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 90
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757
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
On February 28, 1867, Judge Hemphill married Eliza A. Lytle, a danghter of Ed- ward II. Lytle, a prominent eitizen of Blair county. They have three children living : Lily, Joseph, jr., and William H.
In politics Judge Hemphill is a demo- crat. Ile was elected in 1872 and served as a member of the Constitutional convention of Pennsylvania of 1872-73, and in that able body his services were both conspicu- ous and useful. ITis valuable services in framing the present State constitution, his high standing as a lawyer and his deserved popularity in the county led the Democratic party, in 1889, to make him its candidate for additional law judge of Chester county, and in the fall of that year was elected by a majority of thirty-two votes in a district which the preceding year had given Harri- son four thousand majority over Cleveland. Judge Hemphill took his seat on the bench January 6, 1890, and has discharged the duties of his responsible and important po- sition in an impartial and most acceptable manner. Joseph Hemphill is a man of scholarly attainments and a well-known and leading lawyer in the courts of his own and adjoining counties and in the higher courts to which his practice extended, and is a jur- ist of recognized ability in the grand old Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, whose jur- ists are the peers of those of any State in the Union.
ISAAC A. CLEAVER, an enterprising business man, has been identified with the growth and prosperity of Berwyn for more than twenty-five years, and is a useful, public spirited citizen. On the paternal side Mr. Cleaver comes of stanch old German stock. His grandfather, Isaac Cleaver, married Ann Sturgess about 1794, and they settled near
King-of-Prussia, Montgomery county, Penn- sylvana, which place they left in 1822, in company with Rev. Thomas Roberts and others, to spend two years as missionaries among the Cherokee Indians of Virginia. At the end of that time they returned to their home in Pennsylvania, where the hus- band died in March, 1828, aged sixty years, the widow following in August, 1836, at sixty-three. They had nine children : Lydia, Ann, Hannah, Hiram, Samuel, Phineas, Catharine, John and Sarah; all of whom, except John, lived to an advanced age.
Hon. Iliram Cleaver, the eldest son, was born August 20, 1801. In his early man- hood he worked at his trade of blacksmith - which his father had followed before him - at the Spread Eagle shops, in Radnor town- ship, Delaware county, but later purchased his father-in-law's farm, which was located about a mile east of his shops, and left the anvil to follow the plow. A railroad station, named Cleaver in his honor, was afterward located on this farm near the site of the present Wayne station. He sold this prop- erty in 1869 and purchased " Cottage Home " farm, near Leopard, Easttown township, this county, where he resided until his death, on July 17, 1877, at the ripe age of seventy-six. He was a man of strong will and excellent judgment, a republican in polities, took an active part in public affairs, was a justice of the peace in his township for fifteen years, and served his county in the legislature in 1856-57. He was twice married. His first wife was Jane Abraham, a daughter of Enoch Abraham, a prosperous farmer of Chester valley. She died April 15, 1854. His see- ond wife, who still survives him, was Sarina D., a daughter of John Jones, a lineal de- scendant of that well known Revolutionary chaplain, Rev. David Jones, who served with
758
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Mad Anthony. This marriage was consum- mated April 29, 1856. Of four children born of the first marriage but one lived to manhood-Isaac A., the subject of this sketch.
Isaac A. Cleaver was born May 12, 1843, in Radnor township, Delaware county, Penn- sylvania, and was educated in the public schools of the district. On September 11, 1861, when but eighteen years of age, he enlisted as a private in Co. C, 97th Penn- sylvania infantry, and was soon after made a sergeant of his company. This regiment was made up almost entirely of Chester and Delaware county men, and was commanded by Col. Henry R. Guss, of West Chester. Mr. Cleaver followed the fortunes of his regi- ment through its entire term of service, was severely wounded in the left foot in a charge on the Confederate works at Green Plains, Virginia, on May 20, 1864, and was honor- ably discharged September 17th, of the same year. On his return from the army he en- gaged in farming, at which vocation he con- tinued until the spring of 1868, when he came to Berwyn (then Reeseville) and em- barked in the general mercantile business. At that time the village afforded but one storeroom. This Mr. Cleaver leased for a time, but soon found it too small to accom- modate an increasing business, and, in 1870, he built a more commodious warehouse, with residence attached. This building was to- tally destroyed by fire in 1888, and he at once erected the present large and handsome structure. It is a two-story stone building, with basement, stands but a few feet west of the old site, fronts forty-four feet on Lan- caster avenue, and runs back seventy-eight feet. It is finished in hard wood, heated with hot water, and is supplied with all mod- ern improvements. The stock, which em-
braces a greater diversity of lines and more complete assortments than are ordinarily found in general stores, is systematically ar- ranged in different departments, and twelve polite clerks are employed to see that the wants of the public are promptly and courte- ously attended. Seeking but reasonable pro- fits on legitimate transactions, he continues to enjoy an extensive and highly remunerative patronage, and he is engaged in a business for which he is eminently qualified. Like his father, he has been twice married. His first wife, whom he married January 21, 1865, was Mary B. Kauffman, a daughter of Henry and Sarah Kauffman. She was the mother of six children: Frank, Eugene, Jane, Mary, Sarah and Eliza, of whom but Eugene and Jane survive. She died July 6, 1874. His present wife was Lizzie Groff, daughter of John and Susan B: Groff, of Tredyffrin township, this county. They were married on February 17, 1876, and four children have been the fruits of this union : Moreau (deceased), Mary K., Horace J. and Gertrude.
In religion Mr. Cleaver is an ardent fol- lower of John the Baptist, and he is a use- ful member of the Great Valley Baptist church, of which he is the clerk, a deacon, and the superintendent of the Sunday school. In politics he has always preferred to act with the Republican party, but, at present, is inclined to be independent. Though a busy man in his own affairs, he finds time to devote to public matters, and serves his borough, township, and county in many po- sitions of trust and responsibility. He was postmaster of Berwyn from 1868 to 1884, has been a director and the vice-president of the Berwyn National bank since its organi- zation, January 1, 1889; is treasurer of the Berwyn Building and Loan Association,
759
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
and a director and the vice-president of the Penn Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of Chester county, and also vice-president of the National association of Adamant Wall Plaster companies of the United States of America. He has been a member and the secretary of the school board of Easttown township for twenty-five years, and his efforts in educational matters are plainly attested in the advanced condition of the schools of. that district. He is president of the Ches- ter County School Director's association, and the credit of introducing manual train- ing into the schools of the rural districts of the country is altogether due to him and his co-worker, Rev. W. L. Bull, of Whitford. Mr. Cleaver is also a prominent Mason, and is deservedly popular with the craft. He is a past master of Cassia Lodge, No. 273, Free and Accepted Masons, a past high priest of Montgomery Chapter, No. 262, Royal Arch Masons, and a past eminent commander of St. Alban Commandery, No. 47, Knights Templar, of Philadelphia, and of Gen. George G. Meade Post, No. 1, Grand Army of the Republic of Pennsylvania. His private life has been one of industry, integrity and econ- omy, and these same qualities have char- acterized his publie career.
JOSEPH S. HENDERSON, a book- keeper in the sub-treasurer's office in Philadelphia, and an officer of Co. D, 6th regiment of the National Guard of Penn- sylvania, is a son of James and Mary (Ortlip) Henderson, and was born at Phoenixville, Chester county, Pennsylvania, March 27, 1863. The Henderson family has been long resident in County Derry, Ireland, in whose local history it is frequently mentioned. William Henderson (paternal grandfather)
was born and reared in that county and lived there until his death. Ile was a farmer, and a Presbyterian, and died in 1840 at fifty- eight years of age. He married Isabella Thompson, and had nine children : William, Robert, Anna, Isabella Mary, Catharine, Matilda, Margaret, Jane and James. James Ilenderson (father) was born November 11, 1830. He came to Chester county in 1847, followed farming and milling until 1850 at Kimberton, and then removed to Phonix- ville, where he was successively engaged with Joseph S. Buckwalter and Keeley & Rorke in the bakery business. In 1854 he was with Reeves & Cornell, and in 1856 be- came a member of the grocery firm of Henderson & Williams. Two years later he engaged in his present successful flour business. IIe married a Miss Ortlip, who passed away July 1, 1885, when in the six- tieth year of her age. They had seven children : James A., Samana, William, Isa- bella, Robert J., postmaster of Phoenixville, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this vol- ume : Joseph S. and A. Kennedy, now dead. Mrs. Henderson was a daughter of Samuel Ortlip, who was born in Chester county, February 8, 1786, and was a millwright by trade. He was a member of the Lutheran church, and married Hannah Fouse, by whom he had eleven children : William, Aun, Oliver, Samuel, Maria, Mahlon, John, Mrs. Mary Henderson, Isaac, Jefferson and Sarah, all of whom are dead except the last three named.
After receiving a good English education in the public schools of his native town, Joseph S. Henderson entered the machine shops of the Phoenixville Iron Company in May, 1880. One year later ( May 2) he was given a position in the company's office as a draughtsman, in which capacity he served
760
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
until January 16, 1891. He then was ap- pointed by Capt. Louis R. Walters as a book- keeper in the sub-treasurer's office in Phil- adelphia, which position he has held up to the present time.
In politics Mr. Henderson is a republican, and has been secretary of the Republican Invincible club for over ten years. He was nominated by his party, in 1886, for auditor, and was elected in the borough, which was then strongly democratic. He is a lienten- ant of Co. D, 6th regiment of the National Guard of Pennsylvania, having joined in 1880, and served for some time as regimental clerk. Joseph S. Henderson is pleasant and agreeable, the possessor of many of those qualities which insure success, and has won his own way in the battle of life. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge, No. 212, and Phoenix Encampment, No. 79, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; also a member of Washington Castle, Knights of the Golden Eagle.
T HOMPSON DAVIS, now a dairy farmer of Schuylkill township, who had previously been engaged in different lines of business in this county, is a son of Thomas and Mary A. (Wilson ) Davis, and was born November 13, 1838, in Charlestown town- ship, Chester county, Pennsylvania. There he grew to manhood, and obtained a good practical education in the common schools. Leaving school he served an apprenticeship of three years with Jesse Jarrett at the car- penter business. After finishing his trade he worked as a journeyman for two years, and then engaged in carpentering and.con- tracting on his own account in Charlestown township. This he followed for a period of five years, and in 1868 relinquished it and embarked in the hard wood business, run-
ning a saw mill and finishing up its products ready for use in various ways. In 1872 he purchased the farm where he now lives, consisting of sixty-six acres of fine land, and after improving it and erecting a handsome stone dwelling house thereon, he engaged in dairy farming, which has been his occu- pation ever since. Politically he is an ar- dent republican, always taking an active interest in local politics, and working ener- getically to get out the vote of his party, and in looking after the registration of care- less voters. He has been elected to and held a number of the township offices, serv- ing as judge of elections six terms, inspector three terms, assistant assessor two terms, school director, supervisor, and township auditor for twelve years. In 1863 he served for six weeks with the emergency men as a member of Co. B, 34th Pennsylvania militia, being discharged at Reading.
Having tired of single blessedness, and concluded that sound philosophy underlaid the maxim that "it is not good for man to dwell alone," on January 1, 1868, Mr. Davis united in marriage with Annie S. Rose, the second daughter of John and Catharine Rose, of Charlestown township. To Mr. and Mrs. Davis were born a family of eight children, six sons and two daughters: John R. W., who is a civil engineer by profession, resides at Port Jervis, New York, and is employed as assistant supervisor of the New York, Lake Erie & Western railroad ; Thomas M., a boss builder, now engaged in the construction of creameries in Iowa and Minnesota; Mary F., deceased in infancy : B. Frank, living at home and assisting his father on the farm; Albert J., now attend- ing West Chester Normal school ; Elsie T., living at home with her parents; and Ar- thur W. and Harvey F., both deceased.
261
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
The Davis family is of Welsh descent, and ranks among the oldest in Pennsyl- vania. The paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Jesse Davis, was a native of Chester county, and lived most of his life in West Whiteland township, on the farm now owned by Wesley Talbot. Ilis occupation was that of a farmer, and he owned a farm of two hundred acres in West Whiteland township, where he died. In politics he was a Jacksonian democrat, and in religion a member of the Society of Friends. He married Sarah Thomson, and was the father of five children, three sons and two daughters : Samuel, Thomas, Sarah (who married Mr. Mercer ), Evan, and Mary, who first wedded a Mr. Iloopes, and after his death married a man named Meredithi. The second son, Thomas Davis (father), was born in West Whiteland township in 1794, and died in 1871, aged nearly seventy- eight years. He was reared on the old homestead, received an ordinary education, and after attaining his majority engaged in farming, and spent his life principally in that occupation. He settled in Charlestown township, near Schuylkill postoffice, was a democrat in politics, and a strict member of the Presbyterian church. In 1818 he mar- ried Mary A. Wilson, a daughter of John Wilson, of Chester county, and they were the parents of fifteen children, ouly nine of whom attained maturity. The latter were : Jesse, Phebe, Elizabeth, Carson, Morgan, Mary Ann, Sarah, John and Thompson.
John Rose, paternal grandfather of Mrs. Anna S. Davis, was born in West Philadel- phia, and lived all his life iu that city. Ilis father, William Rose, came over from Eng- land with William Penn, and took up the land on which the greater part of West Philadelphia now stands. William Rose
owned and operated a large silk manufac- tory in West Philadelphia, and afterward, in connection with his brothers, engaged in manufacturing swords near Market street, Philadelphia. John Rose, grandfather of Mrs. Davis, was a son of William, and after reaching man's estate engaged in farming on the present site of West Philadelphia. Ile was also engaged for a time in silk man- ufacture. Politically he was a whig, and in religion a member of the Society of Friends. He married Hannah Sheldrake, and had a family of seven children, six sons and a daughter: William, Albert, John, Thomas, Fannie, Benjamin and Nathan. John Rose, father of Mrs. Davis, was born in West Philadelphia, where he received a good education, and then, from choice, engaged in agricultural pursuits. He sold his prop- erty in Philadelphia, removed to Charles- town township, Chester county, and pur- chased a farm of ninety aeres in Charles- town township, near Warren tavern, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1881, in the sixty-third year of his age. In politics he was a whig and republican, and married Catharine Sibley, by whom he had a family of three children : Elizabeth, who died in early womanhood; Frances, and Annie S., who became the wife of Thomp- son Davis, the subject of this sketch. She was educated in the common schools of Charlestown township, and has been a life- long member of the Presbyterian church.
GEORGE W. FLOYD, who died at his home in Spring City, October 13, 1892, was a member and the general superinten- dent of the Floyd, Wells & Co. stove firm, and founded one of the great industrial es- tablishments of Pennsylvania, whose pro-
762
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
ducts found their way into every section of the civilized world. Ile was a son of George W., sr., and Sarah A. ( Mills) Floyd, and was born in the city of Wilmington, State of. Delaware, April 30, 1850. His paternal grandfather was a native of Wales, and came in early life to New York city, which he subsequently left to settle in Chester county, near Fagg's Manor church, in whose cemetery his remains are interred. He was an old-line whig, and his son, George W. Floyd (father), died in Harrisburg, this State, in November, 1890, at an advanced age. He was a millwright by trade and during the earlier part of his life built many of the old mills in his part of the county. He afterward was engaged in farming and in the iron business. He married a Miss Lig- gett, who died and left four children, and after her death he wedded Sarah A. Mills, who died in July, 1885. By his second marriage Mr. Floyd had four children : Sarah Louisa, widow of Morris Thomson, of Philadelphia; George W., Helen T. and Phœbe A.
George W. Floyd received his education in the common schools, and at fourteen years of age commenced life for himself as an errand boy at Benjamin Hatfield's Bran- dywine iron works of near Coatesville. He left the iron works two years later, and was a clerk successively for two years for Eachus & Perdue, for five years at Wagontown, for three years at Coatesville, and for some time at Steelton. In 1875 he came to Spring City, where he was a clerk for a short time for Diemer, and then became a partner with Mr. Diemer in the mercantile business, un- der the firm name of Diemer & Floyd, which partnership lasted until 1879. He then be- came bookkeeper for the foundry firm of O. B. Keeley & Co., and upon its dissolution,
continued in that position with its successor, the Keeley Stove Company, until 1883. In February of that year he became a member and the general superintendent of the pres- ent stove manufacturing firm of Floyd, Wells & Co. The plant is located on First avenue, Royer's Ford, Montgomery county, and rauks as one of the large stove found- ries of the United States. It occupies nearly three .acres of ground and consists of a stone moulding and cleaning room, eighty by one hundred and forty feet; a five-story briek warehouse, sixty by two hundred feet ; a two-story frame carpenter shop, seventy by seventy feet; a brick pattern storage house, thirty by fifty feet, two and a half stories high, beside a number of smaller buildings. The plant is well equipped with fine and costly machinery, which is run by a sixty horse-power engine, and the office has telephonic communication. The com- pany employ one hundered skilled work- men, and manufacture all kinds of stoves, which they ship to different parts of Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as to every part of the United States. The splendid success of the company was largely due to the efforts of Mr. Floyd, who made for himself a name as a manufacturer that was held in high es- teem wherever the products of his establish- ment are used.
On April 14, 1886, Mr. Floyd wedded Kate E., daughter of Charles Peters, of Spring City, and their union was blessed with two children : Charles, born May 26, 1887 ; and Mary A., born December 18, 1889.
In politics Mr. Floyd was a republican, and had served as a councilman of Spring City. He was a member of the Lutheran church, of which he was a trustee; Spring City Lodge, No. 553, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he was one of the found-
David Mc Conkey McFarland.
765
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
ers ; and Pottstown Chapter, No. 271, Royal Areh Masons. His death, which occurred October 13, 1892, has left a gap in the busi- ness life of Spring City, and his memory is deeply cherished by a wide circle of business associates and personal friends, who held him in the highest regard. His remains rest in Zion's cemetery, near Spring City.
AVID McCONKEY MacFAR-
LAND, one of the leading and most suc- cessful business men of Chester county, and a prominent and public spirited citizen of West Chester, is a representative member of that distinguished class of self-made men, who not only deserves success, but who win it. lle is a son of James and Mary (McConkey) MacFarland, and was born in Tredyffrin townshp, Chester county, Pennsylvania, May 6, 1839. James MacFarland (father) was a native of Montgomery county, was of Scotch- Irish descent, and in early life came to Ches- ter valley, where he engaged in farming, and removed to Phoenixville in 1840, where he continued farming and kept the celebra- ted " Fountain Inn " for five years. At the end of that time he removed to Mereer county, and invested all of his means in iron enterprises. Ile died April 19, 1849, when in the forty-fifth year of his age. He mar- ried Mary McConkey, and reared a family of seven children. Mrs. MacFarland, who died February 18, 1891, at eighty-six years of age, was a daughter of John McConkey, a native of the north of Ireland, who mar- ried Elizabeth Rickabaugh, and settled in Tredyffrin township, where he followed his trade of cooper for several years, in con- nection with farming.
David M. MacFarland was reared on the farm and received his education in the com-
mon schools. At sixteen years of age he went into the great school of life to do for himself, and commenced his remarkably successful business career as a clerk in the office of his maternal uncle, David Mc- Conkey, a successful broker, and dealer in mortgages. By his natural aptitude for business and close attention to his duties he became indispensable in the office, and in a few years was intrusted with the manage- ment of the business. His uncle died on February 28, 1868, and in the following month of March, Mr. MacFarland succeeded to the large and remunerative business of the office, and which he has continued to develop until it has reached its present large proportions.
On September 11, 1866, Mr. MacFarland married Mary M. Rothrock, a sister of Dr. J. T. Rothrock, the great American botanist, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this vol- ume. To Mr. and Mrs. MacFarland have been born six children, three of whom are still living, two sons and one daughter: Charles T., who is engaged in business in West Chester; Elizabeth W. and George Kim, the latter now a student at the Pennsylvania State college.
In politics Mr. MacFarland is a repub- lican, but his life has been and is preëmin- ently a business one. He does a money loaning and private banking business, and has devoted himself to home investments, whereby he furnishes a large amount of cap- ital that is employed in building up and op- erating different enterprises, and in the de- velopment and improvement of many farms. He loans money on mortgages on real es- tate in Chester, Delaware, Lancaster and many other of the best counties of the Key- stone State. Mr. MacFarland is a well- known business mun of established integ-
766
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
rity, and to his well directed and conserva- tive management of his various enterprises may be attributed a part of his remarkable success. His prosperity is also largely the reward of his ability and perseverance.
It is justly said that the progress and prosperity of a county depends not so much on the natural advantages and facilities it offers, as upon the character and spirit of its leading men, and David M. MacFarland is among those of that class who have con- tributed largely to the permanent prosper- ity and material development of Chester county.
W ALTER MacFEAT, a well-known and prosperous citizen of Spring City, who served as postmaster there from 1884 to 1889, is the second son of James and Helen G. (Gow) MacFeat, and was born February 9, 1838, in County Perth, Scotland. His paternal grandfather, Walter MaeFeat, was a native and life-long resident of that country. He was a farmer by occupation, and reared a family consisting of four sons and a daughter: John H., William, Walter, James and Catharine. He died about 1841, aged nearly seventy-eight years. James MacFeat (father) is a native of Scotland, born in 1816, who emigrated to America in 1849, and coming to Chester county, Penn- sylvania, settled in East Vincent township, at the present site of Spring City, where he has lived ever since. While yet a young man he learned the trade of shoemaker, and worked at that business for many years after coming to this country. Since 1889 he has lived practically retired. Ile is a member of the Presbyterian church, and a democrat in politics. He married Ilelen G. Gow, a daughter of Robert Gow, of Seot- land, and was the father of six children, four
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