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 99
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105
828
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Reformed church, in which he has served as a deacon for the last twelve years.
On February 24, 1881, Mr. Davis was united in marriage with Clara March, a daughter of John and Margaret ( Penny- packer) March. To Mr. and Mrs. Davis have been born four children, two sons and two daughters : Mabel, Hannah M., William J. and Hosea K.
H. W. Davis is of German descent, and his paternal grandfather, Isaac M. Davis, was a life-long resident of Charlestown township, where he owned a fine farm of one hundred and forty-one acres near Phœ- nixville. He was a man of more than or- dinary intelligence, always took an active part in the interests of the Democratic party, and served for many years as a deacon in the Phoenixville Baptist church. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and died at an advanced age. He married Saralı J. Evans and reared a family of six children, four sons and two daughters: Charles R., Margaret, William J. E., Roger, Sarah and Isaac M., jr. William J. E. Davis (father), was born on the home farm in Charlestown township, May 11, 1828. He followed farm- ing during the active years of his life, and now resides near the village of Charlestown. He is a democrat in politics, and married Hannah Rixstine, only daughter of Henry Rixstine. They had four children: B. Frank, H. W., the subject of this sketch; Ida V. March, and Charles R. Mrs. Davis was educated in Professor Bolmar's board- ing school at West Chester, and taught sev- eral terms. Henry Rixstine, maternal grand- father, was a native of the northern part of the county, and settled about 1830 on the farm where H. W. Davis now resides. Henry Rixstine was a democrat, a member of Pikeland Reformed church, and married
Rachel Yeager, by whom he had one child, Mrs. Hannah Y. Davis, the mother of H. W. Davis.
GEORGE S. BENNETT, a member of
the window glass manufacturing firm of G. S. Bennett & Co. of Spring City, and a representative business man of Chester county, is a son of David S. and Annie (Abel) Bennett, and was born December 4, 1858, at Winslow, New Jersey. He received his education in the common schools of his na- tive town, and took a thorough course in one of the leading commercial institutions of Philadelphia. Being thus specially fitted for business life, he engaged with his father in the window glass trade. In 1882 they established a window glass and painters' supply house in Philadelphia, which they are still conducting at No. 114 North Ninth street, that city. Their success was of such an encouraging character that at the end of six years business transactions in the Quaker City, they resolved to widen their field of operations by embarking in the manufac- ture of window glass. They built a plant at Millville, New Jersey, which they oper- ated under the firm name of G. S. Bennett & Co. for three years, when its capacity was not sufficient to meet the demands of the trade which they had secured by that time. They were then faced by the alter- native of enlarging the plant or removing to a more favorable locality and erecting larger works, and after a careful study of the situation resolved upon the latter course. Of the many places offering favorable in- ducements they selected Spring City as hav- ing superior advantages for their line of business. They located their present plant here in the spring of 1891, and it has been pronounced by those able to judge, as one
829
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
of the best equipped window glass plants in the United States. Their two main build- ings are respectively ninety by ninety and ninety by one hundred and fifteen feet in dimensions, while an additional building forty by two hundred feet has been lately erected. They employ one hundred and fif- teen men, of whom nearly all earn six dol- lars per day. Their annual output is now three million feet of window glass, but their trade has increased so rapidly during the last year that the firm contemplates doub- ling the capacity of their works in order to meet the future orders of their daily in- creasing number of patrons. They also own and operate a pottery for the manufacture of crucibles for glass house consumption, and rank among the most successful busi- ness men of Pennsylvania and the leading window glass manufacturers of the United States. Mr. Bennett is a republican in po- litical sentiment, and but few men of his years have been more successful in the busi- ness world.
On October 13, 1887, Mr. Bennett was united in marriage with Annie Berger, daughter of Levi Berger, a member of the firm of Berger Bros. of Philadelphia.
The Bennett family has been settled for over a century in New Jersey, where Wil- liam Bennett, the grandfather of George S. Bennett, was born and reared. He was a glass worker, married and reared a family. His son, David S. Bennett (father), was born at Cumberland, that State, in 1838. IIe learned the business of window glass mak- ing, and by thirty years of steady and con- tinnous work in every department of that industry, thoroughly fitted himself to under- take the manufacture of window glass, which he did in 1882, at Millville, New Jer- sey. In 1891 he came to Spring City,
where he is a member of the present win- dow glass manufacturing firm of G. S. Ben- nett & Co., which has been noticed fully in a preceding paragraph. Ile married Annie Abel, a native of Burlington, New Jersey, and they have had six children : George S., Laura E., wife of R. E. Pond, a route agent of the Adams Express Company, and who resides in Trenton, New Jersey ; Harry, manager of his father's Philadelphia glass store; Frank, who is connected with the same store; Lily and Lizzie, the latter now deceased.
Mrs. Annie (Abel) Bennett is a daughter of Thomas Abel, who served as a drummer boy in the war of 1812, and became one of the most expert glass workers of his day. Ile possessed as secrets some of the latest approved methods used in the successful manufacture of glass, and his son-in-law and his grandson, David S. and George S. Ben- nett, benefited by his instructions, and are skilled workmen and active and progressive manufacturers, who thoroughly understand every detail of their business, and who have won a part of their marked success by their intelligent supervision of all their processes of manufacture.
R EV. E. W. BLISS, A. M., a scholarly and courteous gentleman, and the high- ly respected and esteemed pastor of Willis- town Baptist church at Malvern, is a son of William Bliss, and was born at Barnston, Canada East, near the border line of the State of Vermont, in 1820. William Bliss was a carpenter by trade and spent the larger part of his life at Barnston, which was mainly settled by New England people. He married and reared a family of five chil- dren, one son and four daughters : Nancy
830
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Davis, Emily Comestock, Caroline, Rev. E. W. and one other.
E. W. Bliss received his education at Col- gate university of Hamilton, New York, from which well-known institution of Icarn- ing he was graduated in the class of 1844. To secure his collegiate education he had taught several winter terms so as to secure means to defray his expenses during the summerterms at the university. After grad- nation he studied theology under a private tutor, and was ordained to the Baptist min- istry in 1844. His first charge was the Baptist church of Venice, Cayuga county, to which he received a call in the last named year, and with which he sustained very pleasant pastoral relations for a number of years. Leaving Venice, he served as pastor successively of Baptist churches in Oswego, Kingston, Newburg and Brooklyn, in the State of New York, and in 1876 came to Malvern, where he accepted his present charge as pastor of the Willistown Baptist church. This church was organized in 1833 as a branch of Great Valley, and the pres- ent meeting house and parsonage were erected in 1875. Under Reverend Bliss' charge the church has prospered in its spir- itual life and in the increase of its member- ship, until it now numbers three hundred and fifty. Mr. Bliss is a close student, a clear thinker and an entertaining speaker.
Rev. Mr. Bliss married Mary Peck, who died and left four children, one of whom is E. W. Bliss, jr., who is in the real estate business at the corner of Sixth and Chest- nut streets, Philadelphia.
For his second wife Mr. Bliss wedded Sarah Pauline Denton, of Plainfield, New Jersey, and by this marriage had three chil- dren : Lewis D., Frank C. and Howard R. Lewis D. Bliss, an expert electrician, is now
at the head of a large electrical, engineer- ing and constructive company, and was sent some time ago by the Edison Company to visit all electrical plants in Virginia and the Carolinas. He invented an electric light at seventeen years of age, and is the inventor of the electrical fountain in Bethesda park, Washington city, which has been such an attraction to the public. Frank C. Bliss is an electrician in the census building at Washington. He was formerly associated with Professor Lewis of the Edison Com- pany, and afterward organized an electri- cal company, which is now doing a large business. He is now agent for the long dis- tance electric light.
W ILLIAM MARSHALL WOOD-
WARD, a prosperous farmer and liv- eryman of the borough of West Chester, and a representative of one of the oldest families in the Commonwealth, is a son of Thomas S. and Mary B. (Worth) Woodward, and was born August 4, 1820, in West Bradford township, Chester county, Pennsylvania. The Woodwards are of English descent, and trace their American ancestry back to Richard and Robert Woodward, brothers, who were prominent citizens of Chester county as early as 1687. From a genealogy of the family compiled by Lewis Wood- ward, M.D., of Carroll county, Maryland, it is learned that in 1888 the descendants of these brothers numbered nine hundred and seventy-four, extending through eight generations and scattered over several States. The line of descent from (1) Richard Wood- ward to the subject of this sketch is traced through (2) Richard, the son of Richard, who married Esther Davis in 1695, by whom he had twelve children, among whom was
831
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
(3) William (great-grandfather), who wed- ded Eliza Marshall and reared a family of four sons and two daughters, one of the sons being (4) William (grandfather), who was born August 8, 1743. After attaining manhood he became a country storekeeper, and later in life purchased a farm in West Bradford township, near Marshallton, where he spent the remainder of his days, dying in October, 1825. He was successful and prosperous, both as a merchant and a farmer, and was twice married, first to Lydia Lewis and after her death to Elizabeth Stalker, by whom he had one son, (5) Thomas S. (father), who was born February 9, 1795, in Chester county, and who on January 23, 1817, married Mary B. Worth, a daughter of Samuel Worth, a prosperous farmer of this county, who was of English descent and a representative of one of the oldest families in this section. To them were born nine children, the second being (6) William Marshall Woodward, the subject of this sketch. Thomas S. Woodward, being an only child, inherited all his father's estate, including the homestead in West Bradford township. Here he passed most of his life, owning some three hundred acres of fine land and being a highly prosperous farmer. Ile died March 20, 1868, in his seventy-fifth year, his wife surviving until August 25, 1877. He was a whig and republican in politics, and a member of the orthodox So- ciety of Friends, as was his wife. He served in several township offices during the course of his life, and occupied a high place in the esteem of his neighbors and all who knew him.
William Marshall Woodward was reared on the old homestead near Marshallton, re- ceiving his early education in the common schools and supplementing that by a course
of instruction at a well known boarding school. He was engaged in agricultural pursuits exclusively until his forty-fourth year, and came to be numbered among the most prosperous farmers in East Bradford township. In 1864 he sold his farm, and removing to West Chester, engaged in the livery business. For a period of four years he conducted this enterprise successfully, and then purchased a large farm in Penns- burg township, this county, and once more devoted his attention to the cultivation of the soil. He continued his farming oper- ations until 1875, when he returned to the borough of West Chester and again embarked in the livery business, which he has con- tinued ever since. Ile has the largest and most completely equipped stables in the borough, with fine horses and a large num- ber of elegant buggies and carriages.
In 1852, Mr. Woodward was united in marriage to Esther P., daughter of John and Hannah James, of East Bradford town- ship. They have no children, but a step- son, Alvin Garrett. Mr. Woodard is a reg- ular attendant of the Friends' church in this city, and a member of the Goodwill Fire Company. He has been a life-long republican and has been called to fill a num- ber of the township offices. He is an in- telligent gentleman and keeps well posted on current events.
W ILLIAM MOCK, a prosperous, well known and greatly respected farmer residing near Anselma, is the youngest son of Levi and Mary ( Hipple) Mock, and was born February 16, 1835, in West Vincent township, Chester county, Pennsylvania. Here he was reared nud educated, and in this township has passed most of his life.
832
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
entirely engaged in agricultural pursuits. He owns a valuable little farm, consisting of fifty-six acres of choice land, all well improved, and he has been very successful. Politically Mr. Mock is a democrat, and he and his family are members of the Vincent Baptist church.
On June 7, 1858, Mr. Mock was united in holy matrimony with Mary E. Stietler, a daughter of Henry Stietler, a prosperous farmer of West Vincent township. To them was born a family of six children, all sons : Vincent S., now deceased; Joseph A., also dead; Harry S., a machinist, who married Zenith Osbon, and now resides in the city of Reading; Shaner S., also a machinist of Reading; Lewis, deceased ; and Maurice F., living at home.
The Mocks are one of the families that were early planted in this State, where it has become quite numerous. Peter Mock, paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a life-long resident of West Vincent township, and died at his home there at an advanced age. He was a carpet weaver by trade, but owned a farm and de- voted part of his time to its cultivation and to stock raising. In politics he was a demo- crat and became widely known for his fear- less advocacy of the principles of his party, though he did this so good naturedly as never to make personal enemies among his political foes. He married and reared a family consisting of six sons and a daugh- ter, all of whom are now deceased, except the youngest son, William. Levi Mock (father) was born in West Vincent town- ship, where he grew to manhood and re- ceived a good common school education. After leave school he learned the trade of carpenter, and followed that occupation most of his life. He died at his home in
this county at a good old age. Like his father he was a stanch democrat in politics, loyal to his political convictions alike in victory or defeat. In religious faith he was a Baptist, and for many years an active and influential member of that church. He mar- ried Mary Hipple, of this county, and to their union was born a family of sons and daughters : Davis, Perry, Lewis (deceased), John, Sylvester, William, the subject of this sketch ; Sophia and Rosanna.
JACOB C. BROWNBACK, a leading farmer of Anselma, West Pikeland town- ship, who was a gallant soldier during the civil war, and has been an active, enterpris- ing and useful citizen ever since, is a de- scendant of the early emigrant, Garrett Brownback, and a son of Jesse and Elizabeth (Christman) Brownback. He was born in East Coventry township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, April 3, 1840, and grew to manhood on his father's farm, receiving a practical English education in the public schools of that township. Soon after leav- ing school he engaged in farming, to which occupation he had been early trained, and he has made that his principal business to the present time. In 1873 he removed to West Pikeland township, where he pur- chased a fine farm containing one hundred and forty acres of valuable land, all well improved and amply supplied with conven- ient farm buildings. Here he has resided ever since, and has been very successful in the management of his excellent farm. He is a republican in politics, and in religion he and his family are members of the Ger- man Reformed church. Ou August 5, 1862, at the age of twenty-two, Mr. Brownback enlisted as a private in Co. I, 6th Penn-
833
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
sylvania cavalry, and served continuously until the close of the war, being honor- ably discharged at Cloud's Mill, Virginia, in June, 1865. He was a brave and gallant soldier, actively participating in the terrible conflicts at Sharpsburg, Antietam, Chancel- lorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spottsylvania, beside a number of other minor contests and skirmishes in different States. He was a member of that monster military organization known in history as the army of the Potomac, and was person- ally present in nearly all its historic engage- ments.
On December 15, 1868, Mr. Brownback was married to Lizzie Kimes, a daughter of Sammel Kimes, a prosperous farmer of West Pikeland township. This union was blessed by the birth of four children, three sons and a daughter: Katie K., George K., Maurice K. and Jesse K., all living at home with their parents on the farm.
For additional facts concerning the his- tory of the Browuback family, see sketches of Lewis C. Brownback, on page 555, and Garrett Elwood Brownback, on page 603, of this volume.
R OGER M. LITTLE, one of the repre- sentative farmersand leading small fruit growers of Charlestown township, is a son of Major and Eliza (Olewine) Little, and was born August 30, 1845, on the old home- stead where he now resides, in Charlestown township, Chester county, Pennsylvania. Ile grew to manhood on the farm, received his education in the common schools and at Professor Wyer's academy, West Chester, and then engaged in farming and fruit grow- ing, which he has followed successfully up to the present time. He now owns the
homestead farm, first purchased by his grand- father and afterward owned by his father. It contains one hundred and twenty-nine aeres of choice and well improved land. Mr. Little devotes several acres of his farm to the raising of small fruits, and has fully demonstrated that his section of the county is well adapted to the cultivation of such fruits. He has by actual experiment ar- rived at a knowledge of the small fruits that will thrive and yield remunerative erops in Charlestown township. He has ready sale for his fruit, and often ships it to a consid- erable distance. Mr. Little is a republican in polities, has served his township as an- ditor and school director, and was onee a candidate for county treasurer. He is a member and trustee of Pikeland Reformed church. He is courteons and accommoda- ting, has been very successful in his business enterprises, and ranks high in his commun- ity as an honest and honorable man.
Roger M. Little married Catharine Roland, a daughter of Benjamin and Mary Roland. To Mr. and Mrs. Little have been born two children, a son and a daughter: Howard P. and Mabel M.
The family of which Mr. Little is a meni- ber was planted in Chester county during the revolutionary period. His paternal grandfather, Roger Little, owned four farms in Charlestown, and was reputed in his day as one of the wealthy citizens of the town- ship. He was an old-line whig in politics, married and reared a family of three chil- dren : William, Major, and Rebecca, who married James Pennypacker. The second son, Major Little (father), became the owner of the home farm, and during the active years of his life held various of his township offices. He was an exemplary member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and married
834
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Eliza Olewine. They were the parents of six children, two sons and four daughters : Mary Potts, Hannah, John, Sarah Rennard, Rebecca and Roger, whose name appears at the head of this sketch.
PROF. FRANCIS H. GREEN, who
has held the chair of English in West Chester State Normal school since 1890, and is recognized as the pioneer of social reform in Pennsylvania, is a son of Sharpless and Mary (Booth) Green, and was born at Booth's Corners, Delaware county, Pennsyl- vania, May 19, 1861. His paternal grand- father, Abram Green, was born and reared in England, and during the early part of the present century came to Delaware county, this State, where he resided until his death. He married, and his son, Sharpless Green, the father of Professor Green, was born in 1830, in his Delaware county home, where he died in 1887, aged fifty-seven years. Sharpless Green was engaged in the mer- cantile business for over a quarter of a cen- tury. He was a republican in politics, a Methodist in religious belief and church membership, and married Mary Booth, who was a daughter of James Booth and who is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Green had a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters: Nelson C., who served for sev- eral years as postmaster, and now resides on the home farm; Charles, of West Ches- ter; Lydia, wife of Curtis C. Hanby, of Dela- ware county ; Phobe ; Mattie, wife of George L. Stanbridge, of West Chester ; Prof. Fran- cis H., and a son that died in infancy.
Francis H. Green was reared in Delaware county, and after attending the public schools he entered the West Chester State Normal school, from which he was gradu-
ated in the class of 1882. After graduation he engaged in teaching in the public schools, and in 1884 became principal of the public schools of Marshallton, this county, from which he went one year later to take charge of the department of English in the Normal college of Huntingdon, this State. Four years later, in 1888, he accepted the position of first assistant in the department of En- glish in West Chester State Normal school, in which capacity he served until 1890, when he assumed full charge of the depart- ment as professor of English. While act- ing as first assistant he took a special course in English at Amherst college, and came well qualified to the chair which he has so successfully held for the last two years.
Professor Green has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for several years. He has done considerable work in the line of social reform, has lectured in New York and Brooklyn, and really is the pioneer of the movement in Pennsylvania. Articles from his pen, on the many social reforms that are so imperatively demanded in the interests of social progress and na- tional prosperity, have appeared from time to time in leading magazines and newspa- pers, and have received praise and commen- dation from the intelligent and right-think- ing people of the country. As a part of his reform work he labors in the temper- ance field, and is the founder and superin- tendent of the Order of the Knights of Tem- perance in Chester county. He studies closely everything bearing on social and edu- cational topics, and has acted for some time as secretary of the West Chester Philosoph- ical society.
In connection with teaching he does con- siderable institute work, during the winter seasons, in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
835
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
Delaware. Professor Green has labored hard and with good success in making his department what it should be in this en- lightened and progressive age. He is well informed on the history and growth of the English language, has mastery of the best and most progressive methods of teaching it, and is thoroughly conversant with the best thoughts of the masters of English lit- erature. The West Chester State Normal school for the first district of Pennsylvania is admirably equipped for the high grade of work which it is doing. It is recognized as one of the leading and foremost normal schools of the country, and Prof. Francis II. Green has well done his part in maintaining the high standing which the school has at- tained as a superior institution of learning.
T HOMAS D. FUNK, one of the young and prosperous farmers of the Picker- ing Creek valley, is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Davis) Funk, and was born on the farm on which he now resides, in Schuyl- kill township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, December 21, 1862. He was reared on his father's farm, received his education in the common schools of Charlestown township. and assisted his father in farming until the death of the latter in 1890. IIc then pur- chased the home farm, and has been success- fully engaged in farming and dairying up to the present time. His farm contains one hundred and fifty-six acres of land, well adapted to grain raising and grazing. It is situated in Schuylkill township, within con- venient distance of church and school. The dairy business of Chester county has as- sumed large proportions, and Philadelphia depends upon it to a large extent. The superior dairy products of the county are in
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.