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 87
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General Dobson is a stanch republican
and has always taken an active part in pol- ities. In 1858 he served as burgess of Phoenixville, and in 1860 as school director. In 1866 he was again elected shool director and served as secretary of the board. In March, 1867, he organized Lieut. J. White Post, No. 45, Grand Army of the Republic, and was its first commander. In the same year he took a prominent part in the move- ment to ereet a monument in Morris cem- etery to the memory of those who had fallen in the service of their country, serving as president of the organization effected for that purpose. He was commissioned cap- tain of Reeves Rifle company by Governor Geary in 1870, and the following year was made major-general of the third divisiou, National guard of Pennsylvania, and as such took a conspicuous part in the dedication of the soldiers' monument at Phoenixville. In 1876 he was re-appointed by Governor Hart- ranft as major-general of the tenth division, National guard, and in 1877, at the outbreak of the Pittsburg riots, he assembled his di- vision at Malvern station and moved with the Governor to Pittsburg, where he took an active part in restoring order, protecting property and preserving the peace. He served as major-general until 1878, when by act of legislature the National guard of Pennsylvania was reorganized by consolida- ting the existing ten divisions into one divis- ion, thus terminating the commissions of field and staff officers. In 1892 General Dobson was appointed notary public by Governor Pattison, and is now serving in that capacity. He is a past commander of Lieut. J. White Post, No. 45, Grand Army of the Republic, and is now serving as quartermaster of that post. As a soldier and in civil life, General Dobson has faithfully discharged his duty, and is highly regarded by his fellow citizens.
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
JOSEPH K. MILLER. David Miller, son of Charles Miller, married Eliza Kendall, from which marriage were born three sons and one daughter. Of these children Joseph Kendall Miller was born April 3, 1837, in East Coventry, at the homestead where he now resides. Ile spent his time at home with his parents, received his education in the common schools of his native township and Washington Hall, at Trappe; was engaged in raising fruit trees and nursery stock with his father, also small fruits at one time. His father shipped tons of grapes to Philadelphia, when they com- manded much larger priees than now. Many fine orchards were planted from this nursery in Chester, Berks and Montgomery counties. In 1866 Joseph K. Miller was appointed postmaster of Letzler's Store post- office ; it was removed to his home at Mil- ler's Corner; held it for three years; then it was removed back to Lawrenceville; now changed to Parker Ford. lle held ditfer-
ent township offices, and was a mem- ber of Phomix Lodge, No. 75, A. Y. M., but withdrew and went into Spring City Lodge, No. 553, A. Y. M., in 1878, as a charter member; also with- drew from Jerusalem Commandery, Knights Templar, of Phoenixville, and went into Nativity Commandery, at Pottstown, in 1892, as a charter mem- ber. He was married November 4, 1875, to Sallie F., daughter of George and Sarah Davidheiser, of Amity, Berks county, Pennsylvania. Their union was blessed with one son, Joseph Warren, born May 22, 1877. In 1878 the homestead was purchased of his father. It contained about eighteen acres; moved in April of the same year; his parents lived in the family ; his father, David Miller, died March 23, 1880, and his mother, Eliza K. Miller, died July 23, 1887. Both died at the residence of their son, Joseph. In the fall of 1883 he bought the F'rick farm, containing sixty- six acres of ground, adjoining his home; also bought the Royer farm, containing thirty-one acres. He kept off four acres for a cemetery, got parties to go in with him and had it incorporated in 1891, as "Oak Grove Cemetery." He was elected treasurer. It is beautifully laid out in walks and drives. Later he sold the Royer farm. IIe is true and deals honest with his fellow men, and asks the same in return. Hle offers liberal inducements for industrial works on his farm, along the Pennsylvania railroad-a fine location for public works. He has always been a stanch republican. He is still engaged extensively in the raising of fruit trees. Ilis grand- father, Charles Miller, moved to Chester county ; was born in Lancaster county, Penn-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
sylvania. He married Catharine Houpt, of Chester county, in 1801. They had four children : Elizabeth, Peter, David (father), and Charles Miller. His grandfather, Charles Miller, enlisted in the war of 1812, on the 17th of July, and went out on the vessel called the "Chesapeake;" served his full time, got his honorable discharge, and on his way home, at Baltimore, took the fever and died, never reaching home. His ma- ternal great-grandfather, Henry Houpt, came from Germany and settled in Chester county, near Kimberton. He was in the Revolu- tionary army at Valley Forge. He was with Washington's army there, while his family were near Kimberton. The subject of this sketch, Joseph K. Miller, served as a mem- ber of Co. D, 21st regiment of emergency men.
R EV. JJOHN BAKER CLEMSON,
D. D., now deceasad, was born in the city of Philadelphia, August 8, 1803. He was the eldest child of Thomas and Eliza- beth (Baker) Clemson, and had the misfor- tune to lose his father when but ten years of age. He was the last survivor of a fam- ily of brothers and sisters, all of whom at- tained a great age. After obtaining his preliminary education, he entered Prince- ton college, and was graduated therefrom in 1822, at the age of nineteen, in a class of thirty-nine members, all of whom are now dead, he being the last to pass away. He studied theology with Dr. Boyd, of Phila- delphia, and in the Divinity school at Alex- andria, Virginia, and entered the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal church at the age of twenty-five, being ordained by Bishop White in St. Stephen's church, Philadelphia. His first work was at Harrisburg, where
he remained two years. There he gathered a congregation and built the first Protest- ant Episcopal church in that city. Later he removed to Pequea, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he became rector of St. John's church, West Caln, and remained there for three years. About the year 1832 he established a school near Wilmington, Delaware, for the practical training of young men for the ministry. Among his pupils at that time were Rev. William Newton, D. D., now of West Chester, and his brother, Rev. Richard Newton, D. D. There he remained until 1837, when he was called to the church of the Ascension, Philadelphia. This was a new parish, and he was the rector during the time of the erection of the church build- ing. He was in Philadelphia for several years, and then spent several months in charge of a church at Williamsport, this State. In 1843 he accepted a call to West Chester, and became rector of the church of the Holy Trinity, of this borough, where he spent ten years of very successful work, en- dearing himself to many who remained his friends all his life. It was during his rec- torship of this church that the old rectory on West Chestnut street was planned and built. About the year 1853 he removed to Claymont, Delaware. At that time the place was called Namon's creek, and Claymont was one of the several new names suggested for it by Dr. Clemson, and adopted by the people. He built the church at that place, and established a school which he carried on successfully for many years. Dr. Clem- son's ministry in the Episcopal church cov- ered a period of sixty-five years, which is one of the longest terms of service, if not the longest, of any clergymen of his denom- ination in this country. He was extremely active as a minister, and frequently preached
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
six times during the week and twice on Sunday. He, himself, estimated that he had preached more than six thousand sermons, and his active church work only ended with his life, for during his late residence in West Chester he always regarded it as his greatest privilege and pleasure to assist in the monthly celebration of the holy com- munion, while he occasionally conducted an entire service. Dr. Clemson's deepest re- gret in his last illness was that he was un- able to assist in the same office. The New Year services of the church of the Holy Trinity, a month before his decease, were conducted by Dr. Clemson, at which time he spoke with vigor and animation. His death occurred on February 3, 1891, from the effects of a cold which he contracted just a week previous. He was born August 8, 1803, at Philadelphia, and was therefore in the eighty-eighth year of his age at the time of his death. In early life he married Margaretta J. Bull, daughter of Rev. Levi Bull, and sister of James HI. Bull, Esq., of West Chester, and of Col. Thomas H. Bull, of East Nantmeal, this county. A family of children were born to them, and after some years of happiness his wife died, dur- ing his ministry at the church of the Ascen- sion, in Philadelphia. Of their children four daughters are living: Elizabeth, who mar- ried Fisher Hazard, of Mauch Chunk, this State; Annie, whose husband was George Washington,a lineal descendant of a brother of the first president of the United States: Mary, who married William Cloud, of Clay- mont, Delaware: and Mary Martha Sher- wood Clemson, now residing in West Ches- ter. Dr. Clemson's only son, Rev. Thomas Green Clemson, of Waddington, St. Law- rence county, New York, died June 27, 1888. Ludlow Clemson, the only grandson of the
name, died soon after his father. The prev- ious death of another grandson, John Clem- son Washington, and other bereavements in the family, served to exert a sad influ- ence upon the doctor. On the 15th of June, 1882, he was married to Hannah Gibbons, youngest daughter of the late Abraham and Mary T. (Pym) Gibbons, of West Chester, who survives him.
Dr. Clemson was an honored member of the Masonic order, which, by the advice of an old friend, he joined in early youth. He stood very high in the order, having taken all, or nearly all, the degrees. He was the oldest living graduate of Princeton. In a recent conversation he stated that he be- came converted to Christianity at the age of sixteen, while attending a revival service at Princeton. Dr. Clemson's life was one of unusual health and vigor, which he thought were dne to his regular habits of life. His activity of body continued up to the time of his illness, a week before his death. When the weather was favorable he took a daily walk which frequently was prolonged to some distance. Only a short time before the Doctor's death a reporter of the News met him returning from a visit to a poor family at considerable distance away, and after greeting the reporter the doctor re- marked, "You are a long distance from home." Dr. Clemson was particularly fond of the society of young people, and always interested in their pleasure. His nature was a very social one. In June, 1889, he, accompanied by Mrs. Clemson, visited his alma mater, and attended the Princeton college commencement. None of his elass- mates were alive to enjoy a reunion with him.
Dr. Clemson expected and hoped for a long life, and his desires were fulfilled. Ilis
736
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
years, up to the last, were filled with use- fulness and good deeds, and his active inter- est in all about him undoubtedly kept him well and happy. He leaves behind him the record of a life of energy and helpfulness, which is a worthy example to all, and his familiar figure and well-known voice will not soon be forgotten by the hosts of friends in this and many other places, who felt and expressed the most poignant sorrow at his death.
JOAQUIN B. MATLACK, one of the
leading young business men of Chester county, and a member of the great platinum refining and melting firm of J. Bishop & Co., of Sugartown, was born in Willistown town- ship, Chester county, Pennsylvania, Novem- ber 19, 1868, and is a son of Wilson M. and Angelina (Bishop) Matlack. He was reared in his native township, received a good edu- cation and at an early age commenced life for himself in the business world. He was variously employed in connection with the platinum manufacturing business of the firm of J. Bishop & Co. until the death of J. Bishop, his maternal grandfather, when he succeeded him in the business, the firm name remaining unchanged.
On May 20, 1891, Mr. Matlack was united in marriage with Kate Dutton, daughter of Henry H. Dutton, of East Goshen township.
J. B. Matlack is of English descent. His great-grandfather, Joel Matlack, was, in all probability, a native of East Goshen town- ship. He served as a soldier of the war of 1812, being stationed at Camp Marcus Hook. He married, and his son, John K. Matlack, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in West Goshen town- ship, March 2, 1814. He was a farmer by 1
occupation and removed to West Chester two years before his death, which occurred in 1892. He married Hannah Miles, and reared a family of four sons and three daughters. One of their sons, Wilson M. Matlack (father), was born December 16, 1840. He received his education in the public and in private schools. When the late war commenced he enlisted on June 9, 1861, in Co. A, 1st Pennsylvania reserves, and served in the army of the Potomac until June 13, 1864, when he was honorably dis- charged from the service. He participated in some of the hardest battles of the war. In 1873 he enlisted in the National guard of Pennsylvania and served five years in that organization. He isa republican in politics, has been a member of the Republican county committee frequently, and has served several terms as justice of the peace in Wil- listown township. He married Angelina Bishop, and they have six children, three sons and three daughters. Mrs. Angelina Matlack is one of four daughters born to Joaquin and Susannah (O'Neil) Bishop.
Joaquin Bishop (maternal grandfather) was the founder of the platinum working industry in the United States, and through his business became extensively known to scientific people and the leading colleges throughout this country, Canada and some parts of Europe. He was of English de- scent and was born in 1806, in Portugal, where his father was then director of the royal fabrics. The French war drove his father from Portugal, and he settled at Philadelphia, where the son learned the trade of brass finisher. After learning his trade Joaquin Bishop worked as an instru- ment maker at the university of Pennsyl- vania, from 1832 to 1839. In the last named year he commenced to work in platinum,
737
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
and in 1845 drew the first premium at the exhibition of the Franklin institute for platinum work done in this country. In 1858 he removed his business to Radnor, Delaware county, which he left in 1865 to come to the site of the present platinum works of J. Bishop & Co., which he estab- lished in that year. In 1876 he was the only exhibitor of platinum work at the cen- tennial international exhibition, and received the first premium for manufactured platinum vessels and apparatus, and in 1881 associa- ted Edwin T. Cox in partnership with him, under the firm name of J. Bishop & Co. He acquired his education largely by reading and self study, built up a large and flourish- ing industry, and his long life of activity and usefulness was closed on August 4, 1886, when his spirit took its flight from earth.
Joaquin B. Matlaek is a republican in polities, but his business interests as a mem- ber of the firm of J. Bishop & Co. are sneh as to leave him little time to give to the consideration of political affairs. The plat- inum plant of the firm is at Sugartown, in Willistown township, six miles from West Chester, and three miles from Malvern sta- tion on the Pennsylvania railroad. The main building or factory proper is a four- story frame strneture, thirty by thirty-five feet in dimensions, around which is situated at convenient distances all the other neces- sary buildings for carrying on the large and important manufacturing business of the firm. They are refiners and melters of plat- inum, and manufacture assaying appara- tus, retorts, dishes, capsules, stills, wire, foil, cones, tubes, bottles, and all kinds of experimental instruments. All their work is hammered into shape and ranks with any European work made. They employ six men, and Mr. Matlack finds ready sale and 43
a large demand for the superior products of his works in this country from Maine to Oregon and from the great lakes to the gulf.
J OSHUA E. HIBBERD, a prosperous farmer of Malvern, and a director in the National bank of Chester county, is a repre- sentative of a family whose history is co- extensive with that of Pennsylvania, and that has given the Commonwealth some of her most useful and influential citizens. Ile is the fourth child and oldest surviving son of Enos and Eliza E. (Evans) Hibberd, and a native of Chester county, being born in Willistown township, May 10, 1837. The Hibberds are descended from early English- Quaker stock, the first representative in America being Josiah Hibberd, whose pur- chase of land in Pennsylvania, April 5, 1682, antedates by some months the arrival of William Penn in the colony. Josiah Hib- berd resided in Darby township, Delaware county, and on November 9, 1698, married Ann Bonsall, by whom he had eleven chil- dren : John, Joseph, Josiah, Abraham, Mary, Benjamin, Elizabeth, Sarah, Isaac, Ann and Jacob. From these have descended all the Hibberds in the United States, some fami- lies of whom now spell the name Hibbard. The eldest son, Jolin Hibberd, removed to Chester county and settled in Willistown, having a certificate from Darby to Goshen meeting dated September 6, 1728, and the following year married Deborah Lewis, of Newtown, by whom he had five children : Abraham, Ann, Phineas, John and Samuel. After her death he married Mary Menden- hall and had seven children : Deborah, Lydia. Mary, Jacob, Martha, Amos and Abraham. Four or five years later, in 1732, the see- ond son, Benjamin Hibberd ( great-great-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
grandfather of the subject of this sketch), who was born in Darby township, Delaware county, in 1700, obtained a certificate from Darby meeting and removed to Willistown, this county, where in the same year he mar- ried Phobe Sharpless, and to them was born a family of seven children: Josiah, Jane, Hannah, Joseph, Benjamin, Caleb and Phæbe. The third son, Benjamin (great- grandfather), was born in this county, and was a farmer by occupation. Prior to the revolution he took up a tract of one thous- and acres of land from the original Penn purchase, on which he lived the remainder of his life, and a portion of which is still owned by members of the Hibberd family. He married and was the father of a large family of children, among his sons being Amos Hibberd (grandfather), who was born in Willistown township, this county, in 1770, and died here in 1852, in the eighty- second year of his age. He learned the trade of tanner and currier when a young man, and combined that business with farm- ing during the greater part of his life, being very successful. Politically he was an old- line whig, and in religion a strict member *of the Society of Friends. He married Han- nah Garrett, and had a family consisting of one son and two daughters: Philena, Enos and Mary, all now deceased. Enos Hibberd (father) was born near Sugartown, Willis- town township, this county, in 1800, and died at his home here August 29, 1875, after an earnest, useful and successful life extend- ing over three quarters of a century. He devoted all his days to agricultural pur- suits, and following the religious traditions of his family, was a member of the Society of Friends. In politics he was a whig un- til the dissolution of that organization, after which he affiliated with the Democratic
party, and always was a firm friend of pop- ular sovereignty and such individual liberty as did not infringe on the rights of others. He married Eliza E. Evans in 1831, and by this union had a family of six children, three sous and three daughters: Hannah, deceased ; Benjamin, also dead; Anna M., Joshua E., Josiah G. and Mary E.
Joshua E. Hibberd grew to manhood on the old homestead and attended the public schools of his neighborhood, where he ac- quired the rudiments of a good English edu- cation. Later he took a course of training in the private school conducted by Joseph Foulke at Gwynsdd, Montgomery county. Soon after leaving school he went to Ken- tucky, and accepting a position as salesman in a large dry goods house in the city of Louisville, that State, he remained there for a period of four years. Leaving Kentucky, he returned to Pennsylvania and engaged in farming, which has been his principal occupation ever since, and in which he has been very successful. In 1887 he became a director in the National bank of Chester county, a position which he still occupies.
On December 27, 1866, Mr. Hibberd was united in marriage with Anna M. Taylor, only daughter of William and Mary Taylor, of Edgemont, Delaware county, this State. To Mr. and Mrs. Hibberd has been born a family of four children, one son and three daughters: Dilworth P., who was educated at Haverford, Delaware county, graduating in the scientific course in June, 1890, with the degree of B. S., held a fellowship there the next year, received the degree of Mas- ter of Arts, and later took a special course in Harvard college, and is now engaged in teaching at the Friends' Central school in the city of Philadelphia ; Mary T., who was educated in Philadelphia, graduating from
739
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
the Friends' Central school of that city in June, 1888; Eliza E., who was graduated from the same school in the spring of 1889, and is now a successful teacher in the Friends' school at Media, Delaware county ; and Hannah, living at home with her par- ents on the farm near Malvern.
PROF. JJOHN H. SMITH, a successful
educator and the manager of Chester Springs Soldiers' Orphan school of Pennsyl- vania, is a son of John F. and Eve (Miller) Smith, and was born in Juniata county, Pennsylvania, June 6, 1853. He grew to manhood in his native county and received his elementary education in the common and select schools of his county. He pur- sned his academic studies at Airy View academy and Juniata Normal school, and then entered Union seminary of New Berlin, from which he was graduated in the class of 1873. Leaving school he was engaged in teaching in different schools until 1879, when he became one of the principals of Airy View academy, which position he re- signed in 1881 to become cashier of the Meredith and Alman bank of Silver City, New Mexico, where he remained for three years. At the end of that time he resigned his position in the bank and returned to Pennsylvania, where he served successively from 1884 to 1890 as principal of the Mer- eer and Mount Joy Soldiers' Orphan schools. In 1890 Professor Smith became manager of the Chester Springs Soldiers' Orphan school, which position he has held ever since. When he assumed charge the school was in very bad condition, but under his administration it has attained to a high state of efficiency. JIe has given hard and earnest labor to bring- ing the school up to its present high stand-
ard, and his successful efforts have attracted publie attention and won many warm words of commendation from those who are inter- ested in the soldiers' orphans, who are not "mere objects of charity, but wards of the Commonwealth, and have just claims, earned by the blood of their fathers, upon the State's support and guardianship." For the health and comfort of these children Professor Smith has made the same careful provision that he has for their education and moral in- struetion. The Chester Springs home and its grounds are pleasantly and healthfully situated, proper exercise is provided for, and the school rooms are carefully fitted up for convenience, comfort and health. The school now consists of two hundred and seventy- four soldiers' orphans, and employs a corps of one principal and six teachers for their instruction.
John H. Smith is of German lineage and the American branch of the Smith family, of which he is a member, was founded in Union county by ancestors who came from the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany. Rev. Philip Smith, a member of this family and the grandfather of John H. Smith, died in 1870 at the advanced age of eighty-four years. John F. Smith (father) died Janu- ary 19, 1887, at seventy-seven years of age. He was a farmer by ocenpation, an old-line whig and republican in politics, and a con- sistent member of the Evangelieal church. His mother, Eve Miller Smith, died in 1875, aged fifty-nine years.
In politics Professor Smith is a republican. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, in which he is an active worker for the ad- vancement of the kingdom of his Divine Master.
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