USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Biographical annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, containing genealogical records of representative families, including many of the early settlers and biographical sketches of prominent citizens, Vol. I > Part 8
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ried Mary Lancaster, Ann, Jesse, married Mary Ambler, Margaret, married Peter Evans, Rachel, married Meredith Conard, Caleb, died young. The Hawkesworths (Peter and Mary his wife) came from England about 1730, and settled in Hatfield township. The Foulkes' were an old family in Gwynedd, their ancestor, Edward Foulke, and Eleanor his wife, having come from Wales in 1698, and settled at Gwynedd. A son Hugh Foulke married Ann Williams, and settled at Richland (Quakertown), in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and had a large family of children, among them Theophilus, who married Margaret Thomas. The fifth child of Theophilus and Mar- garet (Thomas) Foulke was Sarah, who married Edward Jenkins, (great-grandfather) of Gwy- nedd. Sarah was born in 1764, and died in 1828. Edward Jenkins and Sarah Foulke resided at Gwynedd where the family have ever since been located.
The children of Charles F. and Mary (Lan- caster) Jenkins were seven in all, of whom five died young. Algernon S. (father) born in Gwynedd, died there in 1890; he married Anna Maria Thomas, daughter of Spencer and Heph- zibah (Spencer) Thomas, and had one child, Howard Malcolm, born 3d-mo. 30, 1842. Al- gernon S. Jenkins' second wife was Alice A. Davis, who is still living. She has one child, George Herbert Jenkins, of the Philadelphia bar. Charles F. Jenkins, great-grandson of Jen- kin Jenkin, the immigrant, was born at Gwynedd 3d-mo. 18, 1793, and died there 2d-mo. 5, 1867. He obtained his education at the academy of Enoch Lewis, a celebrated teacher and mathema- tician, of New Garden, Chester county, Pennsyl- vania. He was a man of great intelligence, and had read very extensively during life on a great variety of subjects. Few men of his time were better informed than himself on the questions of the day. Having been trained to mercantile busi- ness in his father's store at Gwynedd, he engaged in business in Philadelphia on Second street, nearly opposite Christ Church, for a dozen years on reaching manhood with success, but in 1830, on the death of his father, Edward Jenkins, he returned to Gwynedd, and conducted the store
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nearly to the close of his life. He was a Whig and Republican in politics and was all his life actively interested in public affairs. He was for many years a director in the public schools, and was several times a candidate on his party ticket for member of the Legislature, but at a time when the nomination of the Democratic party in Montgomery county was equivalent to an election. He was for many years secretary of the Bethle- hem Turnpike Company, a director of the Bank of Montgomery County, of the Montgomery Mu- tual Fire Insurance Company, etc. Charles F. Jenkins was in every relation the same straight- forward, honest and earnest man, honored and respected by all who knew him. Another son who grew to manhood, married and reared a fam- ily was William H. Jenkins, for many years post- master, and most of his life proprietor of the Gwynedd store, where he was succeeded by his son Walter H. Jenkins. Mary Lancaster, mother of Algernon and William H. Jenkins, was a de- scendant of Thomas Lancaster, an eminent Min- ister of the Society of Friends at Richland, who married Phebe Wardell, and had a large family of children.
Algernon S. Jenkins (father) was for many years the confidential counselor, justice of the peace and conveyancer for a large section of country centering at Gwynedd. He was inter- ested in everything that was calculated to pro- mote the common welfare, he was honored with many trusts in the course of a long life, and was faithful to them all. He was the Republican leader in Gwynedd for forty years of his life, and was also the candidate of his party for legislative and other positions on the county ticket at a time when no Republican could be elected. He enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all, and left behind him as a legacy to his descendants an hon- ored memory. He was an exceedingly careful and correct business man, his conveyances of property and other legal papers being always pre- pared with the most scrupulous neatness and ex- actness, such as few could hope to equal. His good judgment made his counsel of all the more value to those who needed it.
ยท Howard M. Jenkins will be remembered as an author and journalist who achieved distinction in whatever he undertook, and as a most useful and valuable leader in the Philadelphia Yearly Meet- ing of Friends. His clear insight in matters of business gave him an influence possessed by few men. Moderate in his views, careful to avoid giving offense in the expression of his opinions, but strong and earnest in his convictions, he was a power in a deliberative assembly. Plain and practical in his ideas, he knew how to solve the puzzling problems that arose, and his counsel was certain to be safe in the great majority of cases.
Howard M. Jenkins was educated at the Foulke Boarding School in Gwynedd, assisting his father on the farm and in his business as op- portunity offered. He inclined, however, towards journalism, and the opportunity came to gratify his taste in this direction. In conjunction with his brother-in-law Wilmer Atkinson he purchased in 1861, the Norristown Republican, and the two conducted it with ability and success. Those were war times, and stirring events were oc- curring daily and history was being made with bewildering rapidity. The firm of Jenkins & At- kinson conducted the Republican for three years, when it was merged into the Herald and Free Press, the oldest newspaper in the county of Montgomery, and then as it is now, an able exponent of Republican principles. Wilmer At- kinson withdrew, and the firm became Wills, Ire- dell & Jenkins, the other partners being Morgan R. Wills, the present proprietor of the Herald, and Robert Iredell, Jr., who afterwards became identified with the Allentown Chronicle, and is now long deceased. Ultimately, Mr. Wills se- cured the complete control of the Herald, and Jenkins & Atkinson went to Wilmington, Dela- ware, and established the Daily Commercial, the first Republican daily in that state. The publica- tion was a success, and while located there, How- ard M. Jenkins did much to Republicanize the city and the state. In 1879, the enterprise was dis- posed of, and after a brief sojourn in West Ches- ter, Howard M. Jenkins became connected with
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the Philadelphia organ of the Society of Friends, the Friends Intelligencer, as editor-in-chief, a position which he held until his death.
Howard M. Jenkins married 3d-mo. 16, 1865, Mary Anna, born 12th-mo. 5, 1843, daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Quinby) Atkinson, and sister of Wilmer Atkinson, so long associated with Howard M. Jenkins in the newspaper busi- ness, and for many years since with Charles F. Jenkins, son of Howard, in the publication of the Farm Journal, an agricultural monthly, having a very large circulation and much influence. The Atkinsons were an old Bucks county family, de- scended from settlers who came to Pennsylvania in the time of William Penn. John Atkinson ob- tained a certificate from the Lancaster Monthly Meeting dated 1699, for himself, his wife and children, to Friends in the Province of Pennsyl- vania. The parents, it is said, died at sea, leav- ing three children: William, born 1687; Mary, born 1689; and John, born 1691. The family have continued to be Friends through many gen- erations since that time. Thomas and Hannah Atkinson, parents of Mary Anna (Atkinson) Jenkins, removed from Bucks county to Upper Dublin township, Montgomery county, in 1849, purchasing a farm on which they spent the re- mainder of their lives, each dying at an advanced age. Mary Anna attended the Byberry Friends' Boarding School conducted by the Hillborns, well known teachers. The family relations of Howard M. Jenkins were always of the most delightful character, and his children were reared under the most favorable influences. The children of How- . ard and Mary Anna Jenkins : Charles Francis, born 12th-mo. 17, 1865. He attended the Friends' School at Wilmington, Delaware and public schools in West Chester and Gwynedd. He mar- ried Marie G., daughter of Edward and Isabella (Mitchell) Cope, of Germantown, where he lives, and is engaged in the publication of the Farm Journal; Anna M., born Ist-mo. 7, 1867, at Wil- mington, Delaware, attended the Wilmington, and later the West Chester public schools and Swarthmore College, from whence she gradu- ated in the class of 1887, married I. Daniel Web- ster, M. D., of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania,
and removed to Mankato, Minnesota, where they reside; he follows the practice of medicine; Thomas Atkinson, born 5th-mo. 24, 1868, at- tended Wilmington and West Chester Schools, and Swarthmore College, where he graduated in the class of 1887, and the University of Pennsyl- vania, where he graduated in the class of 1888, and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, where he graduated in the class of 1894, in Romance, Languages and Literature, and is now professor in those branches and French at the University of Chicago. He married Marion Magill, daugh- ter of ex-President Edward H. Magill, of Swarth- more College, and Sarah (Beans) Magill; Ed- ward Atkinson, born 7th-mo. 8, 1870, at Wil- mington, attended the West Chester schools, and Swathmore College, from which institution he graduated in the class of 1892. He married Mary Ellen Atkinson, of Buckingham, Bucks county, Pennsylvania ; Algernon S., born in Wilmington, Ioth-mo. 21, 1874, died Ist-mo. 21, 1878; Flor- ence, born 9th-mo. 1, 1876, attended Friends' School at Gwynedd and George School at New- town, Bucks county, is unmarried, and resides with her mother; Arthur Hugh, born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, 12th-mo. 5, 1880, attended Friends' School at Gwynedd, George School and Swarthmore College, of which institution he is a graduate ; he is engaged on the Farm Journal, is unmarried, and resides with his mother. Charles F. and Marie Jenkins have four children, Alger- non S., Isabella, Charles Francis, and Edward Cope. I. Daniel and Anna M. Webster have four children, Dorothea, Agnes Elizabeth, Alan King, and Philip Jenkins. Thomas A. and Marion Jen- kins have four children, Beatrice, Edward Magill, Francis Arthur and Wilmer Atkinson. Edward A. and Mary Ellen Jenkins have three children, Howard M., Miriam and Barbara Schofield.
The career of Howard M. Jenkins up to the time of leaving Wilmington has been already out- lined in connection with his earlier achievements. In 1879 he established his family in West Chester, where he resided seven years, devoting his time entirely to literary work. A Republican in poli- tics, he objected to machine rule. In 1881, he became connected with the Philadelphia Amer-
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ican, established by Wharton Barker, as asso- ciate editor with Robert Ellis Thompson. He continued in this position until its publication was suspended in 1890, making many valuable contri- butions to its pages, covering a wide range in lit- erature and politics. He became associated with Charles Heber Clark in the editorial management of the Manufacturer. He also wrote for a New York firm a History of Philadelphia, complet- ing his share of the work, the first of three vol- umes, in 1895. It was while he was at West Chester in 1884, that he purchased from Dr. Joseph Gibbons the Friends' Journal, which he published for a few months, when it was pro- posed to unite it with the Friends' Intelligencer, the leading paper for many years in the Society. Their union was accomplished, and Howard M. Jenkins became editor-in-chief of the Intelli- gencer and Journal, a position which he held until his death, filling it with great ability and doing much to develop its present usefulness. He was strongly in sympathy with the various activities of the Society of Friends of more recent years, the First-day school, the Friends' Association, and others, and it was probably owing as much to him as to any other person that the Biennial Confer- ences which have done so much to awaken a more general interest in the principles and testimonies of Friends were established in their present suc- cessful working.
The family removed to Gwynedd in .1886, where his father, anxious to have his son with him in his declining years, built a residence for him and his family. Algernon S. Jenkins was killed by a fall in his barn in 1890, cutting short the con- genial intercourse of the two. In 1893 he pre- pared for the Friends' session of the Religious Parliament held in connection with the World's Fair at Chicago, a pamphlet "The Religious Views of the Society of Friends," which has been very extensively circulated, and proves how well he understood the mission of the Society. His "Historical Collections of Gwynedd," an admir- able epitome of the history of his native township, had appeared some years earlier, a second edi- tion being afterwards printed when the first had become exhausted. His "Family of William
Penn," first published in installments in the Penn- sylvania Magazine of History of the State His- torical Society, also added greatly to his reputa- tion as a writer. He had partly written at the time of his death, "Pennsylvania, Colonial and Federal," a magnificent work in three volumes, published since that event. He had done much work prior to his death on "The Spencer Family," but was prevented from completing it by the pres- sure of other matters.
No sketch of Howard M. Jenkins could be re- garded as complete without some reference to his splendid work in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends, in whose business sessions he was ex- ceedingly active and influential, always laboring earnestly for the good of the Society which he so deeply loved. He was gifted with clear insight in all matters relating to the progress of the So- ciety, and his views were strongly impressed upon the body of Friends, not only in this country but also in England. It was largely through his in- strumentality that the pleasant relations between Friends in England and the more liberal branch of Friends in America, interrupted by the division in the Society in 1827, were gradually being re- sumed, and it may be hoped will ultimately be- come still more cordial.
Howard M. Jenkins had a keen perception of the ludicrous, and a sense of humor which made him a very pleasant companion. He enjoyed raillery, and was always good at repartee. He was sanguine but not to a degree to disturb the even balance of his mind. For a philanthropist he was exceedingly practical, almost discouraging at times to those who imagine that the world can be reformed at once. He was methodical, patient and industrious, always hopeful, ever confident that the right would ultimately win, notwith- standing the obstacles that temporarily hindered the triumphs so much desired by him and his co- laborers in the cause of truth.
Howard M. Jenkins was the earnest promoter of the plan for a summer settlement of Friends at Buck Hill Falls, an ideal place for a mountain re- sort, and within easy reach of the great cities of Philadelphia and New York, in which and in the vicinity of which are located so large and so in-
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fluential a section of American Friends. The plan for an inn, surrounded by the cottages of Friends and Friendly people was at length realized, a beginning being made through the agency of the Buck Hill Falls Association, so that the opening was made for the season of 1901. It was a success from the start, and promises to be much more of a success in the future than even so thorough an admirer of this beautiful nook among the everlast- ing hills as Howard M. Jenkins imagined it could be. He was enthusiastic in its praise, and it was in showing its beauties to a friend, Isaac H. Cloth- ier, that he, whose life was of so much value to the Society of Friends, lost it through a misstep. He wished that they should cross the stream in order to take in the splendid view of the falls from the opposite side. The temporary foot bridge had been swept away by the high water of a few days previous, and he undertook to secure a plank and place it in such a position that the two could pass over the narrow chasm. Stepping upon it to show his companion that it was safe, he fell into the boiling whirlpool formed by the mountain torrent below. His death was almost instantaneous, and the leader of Quakerism on the American Continent was no more. In the whole circle of seven Yearly Meetings, and far beyond the limits of the Society, in the literary and re- ligious world, the shock was profound. His death occurred on Ioth-mo. II, 1902, and his funeral at Gwynedd Meeting-house on the 15th was attended by many of the leading Friends throughout and even beyond the Yearly Meeting. The scene was most impressive. Addresses were delivered by many who had known and loved him in life, including Robert Ellis Thompson, Rufus M. Jones, O. Edward Janney, Joel Borton, Ell- wood Roberts, Samuel E. Griscom, Elizabeth Lloyd, Samuel S. Ash and others. The heartfelt tributes there uttered were taken up and repeated in the newspaper press to whose writers he was so well known. The loss to his community, to the Society, and to the cause of progress was indeed irreparable. He passed away with his work largely done but still incomplete, and in a manner which showed how frail is the hold of humanity upon life.
Howard M. Jenkins was associated in various capacities with the following organizations : The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, The Histori- cal Society of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Committee on George School at Newtown, Pennsylvania, Penn- sylvania Forestry Association, Universal Peace Union, Friends' Book Association, Mohonk Con- ference of Friends of the Indian, Bucks County Historical Society, History Club of the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, Phi Beta Kappa Chapter of Swarthmore College, Celtic Association of Phil- adelphia, Contemporary Club, Browning Society, Franklin Inn Club, Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery (reorganized), Buck Hill Falls Company, Board of Managers of Swarth- more College, Pennsylvania State Editorial As- sociation, and many others of more or less im- portance in connection with philanthropic and hu- manitarian movements of various kinds. His as- sistance in every such movement was sought and valued. When it became necessary for any ac- tion to be taken by the Yearly Meeting or other authority to make any representations to Con- gress or the President, as coming from the So- ciety of Friends, his good sense and sound judg- ment could be relied upon to present the subject in the best and most effective way.
LOUIS M. CHILDS, recognized as one of the principal leaders of the Norristown bar, is a native of Pennsylvania, descended from an early English ancestry. The family originated in Hartfordshire, one of the most beautiful and interesting counties in England, and the pro- genitor of the American branch came from the village about ten miles distant from the city of London.
From the original Childs stock came John Childs, the paternal grandfather of Mr. Childs, born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, who was a farmer in Norristown town- ship, and died in 1826, in early manhood. His wife, who was Ann Moore, survived him sixty- five years, dying in 1892, at the venerable age of upwards of ninety years. Joseph Foss, maternal grandfather of Mr. Childs, was of German de-
Louis In. Lelieds
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scent, and his ancestors came to Pennsylvania early in the eighteenth century. He was a farmer by occupation, and a member of the Society of Friends. He and his wife, who was a Jones, both died early in life and on the same day, leav- ing two daughters.
Jacob Childs, father of Louis M. Childs, was a native of Montgomery county and was born and reared upon a farm in Plymouth township. He removed about 1844 to Norristown and be- came one of its most useful and enterprising citi- zens. He was actively engaged in mercantile pursuits, and for some years in the iron manu- facturing business. He was prominent in public affairs and served as a member of the town coun- cil for the unusual period of thirty-six years, and was for some years president of that body. He also occupied the position of borough treas- urer for the period of six years. He married Lydia Foss, a native of Chester county. Both of Quaker descent, they affiliated themselves with the Society of Friends, but were not meni- bers. Mr. Childs died in 1886, at the age of sixty-four years, and his widow still survives, making her home in Norristown. They were the parents of five children: Mary, deceased ; Louis M .; Walter F. and Emma H., (twins) ; and Lillian.
Louis M. Childs, eldest son of Jacob and Lydia (Foss) Childs, was born in Norristown, August 19, 1852. Studious from the first, he laid the foundation of an excellent education early in his youth, graduating from the high school at the age of fifteen years. He graduated in a higher course in 1868 and again in 1869, and when only seventeen entered the sophomore class in the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1872, in his twentieth year. For a year afterward he was engaged in his father's iron establishment and he then en- tered upon a course of law reading in the office of S. R. Fox, and was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county in March, 1870, and has since then been actively engaged in his profes- sion, maintaining offices at No. 505 Swede street, Norristown. With ample equipment for all the
departments of law, civil and criminal, he en- tertains a preference for those of commercial and corporation law, for which he has developed genuine talent and aptitude. His abilities found almost immediate recognition, and he entered upon ample employment in conducting the legal affairs of various important financial and com- mercial corporations. He has been phenomenally active in connection with banking affairs and has successfully reorganized several banking com- panies, in some instances finding it necessary to conduct litigious proceedings, which served to prevent insuperable difficulties. Among the in- stitutions thus reorganized, involving severe and protracted labor and requiring deep knowledge not only of law but of business methods, were the Tradesmen's National Bank of Consho- hocken, in 1889, and the Doylestown National Bank in 1903. Mr. Childs has been for some years attorney for the Tradesmen's National Bank of Conshohocken, the National Bank of Norristown, the Jenkentown National Bank, the Montgomery Trust Company and the Bucks County Trust Company. He has also been for several years counsel for the Norristown Water Company, the Norristown Gas Company and the Standard Oil Company.
Mr. Childs has always been an active and efficient advocate of the principles of the Repub- lican party and he has wielded a potent influence throughout his county in maintaining its organ- ization and aiding in its usefulness, but without aught of personal ambition or self-seeking and has never sought or held a public office.
Mr. Childs was married, in September, 1889, to Miss Alice G. Hibberd, a daughter of Norris and Eliza (Moore) Hibberd. Of this marriage have been born three children-Alice H., Mar- jorie and Louis M. Childs. Mrs. Childs is a member of the Presbyterian church, and her hus- band is an attendant there. The family home is at No. 15 Jacoby street.
FRANKLIN B. DAVIDHEISER, of the firm of Davidheiser & Keiser, contractors and builders of Pottstown, is a native of Berks county,
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Pennsylvania, where he was born January 19, 1861. He is the son of John and Mary ( Binger- man) Davidheiser.
John Davidheiser (father) is also a native of Montgomery county. He is a farmer in Potts- grove township. His wife is a native of Berks county. They have had eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, of whom seven are now living as follows: Franklin, Ephraim, Harrison, Howard, Annie Miranda, wife of Maurice Dot- terer ; Ida, wife of William Reppert, and Sallie, wife of Calvin Prutzman. John Davidheiser and his wife were Lutherans in religious faith. In politics he is a Democrat. They live in West Pottstown.
Samuel Davidheiser (grandfather) was born in Montgomery county, and was reared in Potts- grove township. He was a farmer by occupation. He was blind for eighteen years before his death. He was twice married, his second wife being a Mrs. Eagle, whose maiden name was Levengood. They had a large family of children. Mr. Bing- erman (maternal grandfather) lived at Pine Iron Works, in Berks county, for some time, but later went to Harrisburg, where he was accidentally killed on a railroad, when he was upwards of sev- enty years of age. He was a miller by trade. His wife was a Miss Hatfield. They had a large family.
Franklin B. Davidheiser was reared on a farm in Montgomery county, spending the summers in the usual way, and attending the district schools in winter. He worked at the carpenter trade three years, and then began contracting on his own ac- count. Most of his life has been spent in Mont- gomery county, although he lived for some time in Kansas, and in the South. He has been a resi- dent of Pottstown for the past eighteen years.
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