USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Volume II > Part 31
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Edith, daughter of William H. and Mary Carson (O'Hara) Darlington, was born at "Guyasuta", Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. She was educated at the Pittsburgh Female College and the School of Design. In 1891 she married Samuel A. Ammon, born in Pittsburgh, son of August Ammon, who was the first of his family to come to the United States. He was a native of Germany. Mr. Ammon is a lawyer practicing in Pittsburgh.
In patriotic lines Mrs. Ammon works through the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and has been Regent of the Pittsburgh chapter ten years, 1899 to 1909. The Pittsburgh Chapter has always been a working body and has accomplished a great deal in the way of arousing public patriotic spirit, in preserving historical landmarks, and retaining them as permanent monuments of the "days of yore". Perhaps the most notable of all their achievements was the purchase of the old historic "Block House" at the Point, after its doom had been pronounced by man. To do this they were compelled to become an in- corporated body, but the "Block House" was saved. In all this work Mrs. Ammon has borne an important part. In Church connection, she is a member of Cal- vary Episcopal Church, East End, Pittsburgh.
Captain John Wilkins, father of Nancy (Mrs. Major Ebenezer Denny) was a son of John and grandson of Robert Wilkins, the emigrant ancestor, who emi- grated from Bradenoch, Wales, where his family had been seated since the con- quest of that country by Edward III, of England. He was descended from Robert de Wintonia, which modernized is Robert of Winchester, and his son John, first bore the name of Wilcolyne or Wilkyn. Early in the eighteenth cen- tury, the Welsh family resumed by legal process the name of their ancestor de Winton. The arms of the Wilkins family are thus emblazoned : per pale or and argent, a wyvern vert. Crest: a wyvern proper ; mottoes; Estote prudents, and Syn ar dy Hun. Of Robert the emigrant, Captain John Wilkins says in a manuscript biography he left, dated 1807:
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"My grandfather, a native of Wales, in Great Britain, came early to this country (America) ; he landed in Pennsylvania, then a wilderness, he took up and settled a tract of land where the City of Philadelphia now stands. After living there some time, he sold his title for a beaver hat, then took up and improved the tract of land where the sign of the buck now is, ten miles from Philadelphia, on the Lancaster road. He sold out there and moved further on, taking the course of what is now called Hawes Ferry, taking up and selling tract after tract, until he settled on a tract about fourteen miles northward of where Lancaster now stands. There he lived some time. then left that tract to my fath- er, he moved on, settling several tracts until he settled a tract where Carlisle now stands. Gave that tract to another of his sons then moved on in the old way towards Patomick and died in Virginia."
JOHN WILKINS, son of Robert, the emigrant, and father of Captain John, was born at his father's settlement on Chiques Creek. He was extensively en- gaged in the Indian trade, and took an active part against Maryland during Cresap's "boundary war." An offer of fifty pounds by the Maryland authorities for his arrest resulted in his capture and imprisonment at Annapolis for a year ; he died in 1741. His wife lived to be eighty-four, and died at the home of her son, Captain John, in Pittsburgh.
We quote again from the manuscript of Captain John Wilkins :
"I was born in Donegall township, county of Lancaster, and Commonwealth of Penn- sylvania, about thirteen miles from Lancaster (June Ist, 1733, authority, T. J. Brereton), educated in the principles of the Presbyterian Church. My father died when I was a little boy. When a proper age I was bound apprentice to the saddler trade in Lancaster. When free I took possession of my father's tract of land in Donegall. I had four sisters who had shares. I bought them out, married there, and had three children born there, my son John being the first born. Two Presbyterian congregations being within my bounds, the one called the Old Light and the other the New Light, joined and paid them both."
In 1763 he removed to Carlisle, and ten years later to Bedford, Pennsylvania, engaging in mercantile life in both places. At the outbreak of the Revolution he organized a company of Associators, and in 1776 was commissioned a captain in the Continental service and fought at Brandywine and Germantown. He was a member of the Convention of July 15, 1776, from Bedford county. In No- vember, 1783, he removed to Pittsburgh, opened a store at the northeast corner of Fourth and Wood streets, and upon the organization of Allegheny county was appointed one of the Associate Judges of the court. He served as member of the Supreme Executive Council in 1790; was Chief Burgess of Pittsburgh ; Commissioner of Public Buildings and County Treasurer, from 1794 to 1803. He died in Pittsburgh, December 11, 1809.
Again we quote from his manuscript :
"In the winter of 1766-67 I received a captain's commission from General Washing- ton with orders, if accepted, to enlist a company of men and join the army of the United States. I accepted the commission, recruited, and in a short time enlisted sixty-four men. I then made a vendue, sold my land, my store in Bedfordtown. Attended by my son John, and all my stock and furniture, except my team, one riding horse and some light furniture, which I carried in my wagon, then set out with my family towards General Washington's headquarters, with my sixty-four men, two lieutenants, one ensign, togeth- er with twenty-two deserters. Out of my own money I paid the bounty and monthly wages, also their rations, together with the deserters until I arrived at Carlisle, where I first began to draw rations. But continued paying my men and officers monthly wages until the latter part of August following when our army lay in Wilmington. I settled up my accounts and there received all the money I had laid out for my company, together with my own pay, which amounted to a very large sum. During the time I was recruiting, I paid eight dollars for each deserter brought to me and the mileage, found them in ra- tions and other necessaries until I arrived at Carlisle, there I began to draw their ra- tions, from thence took them to camp, and then sent them to their respective regiments; for this great expense I never received a cent."
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He tells how his fortune was swept away by the depreciation of the Conti- nental currency, of his efforts and final settlement with his creditors and his years of struggle to retrieve his fortunes; of his arrival in Pittsburgh, and his efforts to better business conditions there; of his efforts to establish a Presbyter- ian congregation and the erection of the first log church. He says:
"At the first establishment of the church I was ordained one of the elders, and still continue in that station. I was also voted in one of the trustees of the church, and at every election since I have been continued in that station, and a very great part of the time president of the trustees."
He was twice married. Each wife bore him eleven children, twenty-two in all. We quote :
"Mark, I never got a shilling of fortune with either of my wives, yet ever since my first marriage to this day, I have lived happy with them and God hath blessed me with plenty to keep my children until they were able to provide for themselves." "A strong trait of his character," says Brereton, "was his devotion to his numerous children. His daughters were his especial pride, and despite the large number of them, it is said that he could not bear to have young men, no matter how bright their prospects, come a wooing. As the girls were bright and attractive, it is to be supposed that he had his own trou- bles on that score."
His eldest son, General John Wilkins, was born in 1761, and died in Pitts- burgh in 1816. He lived in Carlisle and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When a boy he entered the Revolutionary army and came with sword and epaulettes. He served throughout the war and ranked as captain. He succeeded General James O'Hara as quartermaster-general in the United States army. He was the first president of the Pittsburgh Branch of the Bank of Pennsylvania.
Another son of Captain John Wilkins was William Wilkins, born 1779, died June 23, 1865; he was U. S. Senator, 1831-4; Minister to Russia, 1835; Con- gressman, 1843-44; Secretary of War, 1844-45; Judge of the United States Dis- trict Court for Western Pennsylvania; first president of the Bank of Pitts- burgh.
Nancy Wilkins, wife of Major Ebenezer Denny, was a sister of General John and of Judge William Wilkins. They were all children of the first wife of Cap- tain John Wilkins.
JAMES CROSSAN CHAPLIN
JAMES CROSSAN CHAPLIN is a lineal descendent of two famous Revolution- ary officers-General John Neville, of Virginia, and Major Isaac Craig, who married the General's only daughter, Amelia. Both ancestors were intimately identified with the early development of the city of Pittsburgh, where the names Craig and Neville are "Open Sesame". Their descendants in each gen- eration have been men of mark in the army and navy of the United States, in business, letters, art, church and state. General Presley Neville, son of General John Neville, was an aide on the staff of General Lafayette. Henry Knox Craig, son of Major Isaac Craig, was a veteran officer of the War of 1812, and fought in the war with Mexico, retiring with the rank of brevet brigadier- general. His son, Lieutenant Presley O. Craig, was killed at the first battle of Bull Run, in 1861. Another of the sons, Benjamin F., was head of the chemical department of the surgeon-general's office at Washington. Neville B. Craig, another son of Major Isaac Craig, was a statesman and the historian par ex- cellence of his home city, Pittsburgh. He is the man who figured thus in the report of an investigating committee of the Pennsylvania legislature: "Every member, with the single exception of Craig of Allegheny, all had used his share of this plunder". His son Isaac was an author and historian, vice-president of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, and spent his whole life in research and study. Isaac Engene Craig, a grandson of Major Isaac Craig, was a noted artist and portrait painter. John Huntington Chaplin was an early attorney of Pitts- burgh; his son, Lieutenant William Craig Chaplin, had a brilliant naval career in the United States Navy from 1826 to 1851, and his son, Lieutenant-com- mander James Crossan Chaplin, was also an officer of the navy, 1850-1866, of whom it was said: "For daring and cool bravery in the performance of his duty, he was not surpassed by any other in the service". There have also been bankers, manufacturers, business and professional men of prominence in each generation. William Chaplin of the third generation in America was also a Rev- olutionary soldier.
GENERAL JOHN NEVILLE was born in Virginia, July 24, 1731, died near Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, July 29, 1803, where he was buried in Unity churchyard. He was a son of Richard Neville, of Virginia, and his wife, Ann (Burroughs ) Neville, a cousin of Lord Fairfax. His military record is as follows: Novem- ber 12, 1776, lieutenant-colonel Twelfth Virginia Regiment ; December II, 1777, colonel, Eighth Virginia Regiment; September 14, 1778, transferred to the Fourth Virginia Regiment, and served with it until the close of the war; September 30, 1783, he was brevetted brigadier-general. He was a delegate to the Provincial Convention of Virginia, that appointed George Washington, Peyton Randolph and others to be members of the First Continental Congress. In 1791, he was inspector of revenue for the Fourth Pennsylvania Survey during the Whiskey Insurrection. His home, where he died, was in Neville township, Allegheny county, Pennsyl- vania. His religious belief and life may be best expressed in this fact: "He
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huilt at his own expense the first Episcopal church west of the Allegheny Moun- tains".
General John Neville married Winfred, daughter of Colonel John and Anna (Conway) Oldham, of Virginia, granddaughter of Colonel Samuel and Eliza- beth Newton Oldham, of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and great-grand- daughter of John and Anna (Conway) Oldham, who came from England to Virginia in 1635. She had six brothers who were officers in the Revolutionary army, one of whom was killed at the battle of Eutaw Springs. Her marriage with General John Neville was solemnized in Winchester, Virginia, in August, 1754, and must have been a very happy one. We quote from the general's last will and testament : "My body I desire if I should die in any place convenient to the tomb of my loving wife, to be buried by her side, that in all humility praying, that as we have lived in perfect unity and happiness, we may together have a part in the resurrection of the just". Two children were born of this perfect marriage: General Presley Neville, who became a noted citizen of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Amelia, who became the wife of Major Isaac Craig.
Major Isaac Craig was born at Ballykeel, Artfinny, near Belfast, Ireland, died in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1826, and was buried in the First Presbyterian Church burying ground. He came to America in 1765 or 1766, landing near Philadelphia. He was a house carpenter and worked at his trade, becoming a master builder. He continued in business until the breaking out of the Revolution. He at once devoted himself to the cause of the colonies and enlisted in the navy. In November, 1775, he was commissioned lieutenant of marines (probably the first ever appointed in our navy) and was on the ill- fated "Andrew Doria", then commanded by Nicholas Biddle. He served on the ship ten months, forming a part of Commodore Hopkin's squadron cruising in the West Indies. John Paul Jones was an officer engaged in this expedition. In 1776 he was promoted to captain of marines, and ordered to the infantry service with the land forces. He was with Washington at the "Crossing of the Delaware", and in the battle next morning at Trenton, New Jersey, also at battle of Princeton. March 3, 1777, he was transferred to the artillery, under Colonel Thomas Proctor. He remained with that regiment until the close of the war, in command of a company, ranking as captain of artillery. He was engaged at the battle of Brandywine, where he received a slight wound, but the next month was in the engagement at Germantown. He spent the winter of 1777 with the army at Valley Forge, and early in the spring was ordered to Car- lisle, Pennsylvania, with several other officers, to "learn the art of laboratory", which meant the scientific preparation and testing of ammunition for the army. He was at Carlisle until August, 1778. In April, 1779, he was in command of the fort at Bellingsport, on the Delaware. In July, 1779, he was with General Sullivan's army on the expedition against the Indians of the Six Nations, and their white allies, the British Tories, under Brandt and the Butlers, who were devastating the Genesee Valley of New York state. He spent the winter of 1780 with Washington's army at Morristown, New Jersey; April 20, 1780, was ordered to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by General Washington, which point he reached on May 29, and hereafter that city was his home. He was connected with the movements of troops under General Clarke, and on October 7, 1782,
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was promoted to the rank of major. Until the close of the war, Major Craig was on duty often perilous in the extreme. When mustered out of service he formed a partnership with a brother officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen Bayard, to engage in commercial business in Pittsburgh, also to deal in lands and town lots. They bought of the Penns the first land sold within the limits of what is now Pittsburgh, January 22, 1784. From this time on until his deatlı he was in active business and public life. He was deputy-quartermaster and military store keeper, superintendent of the erection of forts at different points, built boats, and with General O'Hara established the first glass blowing plant in the Pittsburgh district. In the War of 1812 his services were again in demand by his country as an expert artilleryman. This was his last public employment. He became reduced in circumstances through endorsing for others and had to sell all his real estate. In the autumn of 1815, he removed to a good farm on Montour Island, in the Ohio river, owned by his wife, and here he passed his last days in comfort. He was a Presbyterian, and one of the first trustees of the First Church of Pittsburgh. His son pays this tribute to his father: "A sincere Christian, an honest man, a faithful diligent officer, a good citizen, a kind neighbor, an affectionate husband, and a most indulgent father".
Major Isaac Craig's wife was Amelia, only daughter of General John Neville, whom he married, January 1, 1785. They were the parents of thirteen children, three of whom died in infancy, and will not be named here:
Harriet, see forward;
Neville B., a graduate of Princeton College, a gifted lawyer, and famous as a local historian; city solicitor of Pittsburgh; owner and editor of Pittsburgh Gazette, the first daily of the city; member of the state legislature, the First Presbyterian Church, the Antiquarian Society, and many others. His wife was Jane Ann Ful- ton, whom he married, May 1, 1811, and had issue;
Matilda (Mrs. Reese E. Fleeson) ;
Presley Hamilton, surgeon, U. S. A., and medical director of the army in Mexico un- der General Zachary Taylor ;
Henry Knox, entered U. S. A. as second lieut., March 17, 1812, fought at Fort George and Stony Creek, Canada, and rose to rank of major; he rendered distin- guished service during the Mexican War at Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma and Monterey, rising to rank of colonel. He was retired in 1863, and for long and faithful service was brevetted brigadier-general;
John, d. unm .;
William, d. in youth ;
Isaac Eugene, lieutenant U. S. regular army; fell in a duel with Lient. Maul; both fell with the first shot;
Oldham G., a banker of Pittsburgh, died suddenly at Cologne, Germany. His son, Isaac Eugene Craig, was the famous artist and portrait painter previously referred to; Amelia, never m.
Harriet Craig, eldest child of Major Isaac and Amelia (Neville) Craig, was born in old Fort Pitt, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, December 25, 1785, died May 29, 1867. She married John Huntington Chaplin, an attorney of the city, who died at Pensacola, Florida. The issue of this marriage was a son, William Craig Chaplin, see forward, and a daughter Amelia.
The first of the Chaplin family, of record in America, is the emigrant, Benja- min Chaplin, who was born in England in 1687. He was married at Malden, Connecticut. He was of Lynn, Massachusetts, and later settled in Pomfret, Connecticut, where he and his wife are buried. The date of his coming to America is not recorded. He had issue among whom was a son William.
WILLIAM CHAPLIN, son of Benjamin Chaplin, was of Mansfield, Connecti-
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cut. He married Esther, daughter of Ebenezer Holbrook, of Pomfret, Con- necticut. Two children are named in the records: Molly, born April 28, 1759; William, born May 22, 1761.
WILLIAM CHAPLIN, son of William and Esther (Holbrook) Chaplin, was born May 22, 1761. He was a soldier of the Revolution, a private of the Sixth Battalion, Wadsworth's Brigade, Fourth Company, Colonel Chester command- ing, 1776. This battalion was raised at Windham, Connecticut, June 17, 1776, to reinforce Washington at New York. They were at Flatbush, Long Island, August 26, and at White Plains, October 28, 1776. They were with the army at the battle of Trenton, New Jersey, but were not engaged. They served until December 25, 1776.
William Chaplin married (first) Amanda Sarah, daughter of Colonel Jabez and Judith (Elderkin) Huntington, of Norwich, Connecticut. William Chap- lin at one time was a resident of Pittsburgh (Allegheny), where his wife Amanda Sarah died. He afterward removed to Bethel, Vermont. William Chaplin mar- ried (second), March 2, 1820, Polly Mckinstry, "a fair widow".
JOHN HUNTINGTON CHAPLIN, son of William and Amanda Sarah (Hunt- ington) Chaplin, was born in Windham, Connecticut, October 6, 1783. He was a graduate of Yale College. He came to Pittsburgh in 1805. He studied law under the Hon. Henry Baldwin and was admitted to the Allegheny county bar, November 15, 1808. In the first directory of Pittsburgh, published in 1815, he appears as an "Attorney at Law, Water St., between Redoubt Alley and Ferry". On March 28, 1809, he married Harriet, daughter of Major Isaac and Amelia (Neville) Craig, of previous mention. John H. Chaplin was at one time wor- shipful master of the Pittsburgh Lodge, No. 45, Free and Accepted Masons, chartered December 7, 1785. He removed to Florida where he attained high rank in his profession and received the appointment of circuit judge of the United States court. He died of yellow fever at Pensacola, Florida, August 24, 1822. His wife and two children William Craig Chaplin and Amelia Chaplin survived him.
WILLIAM CRAIG CHAPLIN, only son of John H. and Harriet (Craig) Chaplin, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 11, 1810, died in the officers' quar- ters at the Charlestown navy yard, Boston, Massachusetts, April 25, 1856. He entered the naval service of the United States in 1826, and served continuously until 1851, attaining the rank of lieutenant. He married, February 8, 1833, Sarah J. Crossan, born in Pittsburgh, January 14, 1813, daughter of James and Nancy (Morrow) Crossan. The eight children of William Craig and Sarah J. (Crossan) Chaplin were :
James Crossan, see forward;
Amelia Neville, d. aged 17;
Annie C. (Mrs. George A. Q. Miller, of Pittsburgh, North Side), still living ;
William Huntington, d. unm .;
Presley Neville, m. Josephine Wheaton; both deceased.
John M., b. navy yard, Memphis, Tennessee; unm .; resident of Neville Island, Pitts- burgh, Pa., where he lives a retired life in his spacious mansion, after an active business life in Pittsburgh; for twenty-five years was manager of the Pittsburgh Clearing House ;
Melchior Beltzhoover (see forward) ;
William Wilson, b. July 4, 1854, d. June 29, 1907; at the time of his death was secre- tary and manager of the Pittsburgh stock exchange; was a highly respected and popular man of the city. He m. April 5, 1874, Annie M. Knox, and had issue: George Knox, Ethel Barr, Melchior Cooper and John Bryan.
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JAMES CROSSAN CHAPLIN, eldest child of Lieutenant William Craig and Sa- rah J. (Crossan) Chaplin, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1836, died at sea, September 23, 1866, was buried at Bridgetown, Barbadoes, West In- dies, the next day, in St. Leonard's churchyard. He entered the naval service of the United States, October 4, 1850, and spent the remaining sixteen years of his life in his country's service, twelve of these being passed at sea. At the time of his death he was the executive officer of the "Monocacy", a steam sloop of ten guns. He distinguished himself in the civil war by his bravery and daring, ris- ing to the rank of lieutenant-commander. Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, said to him in a letter written after his gallant conduct at Matthias Point, in June, 1861 : "The Department highly appreciates your brave and heroic bearing on the trying occasion, and I am happy to communicate to you the compliments extended, by sending you an extract of your commander's report as follows: 'In the hour of danger his presence of mind never forsook him. Cool calm and courageous, he was of such stuff as heroes are made. On the social side his many virtues shone to equal advantage. He was one of nature's noble- men, and not one of the large circle who shared his friendship, will ever forget his genial ways and warm heart'". (See page 400, "Farragut and Our Naval Commanders"). He married Martha Harris, who is still living. Three chil- dren were born to them: Virginia S., James Crossan, see forward, Mary C.
JAMES CROSSAN CHAPLIN, only son of Lieutenant-Commander James Cros- san and Martha (Harris) Chaplin, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 7, 1863. His father died when he was three years old, leaving three children whose early lives were spent in Missouri. In 1879 Mrs. Chaplin re- moved with her children to Sewickley, near Pittsburgh, where James C. ob- tained a position in the Citizens' National Bank, resigning it later to take an ad- vanced one with the Fidelity and Trust Company, where he remained ten years. He was first teller then treasurer. Upon the formation of the Colonial Trust Company of Pittsburgh, he was chosen and appointed vice-president, which re- sponsible office he now fills (1909). He is connected with a number of im- portant business enterprises, and is a director of other financial institutions. He is a vestryman and treasurer of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, and a member of the Pittsburgh Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution. He has served two terms in the Sewickley council, and is active in the local affairs of that bor- ough. Mr. Chaplin married Fanny, daughter of Colonel David Campbell. Mr. and Mrs. James Crossan Chaplin have two children: James Crossan Jr. and David Campbell Chaplin.
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