USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Vol. III > Part 55
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In the year 1863 Captain Darte, Sr., was sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he organized and commanded a regiment of Sioux Indians, and rendered to the government valuable service. Before the war Colonel Darte was a most pronounced Abolitionist. In the early days of the war he gave a musket to his colored servant, Henry Brown, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and told him if any one questioned his right to carry arms to refer such person to him. The negro carried the musket; and many old soldiers remembered Brown as the first colored man they ever saw with a musket. He was not molested. On the formation of the Republican party, prior to the Civil War, Colonel Darte was deeply interested in the welfare of the new organization. He was delegate to the first Republican convention held in the county. He was city attorney of the mayor's court of Carbondale, Pennsylvania, in the years 1871-73, and re- corder or judge of the same court 1872-74. Colonel Darte was a patriotic man, not alone in a military sense but in the highest meaning of the word.
He descended from fighting stock, his father and seven of his father's broth- ers served in the Revolutionary war. He was loyal to his country, his chosen profession, his family and his friends. He was remarkable for his independ- ence of thought and expression, and his contempt for the double dealing tactics of those who plead "expendency" or "policy". He hated sham or cant, was per- fectly fearless and liked the society of those who had opinions and had inde- pendence enough to express them.
Colonel Alfred Darte married, December 30, 1830, Ann Elizabeth, daughter of Dorastus Cone, of Esopus, Ulster county, New York, and a descendant of Elijah Cone, the Revolutionary soldier. Colonel and Mrs. Darte were the par- ents of two sons and two daughters who survived them, Mrs. James Thomp- son, of Carbondale, Pennsylvania, and Mrs. William Herring, of Detroit, Mi- chigan ; Captain Alfred Darte, Jr., see forward, and Luther Curran Darte, see forward.
ALFRED DARTE, eldest son of Colonel Alfred and Ann Elizabeth (Cone) Darte, was born at Dundaff, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, April 28, 1836. He was educated in the common schools and at Wyoming Seminary, studied law with his father, and was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania,
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May 12, 1859. During the Civil War he was first lieutenant of Company K, Twenty-Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, commissioned April 26, 1861. On Au- gust 13, 1861, he was commissioned second lieutenant of Company M, Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and on the retirement of his father was advanced to the rank of captain of Company M. On September 19, 1864, Captain Darte, Jr., was honorably discharged for disability from wounds received in a hand to hand fight in action at Trevillion Station, Virginia. In 1879 he was elected dis- trict attorney of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and was re-elected for a sec- ond term, serving six years in this office. He was elected in the year 1896 pre- sident judge of the Orphan's Court, Luzerne county, and died while on the bench in 1901. Captain Darte married (first) June II, 1863, Caroline, daugh- ter of John Sealy, a native of Cork, Ireland. She died in 1892. Captain Darte married (second) Mabel Hemmingway, of Washington, D. C., in 1897. There are three children surviving Captain Darte : Frank G., Alfred de Marson and Amy Louise Darte.
LUTHER CURRAN DARTE, second son of Colonel Alfred and Ann Elizabeth (Cone) Darte, was born in Dundaff, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, Octo- ber 27, 1843. He enlisted in the Fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry, Au- gust 13, 1861, a private, was advanced to quartermaster-sergeant and was hon- orably discharged October 30, 1864, by reason of expiration of term of service. In the same regiment, at the same time was his father and only brother, the father a captain, the brother a lieutenant, and Luther C., a sergeant. The Fourth Regiment was a part of the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac, un- der Pleasonton and Sheridan, and saw hard and hazardous service with both. After the close of the Civil War Sergeant Darte took a deep interest in the Republican party organization of the country. He was delegated to attend the county, state and national conventions at different periods. He was one of the commissioners of Luzerne county and prison commissioner for several years. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Sons of Veterans, Mili- tary Order of the Loyal Legion, and the Pennsylvania Society, Sons of the Rev- olution, and was a member of the Veteran Military Legion during the existence of that body. Luther C. Darte married (first) in 1871, Isabel Abbott,
She died in 1895. daughter of George and Maria (Bidlack) Lockhart.
I873. George They had one son, George Lockhart Darte, born in
Lockhart Darte was United States consul at St. Pierre, Martinique, West In- dies, during the Spanish-American war, and was afterward United States Con- sul at Patras, Greece. Luther C. Darte married (second) in 1898, Josephine, daughter of Hugo V. and Minna (Kuschke) Stadler. They had one son, Mor- ley Stadler Darte, born in 1902, died in 1910.
HON. FRANK MILLER RITER
FRANK MILLER RITER was born at Philadelphia, May 20, 1855, and is the son of Michael Miller and Elizabeth Georgiana (Caldwell) Riter. On the paternal side he is of German origin, a descendant of George Reiter (Riter). On the maternal side he is of Scotch Irish ancestry and a descendant of James Cald- well.
GEORGE REITER (or Riter ) and his wife Elizabeth, are buried at St. Michael's Lutheran Church, Mt. Airy, Philadelphia. The inscriptions on their tombstones are as follows: "George Reiter, born Jan. 22, 1727, died October 22, 1794," and his wife, "Elizabeth Reiter, born February 25, 1733, died December 26, 1792." The will of George Reiter is dated August 29, 1794, and was probated Novem- ber 22, 1794. His name is there spelled Reiter. The transition in the spelling from Reiter to Riter is perfectly traceable in the will of George Reiter. The body of the will is written in English and in a very legible hand, distinctly that of a scrivener. It begins with the statement: "Be it known that I, George Riter of Germantown do make this my last will and testament", but the signature of the testator is in German characters and is "Görg Reiter". This ac- counts for the change in the spelling of the' name from Reiter to Riter. His sons adopted the English form of spelling the name. George Reiter (or Riter) was a large landholder, bequeathing a tract of thirty acres in Germantown to his son George, and a tract of land of over one hundred acres in Marlborough township, Montgomery county, to his son Michael. As he was born in 1727, he was beyond the age of active service in the Revolutionary War. He was, however, enrolled as a private in 1778, in Captain James Irvine's company of the Upper District of Germantown township, Second Battalion of Philadelphia County Militia. He doubtless was a member of the "Associated Company" of this district in 1775 and 1776, but the rolls of these early companies are not known to be in existence. Being over fifty years of age in 1778, his name ap- pears in the 8th Class, but he probably saw active service of a local nature, as all the classes of militia were called out on special occasions. Associated with him in the Germantown company were several members of the Rex family, who were his neighbors, and into which family two of his daughters married. His other children were Margaret, Eve, Elizabeth, Susanna, Catharine and Han- nah, all of whose baptisms appear of record at St. Michael's Lutheran Church at Mt. Airy between 1760 and 1775. Many of these facts were obtained from his will on file in Philadelphia, and probated November 22, 1794.
MICHAEL RITER, son of the above named George Reiter (or Riter), named in the will above referred to, was born June 7, 1772, baptized at St. Michael's, May 4, 1775, and died June 25, 1845. He married Catharine E. Wunder, who died March 1I, 1844, in her seventieth year, consequently must have been born in 1774 or 1775. They both lie buried in Leverington Cemetery, Roxborough. He took an active interest in the affairs of his locality, owned the stage route from Germantown to Philadelphia for some time, and also was at different
Muchas for theter
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times the proprietor of both the Indian Queen and the King of Prussia Taverns. He was regarded most highly by all who knew him.
GEORGE W. RITER, son of Michael and Catharine E. (Wunder) Riter, was born March 8, 1795, baptised September 4, 1795, at St. Michael's, Mt. Airy, and married Susannah Levering. She died aged 27 years, 9 months and 8 days, which would make the date of her birth May 6, 1797. She was a descendant of Wigard Levering, and her genealogy is fully set forth in several editions of "The Lev- ering Family."
George W. Riter was a man of very considerable prominence. He was a practicing physician for a number of years in Philadelphia, and a member of the Constitutional Convention of the State of Pennsylvania in 1837. He was Recorder of Deeds for Philadelphia county from 1824 to 1830. President Van Buren appointed him Surveyor for the District and Collector of Revenue of the Port of Philadelphia for four years from 1838. He died May 4, 1841. He was a man of attractive personality. He was married twice, the second wife being Matilda Gilbert. By each marriage he had a large number of children. Those by his first marriage were: William, who died in early youth; George and Nathan, who died unmarried; Michael Miller, mentioned below; Catharine, who married John Sidney Jones; and Sarah, who married Thomas Fitzgerald. By his second marriage his children were: Frederick, who married Sallie Peacock ; Henry, who married Harriet Davis; Gilbert, who married Fannie Yarrow; Em- ily, who married George Henderson; Mary, who married John Durburrow; Ma- tilda, who married Jacob E. Knorr; and Ellen, who married Henry Nassau.
MICHAEL MILLER RITER, one of the children of George W. Riter, by his first wife, was born February 5, 1823. He was married January 14, 1846, by the Rev. P. F. Meyer, in Philadelphia, to Elizabeth Georgiana Caldwell, who was born January 2, 1825. She was a daughter of Dr. James St. Clair Cald- well and his wife Maria Howell, herein mentioned. The said Michael M. Riter was a man of marked power and of influence among his friends. He entered business when he was a lad of sixteen years of age, amassing a fair competency for his time, inspiring the confidence of those who knew him and the deepest affection of all his family. He died at his residence, 127 North Tenth Street, Philadelphia, December 23, 1904, in the eighty-second year of his age, and was buried in Monument Cemetery, Philadelphia.
Michael M. Riter and his wife Elizabeth Georgiana (Caldwell) Riter had seven children, all born in Philadelphia, viz: James Caldwell Riter, born Octo- ber 29, 1846, died January 15, 18 -; William G. Riter, born July 29, 1850; Annie Elkinton Riter, born December 5, 1852, who married David Rupp, of York, Pennsylvania, March 30, 1882. There have been born to Annie Elkinton (Riter ) Rupp and David Rupp, two children : Michael Riter Rupp, born February 5, 1883, and David Rupp, born January 28, 1884. Michael Riter Rupp was mar- ried to Sophia Fry Eisenhart; Frank M. Riter; Elizabeth Georgiana Riter, born November 5, 1858, and died May 13, 1859; Charles Jones Riter, born Decem- ber 29, 1859, who married Clara M. Hovey, December 6, 1888; they have one son, Michael Miller Riter, born October 3, 1889; Michael Miller Riter, Jr., born August 5, 1864, who married Elizabeth Harrison Bains, February 10, 1909.
FRANK MILLER RITER, fourth child of Michael Miller and Elizabeth Geor- giana (Caldwell) Riter, was born at Philadelphia, May 20, 1855. He attended
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the Friends Central School, Philadelphia, and graduated from the Law De- partment of the University of Pennsylvania, class of 1878. He was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar in the same year and has since been a practicing at- torney in that city. He early became actively interested in public affairs, and has rendered much efficient service to his native city and state. He was elected to Common Council in February, 1883, and served for two years; was appointed Assistant City Solicitor in April, 1884; was elected to Pennsylvania Legislature in November, 1888, and was re-elected in 1890-1892 and 1894, serving four con- secutive terms, for a portion of which time he was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. He was appointed Director of the Department of Public Safety of Philadelphia by Mayor Warwick in February, 1896, holding this of- fice for over three years. He had under his care all the city property, and the restoration of Independence Hall took place while he held the office of the di- rector, and was under his immediate and active supervision. He was the first to recommend officially to councils the introduction of the High Pressure Fire Main System. In March, 1906, Mr. Riter became president of the Philadelphia Civil Service Commission, filling that position for one year. He is a member of the Union League, University and Rittenhouse Clubs, and of the Pennsyl- vania Society Sons of the Revolution.
A brief review of the maternal ancestry of Frank M. Riter will now be given : JAMES CALDWELL, the earliest paternal ancestor of Elizabeth Georgiana (Cald- well) Riter, of whom we have any record, came from Newton-Stewart, Parish of Ardshaw, County Tyrone, Ireland, bringing with him to Pennsylvania, in 1736, a passport or church certificate, dated June 10, 1736, signed by the min- ister and church-wardens of Ardshaw parish, which was countersigned by a civil magistrate, William Colhoun, Esq., of that parish. A photograph of this curious passport is now in the possession of the subject of this sketch, Hon. Frank Miller Riter, a lineal descendant of the bearer.
James Caldwell settled in Little Britain township, Lancaster county, being among the earliest settlers of that section, most of whom were emigrants from the North of Ireland. His name appears of record in various activities in that section, principally pertaining to the founding and support of the Presbyterian Church of Little Britain. He was probably of too advanced an age to take any active part in the War of the Revolution, in which his four sons participated, John, the eldest, holding a captain's commission in the Lancaster County Mili- tia, and James and Oliver rendering active service in the ranks. John and Oli- ver are named as executors of their father's will, dated August 15, 1783, and probated April 14, 1785, in which he devises his home plantation called "Slate Hill", and other lands, to Oliver, subject to certain privileges to his wife Mary. To his other sons, John, William, James and Andrew, is given but ten shillings each, with the statement that he had already liberally provided for them. Leg- acies are also given to his daughters, Mary, wife of William Money, and Agnes, wife of John Atchison.
Mary, the wife of James Caldwell, maiden name unknown, but by tradition known as Calhoun, survived her husband fifteen years. Her will dated Sep- tember 7, 1799, probated February 26, 1800, gives small legacies to all the children mentioned in her husband's will, and a daughter-in-law, Alice Cald-
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well. Oliver, the son, who had inherited the homestead died there in 1813, de- vising it and other estate to his son James.
ANDREW CALDWELL, one of the younger sons of James and Mary Caldwell, was born in Little Britain township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1760. At the age of sixteen years, on February 20, 1776, he enlisted in the first ar- tillery company raised in Pennsylvania for the Continental service, authorized by resolve of Congress as a "Company of Matrosses" in January, 1776, and of which Bernard Roman was appointed captain by the Pennsylvania Council of Safety, February 8, 1776. The company was raised for service in the pro- posed expedition against Canada, in which it participated. Andrew Caldwell was appointed corporal and sergeant on his enlistment, and when the company was encamped on the river Sorrell, on the frontiers of Canada, Captain Roman appointed him conductor of the company. The, original certificate of appoint- ment is still in the possession of his descendants and is as follows:
By Virtue of the powers in me vested and to me Given by the Honorable the Continental Congress, I hereby appoint you Andrew Caldwell to be Conductor of said Company, and to exercise and perform the duty of and receive the pay as conductor and all and every person, Officer and private is to regard You as such as far as it particularly concerns the said Com- pany, or in any matter while the Company may be concerned with others.
Given under my hand at Sorrell, this 15 day of May 1776. B. ROMAN, Capt. Pa. Arty.
During the year of trying service in the wilderness, Andrew Caldwell was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and was evidently in command of the com- pany in February, 1777, at Ticonderoga, when the remnant of the Second and Fourth Battalions were directed to return with Colonel Anthony Wayne to Philadelphia to be disbanded, their term having expired. The following order from Colonel Anthony Wayne "To Lieut. Caldwell of the Artillery" is in pos- session of the family.
Head Quarters, Ticonderoga, I March 1777.
Mr. Caldwell: Sir: You are to proceed with Capt. Roman's Company of Artillery for Albany tomorrow morning at sun rise with one Sled to carry the Baggage. You will draw four days provisions this Evening- On your arrival at Albany you are to wait on Genl. Schuyler for his further Orders and the Route you are to take to Philada. You are to use every exertion in your power to prevent any Insult being offered to-or Depredations being committed on any of the Inhabitants through which you pass. I am Sir,
Your most Humble Servt.
ANTHONY WAYNE.
On this order, at Albany, was endorsed the following, in accordance with Wayne's instructions to report to Gen. Schuyler :-
Head Quarters, Albany, March 2, 1777. Sir: You will march the Company under your command to Philadelphia with all con- venient speed.
By order of the Genl. K. LANSONG, Junr. Sec'y. To Lieut. Caldwell of the Artillery.
The company returned to Philadelphia, most of its members badly broken in health from the hardships endured, and on April 1, 1777, Lieutenant Caldwell was commissioned second lieutenant of Captain Coren's Independent Company
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of Artillery, Pennsylvania Line, commanded by "the Honorable Brigadier Gen- eral Henry Knox." This company was chiefly employed for the next two years in the laboratory in fixing, manufacturing and repairing ammunition and arms for the Continental army. On April 5, 1779, on petition of Captain Coren, it was considered as part of Pennsylvania's quota and placed on the regular pay roll as such. Captain Coren, however, refused to act under the authority of Colonel Flower, of the Ordnance Department, and asked that his company be sent into active service, which was refused for the reason that a large number of the members were invalids from the hardships endured at the time of their service in the First Artillery Company. The remnant of the company was in 1781 incorporated into Colonel Thomas Proctor's artillery regiment. Long ere this, however, on July 23, 1779, Lieutenant Caldwell resigned to seek more active service. He enterd the Hospital Department, and becoming proficient therein was commissioned surgeon's mate for the Continental Army, in June, 1780, and filled that position until the close of the war.
After the close of the Revolutionary War, Andrew Caldwell located in New York, where he carried on the drug business at Pearl and Wall streets, and is referred to as "Dr. Andrew Caldwell.". A letter written by him from Philadel- phia to his brother, Oliver Caldwell, under date of December 23, 1789, states that he was married in September of that year to Elizabeth Barker, of Philadel- phia. Confirming this statement The Federal Gasette and Philadelphia Even- ing Post, under date of Friday, September 1I, 1789, contains the following no- Caldwell of New York to the amiable Miss Eliza (Elizabeth) Barker of this City."
He, however, could not have been permanently out of New York, for the date of the birth of his second son, William, as given in the Bible record, states that this son was born in New York, and gives the date of his birth as May 12, 1794. A letter from the widow to the brother of her deceased husband, Oliver Caldwell, at Peach Bottom Ferry, Lancaster county, dated Philadelphia, June 3, 1797, announced the death of her husband as on the second day of March last, i. e. 1797, and refers to her two sons James S. and William, aged five and three years respectively.
The account books of Dr. Andrew Caldwell, while conducting the drug store on Wall Street, New York, during the period succeeding the Revolutionary War, are in the possession of the subject of this sketch. They are models of care and precision, peculiar to that day, and show sales of drugs, etc., to Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and a number of other persons, prominently associated with the patriotic cause during the Revolution.
Elizabeth (Barker) Caldwell, the widow, married (second) at the Second Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, November 29, 1798, John Delameter. She died February 1, 1824, aged 65 years, and her second husband died December 7, 1829.
Dr. Andrew and Elizabeth (Barker) Caldwell had two sons-James S., of whom presently; and William Caldwell, born in New York, May 12, 1794.
DR. JAMES ST. CLAIR CALDWELL, eldest son of Dr. Andrew and Elizabeth (Barker) Caldwell, was born in the city of Philadelphia, December II, 1791. He studied medicine, but did not practice his profession. He lived during his early life at the old Springettsbury Manor, in Philadelphia county, which had
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been purchased by his father, but later removed to 164 North Ninth Street, in the city, where he died January 30, 1853. Dr. Caldwell married, May 13, 1818, Maria Howell, who was born at Morrisville, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1798, and died at 164 North Ninth Street, Philadelphia, June 29, 1865. She was a daugh- ter of Amos and Martha (Jones) Howell, of Morrisville, formerly of New Jersey, and a descendant of Edward Howell, founder of Southampton, Long Island, in 1640, and one of the most eminent men of his day in the Province of New York. He came to Lynn, Massachusetts, from the Manor of Westbury, in the parish of Marsh Gibbon, Buckinghamshire, England, and was the leader of the Lynn company that colonized Long Island in 1640.
Westbury Manor, Buckinghamshire, has been held by his family since its purchase in 1536 by his ancestor, William Howell, who was descended from Howell, Prince of Caerborn-upon-Uske, about A. D. 1250, and bore that prince's arms; Gules three towers triple towered, argent. Martha Jones, the mother of Maria (Howell) Caldwell, who died at Morrisville, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1821, aged 68 years, belonged to one of the prominent early families of Tren- ton, New Jersey.
Dr. James S. and Maria (Howell) Caldwell had five children, the two eld- est of whom died young; those who survived were: Elizabeth Georgiana, the mother of the subject of this sketch, who was born at Springettsbury, Philadel- phia, January 2, 1825 ; William Gustavus, born March 18, 1829, died February 25, 1873, married, May 14, 1868, Mary A. Donnely, of Philadelphia, they had no children; and Francis Marinus Caldwell, born November 6, 1831, at the North Ninth Street house, and died at 4814 Chester Avenue, Philadelphia, De- cember 1, 1908, a member of the Society of Cincinnati, and vice-president of the General Society, having succeeded to membership in the Pennsylvania Society on the death of his brother without male issue in 1873; both were officers of the State Society ; Francis M. married, in 1854, Elvira Comfort, daughter of Aaron Comfort, of Philadelphia. They had one daughter, Annie E. Caldwell, who died February 19, 1880, when twenty-five years of age, unmarried. Her mother had died a number of years before. Francis M. Caldwell, after the death of his first wife, married Elizabeth Haines Van Horn, by whom he had two sons- Harry S. Caldwell, born September 20, 1868, and died June 29, 1877, and Fran- cis Gustavus Caldwell, born August 2, 1862.
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FREDERICK BOND SANKEY
FREDERICK BOND SANKEY derives his membership in the patriotic order Sons of the American Revolution through the military service of his great-great- grand father, William Sankey, from whom he descends in the fifth generation of an unbroken male line. Frederick B. Sankey is a son of Charles Carroll San- key, of New Castle, Pennsylvania (who is so named from "Charles Carroll of Carrollton", the signer of the Declaration of Independence) and a cousin of the Ira D. Sankey, the world renowned Evangelist.
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