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 89
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the spring of 1811 he married Eliza Siter, a daughter of Adam Siter, of Delaware county, and they were the parents of seven children, three sons and four daughters: Sarah A., born in 1812: Mary, born 1814; Caroline, born 1816; Edward, born 1818; John M., born 1820; Amanda, born 1823; and Winfield S. John M., the second son, was born in Tredyffrin township, educated in the public schools and at Prof. Hoopes' private school, engaged in farming, became president of the Malvern National bank. and died Angust 3, 1887, on the old home- stead. In politics he was a republican, and in religion a strict member of the Great Valley Presbyterian church, in which he was active and prominent, serving as trustee and elder. He married Anna Harrar, of Montgomery county.
Winfield S. Wilson grew to manhood on his father's farm in Tredyffrin township, receiving his primary instruction in the com- mon schools, afterward attending academies at Reesville and West Chester, and taking a course in Professor Stroad's boarding school, near West Chester. Soon after leav- ing school, in 1842, he engaged in manu- facturing and shipping lime in Northampton county, and followed that business until 1852, when he became secretary and treas- urer of the Chester Valley Railroad Com- pany. He continued in the faithful dis- charge of the duties of that position until the fall of 1859, when he resigned to accept a similar place with the Philadelphia, Ger- mantown & Norristown Railroad Company. Here his superior business endowments found ample scope for their exercise, and so acceptably did he manage the complicated duties connected with his responsible post that in 1864 be was made general superin- tendent of that road, and continued to aet
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as such until 1871. In the latter year he became purchasing agent for the Philadel- phia & Reading railroad, and in 1888 was elected president of the Philadelphia, Ger- mantown & Norristown Railroad Company, which responsible and exacting position he has since held, discharging its duties with that positive force, perfect system and prompt execution which marks every mau born with ability for complicated business. He still owns and cultivates the old homestead farm, one of the best in this section, which is finely improved, with an elegant residence surrounded by a beautiful lawn, the grounds being traversed by gravel paths and studded with luxuriant shrubbery. It is a home to be proud of, and the fact that it has been owned by the family for several generations adds to its charm and value. In personal appearance Mr. Wilson is tall and stately, in manner affable and easily approached, and these, together with the solid founda- tion of an upright character and the perfect integrity of his business career, combine to make him, perhaps, the best liked and most popular man in the Chester valley.
On January 8, 1855, Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Emma J. Walker, a daughter of William and Sarah (Pennypacker) Walker, of Tredyffrin township. (See sketch of William Walker elsewhere in this volume.) To Mr. and Mrs. Wilson was born a family of six children : Sallie, married Joseph C. Crawford, a grain and coal merchant of West Conshohocken, Montgomery county ; David, who wedded R. Anna West, and is now a clerk in the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Company, residing at Bridgeport, Montgomery county : C. Col- ket, who married Emily Anderson, and now occupies the position of assistant secretary and treasurer of the Philadelphia, German-
town & Norristown Railroad Company, with residence at Bridgeport; William C., who was graduated from the law department of the university of Pennsylvania in 1887, and has since been practicing his profession in the city of Philadelphia: Athalia, who died in 1884, at the age of twenty-one years ; and Eliza S., who passed away in 1868, aged eleven.
JOHN KING EVANS, M.D., of Mal-
vern borough, who enjoys the popular distinction of being one of the most pro- gressive and successful young physicians of the county, is a son of Thomas Beidler and Martha Jane (Cheyney) Evans, and was born in Newtown township, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, January 4, 1860. He was reared on the paternal acres, received his elementary education in the common schools and the select school of Hannah Hepwright, and at seventeen years of age entered Oakdale seminary, at Pughtown, then under charge of Prof. Isaac Guldin, which he left two years later to complete his academic course at Chester Valley acad- emy, of Downingtown, whose principal at that time was Prof. F. Douleavy Long. Leaving school, he read medicine for two years with his brother-in-law, Dr. C. K. Christman, and then entered Bellevue Hos- pital Medical college, New York city, where he was prostrated during the first session with typhoid fever. This sickness com- pelled him to return home ; but he soon re- covered his health and reentered Bellevue Hospital college, from which well known institution he was graduated in the class of 1884. After graduation he spent one year in hospitals and laboratories to thoroughly acquaint himself with diseases in their most
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
complicated form, and to gain a full and satisfactory knowledge of chemistry as it relates to or is useful in connection with medicine. Thus specially qualified for his profession, he practiced for a short time in New York city, and then was a partner with Dr. C. K. Christman until 1886. In that year he came to Malvern, where he has been engaged ever since in the active practice of his chosen profession. Dr. Evans is well read, commands a good practice, and has high professional standing. He is an active member and an ex-president of the Chester County Medical society, which he has rep- resented in several State Medical conven- tions, and now represents on the Dr. Rush monumental committee. He is a republi- can politically, and served as a member of the first school board of Malvern borough. Ile is active and influential in whatever he undertakes, and labors zealously in any cause calculated to benefit his borough or county.
The Evans family is one of the oldest families of Chester county, and traces its transatlantic ancestry to Wales, where the name of Evans has figured with honor for several centuries in the history of that country. The first of the family to come to Chester county was Thomas Evans, the great-great-grandfather of Dr. Evans. He was one of forty-four first cousins who were natives of Wales, and came with William Penn on his second voyage to the colony of Pennsylvania. Thomas Evans was a hatter by trade, but after coming over with Penn he settled in Uwchlan township and pur- chased a farm, on a part of which the pres- ent village of Lionville is built. The old Quaker church which was built on this farm did service as a hospital during the revolutionary war. Thomas Evans mar-
ried, and his son, Evan Evans, at seventeen years of age, enlisted in the Continental army, and rose from a second lieutenant to the rank of colonel. He was a federalist, served for many years in various positions of public life, and died at fifty-eight years of age. Ile married Jane Owens, whose ancestors came from Wales with the Evans', and their children were: Evan, Owen, Re- becca, Thomas, Ezekiel, Sarah, Hannah, Margaret, Jane and Richard. Ezekiel Evans (grandfather) was born June 22, 1793, and passed his life in Upper Uwehlan township, where he died in May, 1874. He was successively a federalist, an old-line whig, and a republican in politics. He was the youngest justice of the peace in Penn- sylvania at the time of his first appointment to that office, and never would accept any political position higher than what was within the gift of the voters of his town- ship. IIe married Eleanor Bidler, daugh- ter of John Bidler, a German resident of Philadelphia, and to their union were born ten children : Thomas B., Hannah B. (dead), Jol:n B. (deceased ), Jane H. (dead), Evan, Lewis, Rebecca (dead), Anna, and Web- ster. Thomas B. Evans (father) was born June 2, 1819, received his education in the common schools and Unionville academy. under Jonathan Gause, and then taught for three years. After this he was successively engaged in farming, droving, and hotel keeping at Fox Chase, Delaware county. At the commencement of the late war he was appointed by the secretary of war as a recruiting agent, and afterward ordered to the department of West Virginia, where he purchased horses for the Federal service. After the war he was engaged in cattle dealing and farming until 1884, when he retired from active life. He cast his first
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vote for " Tippecanoe," and is a republican. Mr. Evans married Martha Jane Cheyney (now deceased), who was a descendant of Squire Cheyney, of revolutionary fame, and was born August 21, 1825. To their union were born nine children : Miranda, dead ; William Penn; Martha Ellen, wife of Dr. C.K. Christman, of Reading, Berks county ; Ezekiel C., married Ida Stauffer, and is a train dispatcher on the Philadelphia & Read- ing railroad ; Dr. John K .; Waldron, dead ; Fannie C .; Mary, now dead ; and Jennie C.
Thus descended from honorable and in- dustrious ancestors, Dr. Evans has not only pursued such a course of life as to reflect credit on his family, but has achieved such enduring success as to give additional lustre to the honored name of Evans.
HARLES N. FREDERICK, M. D.,
a prominent physician of New Centre- ville, and a graduate from the medical de- partment of the university of Pennsylvania, is the third child and eldest son of Jacob and Sarah (Nace) Frederick, and was born September 19, 1838, in Upper Salford town- ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He grew to manhood in his native connty, and received a superior education in the Freeland seminary and Washington Hall boarding school, both located at Trappe, that county. After leaving school he taught during the winter season for four years, and in 1859 began reading medicine with Drs. J. K. Cassel and Dicks. Later he matricu- lated in the medical department of the university of Pennsylvania, from which in- stitution he was graduated in the spring of 1864 with the degree of M. D. While pur- sning his studies in Philadelphia he was con- nected with the Haddington hospital, United
States army. In April, 1865, he located in New Centreville, this county, where he was continuously engaged in successful practice for five years, after which he removed to Valley Forge, and was there engaged in the line of his profession for a period of two years. In 1874 he purchased a farm of fifty- three acres of excellent land, located one half mile north of New Centreville, where he has since resided, attending to the de- mands of a large practice in the village and surrounding country. Dr. Frederick is also engaged in the dairy business to some ex- tent, keeping twenty head of fine cows.
Dr. Frederick was united in marriage March 10, 1864, with Anna Shoemaker, a daughter of James and Elizabeth Shoemaker, of Norristown, Montgomery county. To the doctor and Mrs. Frederick have been born nine children, three of whom are living, one son and two daughters: Ella, Hannah and Harry, all at home with their parents.
In the secret society circles of this sec- tion Dr. Frederick has long been prominent. He is a member and past grand master of Valley Forge Lodge, No. 459, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he has been trustee for a number of years ; and is also a member of Phoenix Lodge, No. 75, Free and Accepted Masons, of Phoenixville, this county, and of the Masonic Relief associa- tion of Newtown, Bucks county. The doc- tor is likewise president of Camp No. 151, Patriotic Order Sons of America, at Valley Forge, and is a member of the Junior Order United American Mechanics, and Council No. 200, Ancient Order of United Workman, at Strafford. He is also a member of Sec- tion No. 51, Universal Order of Security, at Valley Forge. Politically Dr. Frederick is an ardent republican, taking an active part in local politics and frequently serving as a
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
delegate to the county conventions of his party. He is a member of the old Goshen- hoppen Lutheran church, his father's family having been connected with the Indian Field- botham Lutheran church in Montgomery county.
The ancestors of Dr. Charles N. Frederick have been residents of the old Keystone State since early times. Henry Frederick, paternal grandfather of Dr. Charles N. Fred- erick, was born in Montgomery county, where be passed a long and active life. Ile was a farmer by occupation, and a member of the Mennonite church. Politically he was a stanch whig, and married Catharine Long, by whom he had a family of four sons and one daughter: George (who served as a soldier in the civil war), Charles (who served as justice of the peace in Montgomery county for forty-five years), Henry, Jacob and Cath- arine, the latter of whom married Henry God- scholl. They are all deceased except Henry and Catharine. Jacob Frederick (father) was born in Franconia township, Montgom- ery county, in 1808, where he lived for a quarter of a century. He then removed to Upper Salford township, that county, and continued to reside there until 1871, when he came to Tredyffrin township, Chester county, where he died August 25, 1877, aged sixty-nine years. By occupation he was a shoemaker, but in later life became a farmer and spent a number of years in agricultural pursuits. He was a whig and republican in politics, and a striet member of the Evan- gelical Lutheran church. IFe married Sarah Nace, a daughter of Peter Nace, of Mont- gomery county, and was the father of ten children, three sons and seven daughters: Catharine, deceased; Elizabeth, married John Gougler; Charles N., the subject of this sketch : Sarah, deceased ; Hannah, mar-
ried Henry Scholle; Daniel, now dead ; Mary, wedded Hanna Och Mull; Susanna, deceased ; Jacob, married Mary Fillman and lives at Green Lane, Montgomery county ; and Malinda, who married a Mr. Bodey, of Pottstown.
A NTOINE WINTZER, one of the lead- ing rose growers in the United States, and of the firm of The Dingee & Conard Company, rose growers, at West Grove, Pennsylvania, is the son of Antoine, sr., and Anna M. (Werlain) Wintzer, and was born in the city of Mulhausen, province of Alsace, Germany, then France, April 1, 1847. ITe was reared at Flushing, New York, received his education in the public schools, and then engaged in the plant and rose growing business. On the 1st of Aug- ust, 1866, Mr. Wintzer came to West Grove to grow plants and roses for The Dingee & Conard Company. Under Mr. Wintzer's skillful management the wonderful success in rose growing of this great firm has been achieved. In politics he is a democrat, but takes no active part in political affairs. Preeminently a business man, he gives his time and attention principally to the vast rose growing establishment which he has built up at West Grove, and whose roses are sent all over the United States and other parts of the world. His family attend the Presbyterian church of West Grove, in which he has always taken an active inter- est. On the 18th day of September, 1872, Mr. Wintzer married Emma Moon, daugh- ter of John and Jane Moon. They have six children, three sons and three daughters: Louis A. Wintzer, born March 22, 1877, and now attending the West Chester State Nor- mal school; Antoinette Wintzer, born April
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
1, 1878, also attending the Normal school ; Helen, born August 13, 1879 ; Charles, Feb- rnary 21, 1882; Norman Leon, April 26, 1884; Rose, May 11, 1889. Antoine Wint- zer is of French lineage, and his paternal grandfather, Antoine Wintzer, was a native and life-long resident of Alsace. He was a farmer by occupation, and reared a family of four children : Martin, Joseph, Antoine, and Martha. Antoine Wintzer, sr. (father), was born in Alsace, France, where he was reared and educated, and followed the busi- ness of market gardening. He served six years in the French army, and came to the United States in 1854, and was engaged in gardening in Westport, Connectient, and Flushing, New York, to which place he re- moved in 1857. He was a republican in politics, and died June 6, 1873, aged sev- enty-seven years. Mr. Wintzer married Anna Werlain, who was born in June, 1805, and died November 7, 1878, at seventy- three years of age. She was a daughter of Antoine Werlain, a native of Alsace, and merchant tailor by trade. He served in the French army at Waterloo. He reared a family of three children : Rose, Marie, and Mrs. Anna Wintzer. To Mr. and Mrs. Wintzer were born six children, four sons and two daughters. The oldest son, Marc, served two years in the French cavalry, and the second son, Charles, served seven years in the French zouaves, and was awarded the medal of the legion of honor for his bravery in the Crimean war. He came to this country in 1859, and is engaged in farming near Bridgeport, Connecticut.
H ON. JOSEPH HEMPHILL, addi- tional law judge of Chester county and an able jurist of eastern Pennsylvania, is a
son of Joseph and Catharine Elizabeth (Dal- lett) Hemphill, and was born at West Chester, Chester county, Pennsylvania, September 17, 1842. The Hemphills are of Scotch- Irish descent and locate their transatlantic home in County Derry at a place twenty- five miles northeast of Londonderry, Ire- land, whence Alexander, the great-great- grandfather of Hon. Joseph Hemphill, came in the early part of the last century, to the township of Thornbury, Chester county, Pennsylvania. Alexander's children were : Joseph, who married Ann Wills, December 31, 1760 (Gloria Dei church). Their son Joseph, one of eight children, was an able lawyer, served as a member of the Seventh, Sixteenth, Nineteenth and Twenty-first con- gresses, and presided for fourteen years over the district court for the city and county of Philadelphia. The second son, James, mar- ried Elizabeth Wills, December 26, 1750, . (Christ church, Philadelphia) ; and a daugh- ter married a Mr. Fox. The wives of Janes and Joseph were sisters, and daughters of Thomas Wills, of Middletown, and his wife was Ann Hunter (widow of Christopher Penrose) and daughter of Peter Hunter, of Middletown.
James and Elizabeth (Wills) Hemphill's children were : Susannah, who married Dr. Quinn ; Mary, who married a Mr. Rumford; and William, with others not traced.
William, third son of James, was an able lawyer, and was born at West Chester, De- cember 6, 1776, and married, December 5, 1804, Ann McClellan, who was born August 15, 1787. She was the daughter of Col. Jo- seph Mcclellan (a captain in Wayne's . bri- gade), and his wife, Keziah Parke, was a danghter of Joseph Parke and Ann Sinclair (widow of George Sinclair), the latter a daughter of Nathaniel Grubb, of Willistown.
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OF CHESTER COUNTY.
William and Ann (McClellan) Hemphill had five children : James A., Joseph, Eliza- beth, who married Dr. Wilmer Worthing- ton, and Keziah, wife of Judge Bell.
Joseph Hemphill (father) was a worthy descendant of an old and honorable family, and a prominent and distinguished member of the Chester county bar, and was a man of whom it was truthfully said that he was one who by a life of unsullied honor, in- corruptible integrity, and of perseverance in whatever he deemed to be right, had won the highest regards of his fellow-citizens, and set an example worthy of imitation by the young men of southeastern Pennsyl- vania. He was born in West Chester, Ches- ter county, Pennsylvania, December 7, 1807, reared in Chester county, and received a clas- sical education under private tutors, among whom were Jonathan Ganse and JJoshua Hoopes of West Chester, and James W. Robbins, of Lennox, Massachusetts. He read law with his brother-in-law, Hon. Thomas S. Bell, was admitted to the bar August 3, 1829, and immediately afterward opened an office in West Chester. He studied closely, worked carefully, and in a short time rose to the front rank at the bar and gained an extensive practice. His career as a lawyer extended from his admission to the bar in 1822 to his death in 1870, and was characterized by quiet, resolute bearing, close attention and remarkable fairness to his opponent as well as watchful care of his client's interests. He was devoted to his profession, served as deputy attorney-geu- eral for Chester county from 1839 to 1845, when he declined a re-appointment, and was nominated by the democrats as their candi- date in 1861 for president judge of the ju- dicial district then composed of the counties of Chester and Delaware, but the republican
majority was too large at that time to be overcome by even the popularity of such a man as Joseph Hemphill. He was well qualified for the office, would have made an able, learned and excellent judge, and would have worn the judicial ermine with honor and distinction.
Joseph Hemphill was a democrat in poli- tics and held a high place in the confidence of his party, who frequently honored him with nominations for the highest politieal offices in his county and congressional dis- trict. In financial matters he was promi- nent and active and at different times served as a director in the banks of West Chester. As a citizen he was prompt and faithful in the discharge of the duties of life. ITis loss was felt by all classes of society. He was the strength and pillar of the family circle in which he moved and the sunshine there of warm aud loving hearts. He made no claim to mere forensic display, and his chief power lay in a special ability to carefully prepare and arrange his case to the best ad- vantage in all of its details and then pre- sent his arguments in a logical and con- vineing manner. He possessed a voice noted for its remarkable distinctness, and when deeply interested in an important case or a subject of unusual interest, his manner of delivery was forcible, and his language was marked by purity and grammatical accur- aey. He was courteous yet searching in examining witnesses, and commanded the respect of the bench and bar. On the day of his death the Chester county bar met and after deserved tributes of respect were paid his memory by Wayne MeVeagh, W. B. Waddell, Robert E. Monaghan and others, Alfred P. Reid offered the following resolu- tions, which were adopted :
" Resolred, That in the death of Mr. Hemp-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
hill, the bar has lost one whose ability, ac- quirements and integrity adorned the pro- fession ; that in his love for and devotion to the law, and in the serupulous exactness and cheerfulness with which he accepted all its conclusions, his uniform courtesy and fidelity to the bench and bar, his brethren had an example which they can not follow too closely ; that his social qualities, urban- ity and unselfish nature marked the perfect gentleman, in all the relations of life-that in his death we all feel that we have lost a friend and a brother; that his enlarged views,and the keen appreciation of the char- acter of the profession, and his unwearying efforts, both by precept and example, to keep it up to the standard he had formed of it, have been felt in our midst, where he had for forty-three years been actively engaged in its duties, and are worthy of imitation.
"That in his decease, the community has lost a useful member, who did not confine his activities to the sphere of his profession, but whose heart and hand were ever open to aid and benefit his fellow-citizens and the public interests.
" That we extend to his stricken family our sympathy and condolence in their bereave- ment, and as a token of honor for the man, and respect for his memory, will attend his funeral in a body."
The directors of the First National bank of West Chester passed resolutions of re- spect to his memory, and the county press spoke in eloquent terms of the npright life and useful labors of Mr. Hemphill, and of his having acquired distinction throughout the State for more than ordinary ability both as a leader in political thought and as a legal practitioner.
Joseph Hemphill passed from the scenes of his earthly labors on February 11, 1870,
and left a record of which, for its integrity of character, purity of purpose and intellec- tual clearness in the legal arena, Chester county may be justly proud.
On November 22, 1841, Mr. Hemphill married Catharine Elizabeth Dallett, dangh- ter of Elijah and Judith Dallett, of Phila- delphia, who came in the early part of the present century from England, where the Dallet family is one of the old families. Elijah Dallett was president of the Penn Township (now Penn National) bank, over which he, his eldest and his youngest sons served in succession as president for over fifty years. Joseph and Catharine Hemp- hill had six children : Hon. Joseph; Ella, wife of John Dallet; Elijah Dallett; Ann, who married Albin Garrett; Catharine Dal- lett, wife of John S. Wilson; and William.
Judge Hemphill during his boyhood days attended the private schools of West Ches- ter, and then entered Williston seminary at East Hampton, Massachusetts, to prepare for college, but when upon the eve of com- pleting his academic course, was compelled to come home on account of sickness. In 1860 he became a student in his father's office, where he read law for three years, after which he spent one year in the law department of Harvard college under the personal instruction of Parsons and Wash- burne, the well-known law writers and an- thors, and then was admitted to the bar on October 31, 1864. Shortly after his admis- sion to the bar he formed a law partner- ship with his father which lasted until the death of the latter, in 1870. Since then he has continued to practice his profession at West Chester, having his office on the site of the office which his grandfather erected and occupied in 1801, and which his father also occupied.
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