Charlestown township. Mr. and Mrs. Wynne have five children : Alvin L., born November 2, 1874, who is now local editor of the Daily Repub- lican, of Phoenixville ; Paul S., born June 8,
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
1878; S. Olave, born July 10, 1881; Harry N., born September 11, 1885 ; and Earle R., born July 1, 1888.
The first member of the Wynne family who came to America was Dr. Thomas Wynne, of Corwys, Flintshire, North Wales, who accompanied William Penn in his first trip to Philadelphia, in the ship Welcome, in 1682. He served as surgeon of the ves- sel which brought him over, and settled near Philadelphia, in Lower Merion town- ship, Montgomery county, where he bought a tract of five thousand acres of land. He took an active part in the early history of Pennsylvania, and was speaker of the first provincial assembly held in Pennsylvania. He was also a preacher among the Friends, and he died January 6, 1692, and was buried in Friends' burying ground, in Philadelphia. Wynnewood, a station and village on the Pennsylvania railroad, located on the orig- inal purchase, has been named after him. Some of his descendants and other mem- bers of the family settled in Chester county at an early day. From one of his grand- sons was descended David Wynne, the grandfather of the subject of this sketeil. David Wynne was born abont 1765, near St. Mary's, where he died in 1840, aged seventy-five years. Ile was a farmer, and a Presbyterian, and married Mary Myers, who died in 1850, at seventy-five years of age. They were the parents of ten children : Samnel, sr., James, John, David, Kate, Rebecca, Margaret, Harriet, Annie, and Mary. Samuel Wynne, sr. (father), was born in 1806, in Berks county, near the Chester county line, and died near his birth- place in 1880, at seventy-four years of age. lle was a miner by occupation, a Baptist in religious belief, and a democrat in politics. In 1832 he married Margaret Brindley, who
passed away in 1884, when in the seventy- second year of her age. To Mr. and Mrs. Wynne were born eight children : Dr. Wil- liam B., Evaline (dead), Amanda, George B., Mary A. (dead ), Samuel, jr., Eliza and one that died in infancy.
In politics Samuel Wynne is a republican. He is chancellor commander of Sankanac Lodge, No. 58, Knights of Pythias; past chief of Stratford Castle, No. 67, Knights of the Golden Eagle ; and secretary of Ivan- hoe Keep, No. 1, Knights of Brotherhood, of Phoenixville, of which he is one of the founders. Mr. Wynne closely adheres to legitimate business methods, and well merits the success which has attended his efforts, while as a man and a citizen he is highly regarded by the community in which he resides.
W. ATLEE POTTER, a prominent cit- izen and farmer of Easttown town- ship, and a stonemason and contractor in stone work, is a son of Atlee and Ann (Ivester) Potter, and was born on the farm on which he now resides, in Easttown town- ship, Chester county, Pennsylvania, Noveni- ber 29, 1839. Ile was reared on the farm, received his education in the common schools, and then learned the trade of stone- mason under Peter Burns, which he has followed ever since in different parts of the county. He is a good workman and has worked successfully upon the construction of several public and a large number of private buildings. Mr. Potter supports the principles of the Democratic party, and held the office of supervisor of his town- ship for seven years. He is a member of Thompson Lodge, No. 330, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and is a popular man in his community.
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
W. Atlee Potter traces his American an- cestors on the paternal side back to Martin Potter, who came from Germany to Chester county, and in 1793 purchased the farm near Berwyn, which has been in the pos- session of his descendants ever since. Mar- tin Potter was an old-line whig in politics, and an Episcopalian in religion. He mar- ried Mary Epright, and had six children : Philip, Martin, jr., Joseph, Samuel, Atlee, and Betsey Morris. His third son, Atlee Potter (father), was born about 1792 on the General Wayne farm in Easttown township. He received a good practical English edu- cation, and followed his trade of stone- mason in Chester, Delaware and Schuylkill counties. In the war of 1812 he enlisted in Capt. James Lackey's company (5th), of the 65th Pennsylvania militia, commanded by Col. John Pearson, and his company was stationed at Camp Marcus Hook, until all danger of a British attack on Philadelphia had passed away. He was a member and secretary for several years of Paoli Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. He resided on the homestead farm after attaining his majority, and, like his father before him, was a whig, and an Episcopalian. He died in 1860, aged sixty-nine years. In 1836 he married Ann Ivester, and to their union were born two children, one sou and one daughter: W. Atlee and Sarah A. Mrs. Potter, who died in 1876, at seventy-nine years of age, was a daughter of George Ivester, who was born in 1750, in Scotland, and came to this country on account of his political opinions having made him unpop- ular with the English authorities. He settled near " Wayne's Place" in Easttown township. He was born October 12, 1750, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and died in 1832. He married Jane
Meredith, and had a family of eleven chil- dren : Thomas, Mary, William, Elizabeth, George, Rebecca, Sarah, Rachel, Jesse, Ann (mother), and John. Mrs. Ann (Ivester) Potter was an intelligent woman and took an active part in the affairs of the Protest- ant Episcopal church, of which she had been a consistent member for many years before her death.
SA AMUEL R. PARKE, president of the Parkesburg National bank, treasurer of the Parkesburg Iron Company, director and vice-president of the Parkesburg Water Company, and a director in the Parkesburg Building and Loan association, is a fine type of the American gentleman and successful business man. He is also an earnest Sun- day school worker, and prominently identi- fied with the growth and prosperity of his borough. He is a son of Arthur and Mary (Reynolds) Parke, and was born in High- land township, Chester county, Pennsyl- vania, October 9, 1833. The name was orginally spelled Park, but the later gener- ations spell it Parke. The family is of re- mote Scotch-Irish origin, and they trace their American ancestry back to Arthur Parke, (great-great-grandfather), a native of Bally- bagly, county Donegal, in the north of Ire- land, who came with his wife, Mary, and four children-Joseph, John, Samuel, and a daughter, who married William Noblett- and settled in Chester county, Pennsylvania, prior to 1724. He took up by warrant a large tract of land lying along the lime- stone road in West Fallowfield township, near where Parkesburg now stands, and embracing what is now divided into seven farms. He resided in the house formerly occupied by J. Wilson Hershberger, a short
Samuel R. Snike.
507
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
distance west of the limestone road, until his death in February, 1740. He was a Presbyterian in religion, and was instru- mental in establishing the Octoraro Presby- terian church, which is now one of the old- est churches in this county, and there his remains lie entombed. Ilis real estate was divided by devise between his two sons, Joseph and John, subject to the payment of legacies to the other heirs. These sons divided the land between themselves, Joseph taking the southern and John the northern portion. Joseph lived for some years on his tract, which included the homestead, and then sold out and removed to Georgia. This property is still iu the possession of members of the Parke family. John Parke (great-grandfather) erected buildings on the part taken by him, and continued to reside thereon until his death, July 28, 1787, aged eighty-one years. His wife, Elizabeth, sur- vived him seven years, dying May 21, 1794, at the age of eighty-two. Their children were: Arthur, Joseph, John, William, Mary, Elizabeth, Jane, David and Samuel. The entire Parke family in the western part of the county, together with many families bearing other honored surnames, are their descendants. John Parke (grandfather) was born on the old homestead near Parkes- burg in 1739, and became an extensive and prosperous farmer. He was a federalist in polities, and a member of the Octoraro Presbyterian church. His death occurred November 15, 1823, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. He married Ann Denny, and their children were : Elizabeth, Mary, Arthur, Jane and John. Elizabeth mar- ried Thomas Mcclellan ; Mary wedded Samuel Thompson, and was the mother of the wife of Hon. Walter Il. Lowrie, some- time chief justice of Pennsylvania, whose
son, Rev. Samuel Thompson Lowrie, was a professor in the Western Theological semi- nary at Allegheny, and later became pastor of a church in New Jersey; Arthur was the father of the subject of this sketch ; and John was the father of John Andrew Parke, who has for many years owned and resided on the old homestead in Highland town- ship. Arthur Parke (father) was born in Ilighland township in 1785, and resided in that township all his life. After attaining manhood he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits and became prosperous and wealthy. Ile was a member of the Octoraro Presby- terian church, a democrat in politics, and was honored by election to a number of official positions in the township. Ile served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and always took a deep interest in questions affecting the public welfare. llis death occurred' October 30, 1858, after an active life of seventy-six years. Ile married Mary Rey- nolds, of the Society of Friends, who later became a member of the Presbyterian church. She was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and died in 1868, aged seventy- five years. She possessed great intellect and considerable culture, was an affection- ate wife and mother, a steadfast friend, and exemplified in her life a high type of Chris- tian womanhood.
Samuel R. Parke was reared on his fath- er's farm in Highland township, this county, and received his carly education in the pub- lic schools. He afterward attended Blair Hall at Fagg's Manor, this county, gradu- ating in 1852. After completing his edu- cation he remained on the farm until his twenty-eighth year, when he came to Parkesburg and engaged in the grain, coal and Iumber business. This he successfully conducted until 1869, when he organized
30
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
the private banking firm of Parke, Smith & Co., and began a general banking business at Parkesburg. In 1880 this bank became the Parkesburg National bank, and Mr. Parke was made president, which position he has held ever since. He has now been in the banking business continuously for twenty-three years, and owns some valna- ble real estate in the borough, beside being financially interested in several other busi- ness enterprises of Parkesburg.
In 1858 Mr. Parke was united in mar- riage to Annie E. Martin, a daughter of Thomas Martin, of London Grove, this county. She died in 1862, leaving two sons : Arthur T., now a practicing lawyer of West Chester; and William E., who is engaged in the practice of medicine in the city of Philadelphia. On October 26, 1882, Mr. Parke was again married, wedding Ida S. Wilson. She is a daughter of Amos G. Wilson, of Parkesburg, whose sketch ap- pears elsewhere in this volume. By this second union Mr. Parke has two children : Mary R. and Samuel R., jr.
Politically Mr. Parke is a stanch repub- lican, and has been honored by his party with an election to the office of county sur- veyor, in which position he served for three years, and also as burgess and justice of the peace in Parkesburg borough. He is a member and deacon of the Octoraro Pres- byterian church, founded so many years ago by his ancestors, and is also trustee and superintendent of the Sunday school in this church. In personal appearance Mr. Parke is large and commanding, and possesses strong will power. He is, however, of a courteous disposition and immensely popu- lar. He is a worthy representative of a worthy family, and has long ranked with the representative citizens of this county.
JOHN P. THOMAS, a prosperous and
comfortably situated farmer of East Whiteland township, is a son of Jonathan R. and Sarah D. (Cornog) Thomas, and was born in East Whiteland township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, August 21, 1851. He was reared on his father's farm, and re- ceived his education in the common schools of his native township and the late J. Hun- ter Worrell's boarding school of West Ches- ter, and then engaged in farming and stock raising, which he has followed successfully up to the present time. In politics Mr. Thomas is a republican.
The Thomas family has been resident in Chester county since the first decade of the presentcentury. John Thomas, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Canada, and came to East Whiteland township, near Paoli, where he purchased a farm and resided until his death at an advanced age. He was in- clined in religious belief to the Society of Friends, and married, in Canada, Sarah Radcliffe, who was a native of that country. He reared a family of three sons and four daughters : Sarah, who married Jesse Brook and went to Hollidaysburg, Blair county, where they both died; Rachel; Elizabeth ; Gaynor; Jonathan R .; and Jesse, a black- smith by trade, and now ninety years of age, who has resided for over half a cen- tury at Woodland, on the West Chester branch of the Pennsylvania railroad. Jona- than R. Thomas (father), one of the three sons, was born on December 9, 1805, in Canada, from which he was brought, when but a mere child, by his parents to Chester county. A part of the trip was made on a canal boat, as it then was before the days of steam engines and railroads. He learned the trade of wheelwright, at which lie
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
worked until his marriage, when he eu- gaged in farming and followed it until his death, February 11, 1875, when he was in the seventieth year of his age. He was a whig and republican in polities, and became a member of Great Valley?Baptist church, from which he afterwards withdrew by let- ter to unite with Willistown Baptist church, at Malvern. Jonathan R. Thomas was a man of standing and influence in his com- munity. On March 24, 1836, he married Sarah D. Cornog, and to their union were born six children : Margaret, wife of Charles C. Entriken, of Malvern; Davis, who en- listed in Co. C, 97th Pennsylvania infantry, and was killed near the close of the war at Green Plain, Virginia; Martha J., wife of Judson Ruth, a farmer of East Whiteland township; J. Wilber, who married Lilly Bell; John P., and Sarah E. Mrs. Sarah D. Thomas, who died September 9, 1865, aged fifty-two years, was a daughter of Abner Cornog, a prosperous farmer of Tredyffrin township, where he owned three farms, besides a farm in Goshen and an- other in Charlestown township.
H OMER EACHUS, since 1876 a resi- dent of Tanquy, this county, and an intelligent, enterprising, progressive and popular citizen, is a son of Homer and Lydia M. (Green) Eachus, and a native of Edgmont township, Delaware county, Penn- sylvania, where he was born November 23, 1821. The family is of German extraction, and have been resident in this county since 1715, at which time Robert Eachus was a landowner and tax payer in Goshen town- ship, owning four hundred acres of land near West Chester, on part of which the northeast section of that borough now
stands. Ile married Elizabeth Harry, daughter of Hugh and Elizabeth ( Brinton) Harry, and had eight children : John, mar- ried Hannah Haines, a daughter of Isaac Haines, of Goshen, and died January 19, 1779; William, married Sarah Peirce; Robert, Enoch, Daniel, Elizabeth, Ann aud Alice. Robert Eachus, sr., died in 1727, leaving his lands to his two oldest sons, John and William. Ilis widow afterward married John Gleave, of Springfield, and died at Marlborough, March 8, 1758, being buried at Kennett. Jolm and Hannah (Haines) Eachus were the parents of Phin- eas Eachus (great-grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketeh), who was married No- vember 23, 1757, at Goshen meeting, to Sarah Trego, a daughter of William and Margaret Trego, of Goshen township. At one time he owned considerable land, com- prising much of the present site of West Chester, and was the first proprietor of the Turk's Head tavern. Becoming surety for friends, he lost his property, the land pass- ing into possession of Isaac Matlack, and the hotel being purchased by John Hoopes. He was a fine classical scholar, and named two of his sous Virgil and Paris. After losing his property he established a school, which gave promise of being a great suc- cess, when its proprietor was suddenly strieken and died from disease contracted from one of his pupils. Virgil Eachus (grandfather) was born in Chester county about 1763, died in Haverford, Delaware county, in 1838, and was buried in Friends' burying ground there. lle was a farmer by occupation, a Friend or Quaker in re- ligion, and an old-line whig in politics. In his religious life he was noted for zeal and activity, and was a man of spotless integrity of character, who won and held the highest
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