USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Volume IV > Part 22
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taken as a whole, is worthy of the highest honor that can be conferred. Besides it is thor- oughly national in its characteristics and preeminently worthy of the United States and of the grand occasion of the Centennial Exposition. Every single machine, tool or piece of apparatus that is displayed in this vast offering would for itself command the strongest recommendation for an award, even if it stood alone as a unit; but here every unit is surrounded by thirty- three distinct machines, each one being of the highest standard in its particular class. The whole of these machines are characterized by extreme refinement in detail; by the superior quality of the material employed in their construction; by first-class workmanship, both in regard to nice fitting and precision and for the mathematical accuracy of structure; by the correct proportions that have been worked out in the determining of strength and form; and the disposal of material to take its full share of duty. For the scientific skill displayed in the application of mechanical force, for the daring shown in fearlessly breaking through the trammels of the past, introducing variously constructed devices and arrangements of gearing for the transmission of power in more direct course to the point of action, yet maintaining correct construction mechanically and without departure from true principles. As it is impos- sible to realize the full measure of such refined mechanical, scientific and artistic merit, by the foregoing remarks, it is deemed necessary to enumerate briefly some of the more prominent points in the several machines, both in justice to the exhibitor and to the judges. (Here fol- lowed technical details.)
To give detailed accounts of all the awards made in past years to William Sellers & Company at the various national and international expositions would necessarily extend this article beyond the prescribed limits. The following list must, therefore, suffice without further comment thereon: 1854, Franklin Insti- tute, Philadelphia, silver medal ; 1857, Maryland Institute, Baltimore, silver medal; 1867, World's Fair, Paris, gold medal; 1869, American Institute, New York, six medals; World's Fair, Vienna, five medals and grand diploma of honor; 1876, Centennial Exhibition, five medals and report of international jury ; 1880, Imperial Technological Society, St. Petersburg, one medal; 1883, Exhibition of Railway Appliances, Chicago, one gold medal, four silver medals; 1889, World's Fair, Paris, grand prize; 1904, Louisiana Purchase Exhibition, St. Louis, grand prize and gold medal. He had the honor of election to membership in the National Academy of Science in 1873. William Sellers & Company, Inc., have made no competitive display at any exhibition other than those mentioned above. At the conclusion of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Mr. Sellers was informed by let- ter from the chief of the department of machinery that he had been awarded a "grand prize as collaborateur, in recognition of your (his) genius as a pioneer in the development in America of machine tools of the highest class." This grand prize is a distinction awarded to a few of the most distinguished men of science, and is quite distinct from the awards given for exhibits at the exposition. Since the death of Mr. Sellers, an official card of announcement of this award granted by the International Jury of Awards has been received from the secretary of awards.
Mr. Sellers was a man of iron constitution and commanding presence, his words were direct and forcible, and his manner was gracious. His opinions and counsel were sought in times of difficulty by men in all walks of life and his judg- ment was regarded as of the greatest value, not only in engineering matters, but in civic and governmental affairs of importance. He never sought nor accepted public office.
Soon after the visit of the Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain to Philadel- phia in 1904, Mr. Sellers received the following letter :
We, the president, council and members of the Iron and Steel Institute, desire to convey to William Sellers our sincere and cordial thanks for the very great personal services assidu- ously rendered with such exceeding kindness and marked courtesy to the members of the Institute during their visit to the United States of America in 1904.
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Signed by the president, Andrew Carnegie, and others.
Several years ago the late Sir Joseph Whitworth said of William Sellers in conversation that he was "the greatest mechanical engineer in the world."
Mr. Sellers' labors in connection with the Franklin Institute constituted but one phase of his earnest and effective force whereby the public has been largely a direct or an indirect beneficiary. His sympathies were entirely with the Federal Government at the time of the Civil War, and he did much toward moulding pub- lic opinion and in securing the enlistment of Union troops. He became one of the charter members of the Union Club, organized by a few of the leading patriotic citi- zens of Philadelphia and developed afterward into the Union League. He was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the Centennial Exposition, and as one of the two vice-presidents of its board of finance devoted so much attention to his duties that those competent to speak upon the subject have largely attributed the success of the exhibition to him. He served thirty-seven years as a trustee of the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, and in many other ways gave tangible manifestation of his interest in projects and movements for the public good. He was a commissioner of Fairmount Park from 1867 until 1872, and his time, means and keen intelligence contributed to the successful outcome of many municipal projects.
He was ever interested in scientific research, and in 1864 became a member of the Philosophical Society, and of the Academy of Natural Science in 1873, serving for many years on the finance committee. He was also connected with various socie- ties more directly representing his life work. He became a member of the Institute of the Mechanical Engineers of Great Britain, the Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain, a corresponding member of the Société d'Encouragement pour L'Industrie Nationale in Paris, and at the close of the Paris Exposition in 1889 the decoration of Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur was conferred upon him. He was also a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Philadelphia Contributionship and numerous other associations.
Mr. Sellers married (first), April 19, 1849, Mary Ferris, daughter of Ziba and Elizabeth ( Megear) Ferris, of Wilmington, Delaware, by whom he had three children :
1. Katherine M., born August 13, 1852.
2. William Ferris, born March 27, 1856, now president of Edge Moor Iron Company.
3. Francis Ferris, born June 23, 1858, died May 19, 1859.
Following the death of his first wife, Mr. Sellers married (second), August 21, 1873, Amelie Haasz, daughter of Daniel F. and Charlotte Haasz, by whom he had :
1. Alexander, of whom further.
2. Richard, born March 9, 1881.
3. Christine, born November 12, 1882, died February 25, 1884.
The death of William Sellers occurred January 24, 1905, when he was in his eighty-first year. He will be remembered as a splendid example of the power of industry, system, ingenuity and thoroughness, a leader in the iron and steel indus- try, who left the impress of his individuality upon all with whom he came in con- tact, and whose influence and career gave an impetus to mechanical engineering and constitutes an important chapter in its history.
C. & R. 1-11
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(VIII) ALEXANDER SELLERS, eldest child and son of William and Amelie (Haasz) Sellers, was born in Philadelphia, December 24, 1875. Having graduated with an excellent record from the William Penn Charter School, in his native city, in 1892, he pursued higher courses at the University of Pennsylvania in the class of 1895.
Following this, Mr. Sellers entered upon his business career in association with William Sellers & Company, Inc. That was in 1896, when he had hardly turned his majority, and he has been with the concern uninterruptedly ever since that date. The fine traditions and associations clustering about the conduct and operations of the great Sellers establishment are among Alexander Sellers' price- less heritages, and he is fully awake to the responsibilities that are his in the keeping inviolate of a splendid family name and business reputation. This has ever been his purpose of life, but to it was given an official sanction, through his election, in 1926, to the position of president, retaining also membership in the board of direc- tors, in which he had representation for some time prior to elevation to be the executive head of the concern.
In politics, Mr. Sellers is identified with the Republican party. He is a member of the Union League Club, University Club of Philadelphia, Racquet Club, Rose Tree Country Club, Corinthian Yacht Club, Merion Cricket Club, and Gulph Mills Golf Club.
Alexander Sellers married, June 2, 1897, at Rockwood, near Wilmington, Dela- ware, Edith Ferris Bringhurst, daughter of Edward Bringhurst, Jr., and Anna James (Webb) Bringhurst. They are the parents of four children :
1. Nancy B., born March 9, 1898.
2. William, II, born September 19, 1899.
3. Alexander, Jr., born February 22, 1901.
4. Edith Claypole, born November 30, 1910.
By a happy ordering of the fates, shaping of affairs and destiny, the responsi- bilities attaching to the headship of the Sellers family and its major interests repose in most capable hands in the present leading representative of this model consolidation of effort and enterprise. Philadelphia and the Keystone State are fortunate in having seen the controlling factor of one of the Commonwealth's greatest industries, of world renown, vested in the scion of an ancient, virile and honorable house.
UPS PHOTO
Alexander Selling
Smith
An early family tradition states that the name was originally Macdonald, and that one of the family, apparently a farmer with some skill in farriery, replaced for King William III a shoe which had been cast by his horse about the time of the Battle of the Boyne (July 1, 1690). The action was of sufficient importance to give the man a surname, "the Smith," which, as names were frequently given in those days on account of some personal peculiarity, or from some incident in a man's history, became in time adopted as the name of his family. The tradition has currency among several branches of the family, which though separated from each other from the first generation of the residence of the family in America, still keep this story in their recollection, so that it apparently came here with the emigrants. To the branch of the family herein traced belongs Mary Grubb Smith, whose Revolutionary and Colonial ancestry is shown in the lines herein traced.
(I) JOHN SMITH was born in Ireland about 1655. He never left Ireland. He was the parent of three children:
I. Mary; married William Fulton; settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
2. John, of whom further.
3. Joseph, born in 1704, died May 27, 1760; married, about 1730, Isabel, and they were the parents of : i. Robert, born in 1733, died May 18, 1812. ii. John. iii. Mary, born about 1734; married, about 1759, Robert Fulton. iv. Elizabeth, born about 1736; married James Cresswell. v. Isabel. vi. Esther, born about 1739. vii. Martlia, born about 1742. viii. Joseph. ix. Abraham, born about 1744.
(II) JOHN (2) SMITH, son of John Smith, was born in 1686 and died in Ches- ter County, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1765. He is said to have married about seven years before his emigration, and to have had five children upon his arrival in America. He left Ireland with his family, probably in 1720. On their arrival in America they proceeded to what was then called "The Brandywine Settlement" in Chester County, Pennsylvania, which developed into a great Scotch-Irish commu- nity. Soon after his arrival, John Smith bought a farm in Uwchlan Township and moved the house then standing on it. Many years later he built another house on the same farm. Public records show that this John Smith was among the holders of real estate in Uwchlan Township in 1753, and was, in 1756 and 1757, one of the subscribers to the support of the Presbyterian Church in the forks of the Brandywine. John Smith's will was made February 12, 1761, and the codicil was executed January 16, 1764. The will was proved May 28, 1766, letters being granted to the executors, his sons, John and Abraham, August 26, 1766. John Smith married Susanna, and they were the parents of the following children:
I. James, born in 1719, died in December, 1785; married, about 1744, Sarah Wilson; owned a farm in what is now Highland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania ; had children : i. James, born December 16, 1745; married Sarah White. ii. Sus- anna, born February 18, 1748, died after 1782. iii. John, born May 31, 1750, died March 19, 1829; married (first) Jane McMechin; (second) Sarah Boyd. iv Gideon, born May 26, 1752, died before 1779; married Susanna Armstrong. v. Martha, born May 8, 1755, died August 16, 1827; married, in 1788, Samuel Futhey. vi. Levi, born March 12, 1759, died in 1777.
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2. Robert, of whom further
3. Susanna, born 1721, died May 5, 1796; married, about 1756, Thomas Armstrong; and their children: i. Sarah, born December 19, 1757, died in infancy. ii. Susanna, born February 24, 1759, died August 4, 1779; married Gideon Smith. iii. Sarah, born October 17, 1760; married John Finney McClenachan. iv. Robert, born May 8, 1762, died August 20, 1844; married Jane Young Cochran. v. Margaret, born March 18, 1764; married Robert Russel. vi. Jane, born February 22, 1767, died February 12, 1818; married George Correy. vii. Thomas, born March 17, 1770. 4. John, died in 1803; married Ann Wilson, daughter of Hugh and Ann Wilson.
5. Abraham; married Ann Wilson, daughter of Joseph Wilson.
6. Isaac, born in 1739, died August 20, 1807; graduate of Princeton, 1755; colonel of First Regiment of Hunterdon County, New Jersey; Associate Justice of Supreme Court of New Jersey; member of Congress in 1796-97; served on commission to treat with the Seneca Indians; married, in December, 1763, Mary Pennington ; they had a son, Edward.
7. Jacob.
8. Elizabeth; married, about 1745, Michael Graham, son of James Graham; had James, who married Mary Abraham, and they had Elizabeth, Susanna, Margaret, Eliza- beth, and Eleanor.
9. Mary, died August 1I, 1799; married, in 1760, Alexander Lewis; had: I. Susanna, born November 5, 1761. ii. John, born January 24, 1763. iii. Abraham, born March 5, 1765, died April 29, 1774. iv. Jane, born July 17, 1767, died October 20, 1835; married, about 1785, Thomas Maxwell. v. Mary, born February 5, 1769. vi. Alexander Smith, born December 8, 1770, died May 19, 1799. vii. John (twin), born May 10, 1773. viii. Ebenezer (twin), born May 10, 1773.
Io. Samuel.
II. Sarah, died January 30, 1807; married, May 17, 1766, Samuel Cunningham ; had : i. Jane, born May 9, 1767, died January 10, 1840; married, August 10, 1786, William Thompson. ii. John, born in 1769, died January 24, 1816; married Hannah Neely. iii. Susanna, born March 18, 1772, died August 5, 1834; married, March 12, 1788, Andrew Stanley. iv. Sarah, born in 1773, died May 11, 1836; married, March 29, 1791, Matthew Stanley. v. Margaret, born February 1, 1776, died March 14, 1842; married, in April, 1797, William Joseph Lewis. vi. Samuel, died October 15, 1810.
(III) ROBERT SMITH, son of John and Susanna Smith, was born in 1720, and died in December, 1803. He was born at sea, during the time his parents were emigrating to America. The first public record which relates to him is that from 1747 to 1758 he was one of the subscribers to the support of Rev. Andrew Boyd, pastor of Brandywine Manor Church. His name is in a list of taxables for West Nantmeal Township for 1753. In August, 1775, Robert Smith was thanked by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania for a model of a machine to be used in handling Chevaux de Frise to be sunk in the Delaware, and he was soon after directed by the council to report on the merits of the rival plans for this work that had been submitted by Govett and Guion. During the years 1776-77 he was also engaged in planning the earthworks which were included in the same line of defense. During these years he was also called into counsel to assist in preparing his native State for self-government, and he sat in the convention which on the 28th of September, 1776, adopted the first State Constitution of Pennsyl- vania. On March 12, 1777, he was appointed by the Supreme Executive Council to be the lieutenant of Chester County. He was also elected sheriff of Chester County, March 29, 1777, and again chosen November 21, 1778. In 1785, he served a term in the State Legislative Assembly, and was a trustee of the State Loan Office, which position he filled until 1787, when he retired to private life. He was in many respects considered the foremost man in the community in which he lived. He was a staunch Presbyterian, a supporter of the services of the Brandy- wine Manor Presbyterian Church, of which he was from 1766 a ruling elder. His
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will, dated May 5, 1800, was probated January 16, 1804, leaves the plantation, his household goods, etc., to his wife for her life. Robert Smith married, December 20, 1758, Margaret Vaughan. (Vaughan II.)
Robert and Margaret (Vaughan) Smith were the parents of :
1. Emma, born November 17, 1759; married, about 1785, Robert Porter, of Chester County, Pennsylvania, an officer in the Revolutionary War; they had: i. Elizabeth, born in 1786, died August 5, 1866; married, in 1808, John Meck. ii. Margaret Anne, born in 1788, died February 3, 1849. iii. Robert Smith, Jr., born January 15, 1792, died May 1, 1859; married, April 15, 1819, Nancy Miller. iv. John, born January 16, 1796, died in 1874; married, May 24, 1826, Margaret Hazelet. v. Jonathan, born in 1797, died March 4, 1858; married (first) Elizabeth Miller ; (second) Love Carnahan. vi. Amelia, born in 1801, died February 5, 1866. vii. Sarah Ann; married Robert McGarryhill. viii. Nancy, died October 14, 1851; married Robert Glass.
2. Susanna, born December 25, 1760, died January 2, 1812; married, November 13, 1787, Nathan Grier, born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, September 30, 1760, died March 30, 1814, son of John and Agnes (Caldwell) Grier; was graduated at the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania in 1783, ordained pastor of the Presbyterian Church; they had: i. Agnes Smith, born December 12, 1788, died September 27, 1870; married, June 1, 1809, Robert White. ii. Robert Smith, born May II, 1790, died December 29, 1865; married (first), October 22, 1812; (second), July 26, 1841, Sarah Jane Annan; (third), August 14, 1858, Margaret Stewart. iii. John Nathan Caldwell, born June 8, 1792, died September 12, 1880; married, September 9, 1813, Agnes Ralston. iv. Martha, born December 1, 1794, died in February, 1864; married, November 8, 1814, Samuel Parke. v. Sarah, born February 25, 1798, died January 25, 1882; married, December 22, 1818, Robert Thompson.
3. John, of whom further.
4. Sarah, born October 1, 1763, died November 7, 1785.
5. Margaret, born June 24, 1765, died July 12, 1847; married Samuel Kennedy, born March 17, 1768, died August 9, 1807, son of William and Martha Kennedy; they had: i. Samuel. ii. William Duke, born May 27, 1791, died December 27, 1861; married, October 16, 1816, Ann Maria Sherborne. iii. Robert Smith. iv. Joseph Smith, died March 18, 1820; married, December 14, 1818, Elizabeth Mcknight. v. Margaret Smith, died June 29, 1889; married, April 1, 1819, James Coleman. vi. Susan; married John Parker.
6. Jonathan, born August 2, 1767, died November 20, 1839, an accountant in one of United States offices in Philadelphia; first teller of First United States Bank; cashier of Bank of Pennsylvania; cashier of Second Bank of the United States; cashier of Mechanics' Bank; secretary of Pennsylvania Fire Insurance Company, then its president ; married, October 16, 1794, Mary Ann Frazer, born February 4, 1774, died February 9, 1845, daughter of Persifor and Mary (Taylor) Frazer; had: i. Margaretta, born August 14, 1795, died August 14, 1795. ii. Margaretta, born August 7, 1796, died March 10, 1878; married, March 17, 1818, David Correy. iii. Persifor Frazer, born November 16, 1798, died May 17, 1858; married (first), January 19, 1822, Frances Jeanette Bureau; (second), April 18. 1854, Ann Monica Armstrong. iv. Mary Frazer, born October 28, 1800, died January 31, 1873; mar- ried, February 12, 1828, Eliakim Littell. v. Beaton, born September 29, 1802, died May 20, 1861 ; married (first), March 18, 1829, Mary Ann Huddleston; (second), June 4, 1839, Theodosia Pettit. vi. Robert Frazer, born November 1, 1804, died February 6, 1826. vii. Mary Anne, born May 26, 1807, died Angust 7, 1808. viii. Sarah, born July 18, 1809; married, June 25, 1844, Levi M. Graves. ix. Anna Maria, born September 7, 1811, died June 27, 1877; married, January 9, 1833, Samuel Robert Slaymaker. x. Harriet Romeyn, born September 1, 1813, died May 7, 1887; married, November 3, 1834, James Musgrave Aertsen. xi. Howard, born October 18, 1815, died December 25, 1819. xii. Jane Correy, born November 18, 1818, died September 1I, 1819.
7. Robert, born May 29, 1769, died February 5, 1822; married Esther Kennedy; had: i. Margaret, died young. ii. Jonathan Vaughan, born September 16, 1801, died Sep- tember 28, 1842; married, in 1840, Sarah Calbraith. iii. Margaret Vanghan, born May 16, 1803, died September 1, 1877; married, August 3, 1822, Samuel Bicking. iv. Martha, born May 10, 1806, died July 24, 1865; married, May 8, 1838, William F. Saffer. v. Elizabeth, born April 7, 1809, died June 24, 1878; married, January 2, 1827, Joseph Christy.
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8. Joseph, born September 24, 1770, died December 18, 1845; married, February 27, 1800, Mary Frazer, born January 14, 1780, died May 23, 1862, daughter of Colonel Per- sifor and Mary (Taylor) Frazer.
9. Isaac, born February 9, 1772, died March 14, 1772.
IO. Isaac, born July 20, 1773, died October 8, 1840; married, April 19, 1804, Margaret Fleming, born June 4, 1774, died July 12, 1820, daughter of James and Jane (Cowan) Fleming.
II. James, born November 9, 1777, died in August, 1778.
(IV) JOHN SMITH, son of Robert and Margaret (Vaughan) Smith, was born April 8, 1762, and died April 2, 1815. When he first married, he lived at Dale furnace, or forge, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Later, he moved to Joanna fur- nace, Berks County, where he passed the rest of his life. He was throughout the greater part of his career an iron master. His estate contained about six thou- sand acres. Joanna furnace was built about 1790, and the house for the proprie- tor's residence about 1793. John Smith accumulated what was in those days a large fortune, and left $20,000 to each of his ten children. John Smith married, December 23, 1790, Elizabeth Bull. (Bull III.) They were the parents of :
I. Ann Hunter, born September 21, 1791, died April 25, 1857; married, December 6, 1811, James Richards, born May 27, 1782, died September 21, 1828.
2. Thomas Bull, born August 17, 1793, died February 24, 1825; married, September 29, 1816, Annetta Old.
3. Sarah Bull, born October 7, 1795, died November 15, 1845; married, June 2, 1814, Jacob Loeser, born January 3, 1787, died September 4, 1823.
4. Mary Cobean, born September 17, 1798, died March 5, 1835.
5. Margaretta Vaughan, born July 3, 1800, died May 5, 1877; married, January 14, 1820, William Darling, born November 10, 1796, died September 20, 1871, son of Eliakim and Ruth (Buck) Darling.
6. Elizabeth Bull, born February 10, 1803, died June 1, 1834; married, January 14, 1820, Joseph O'Brien.
7. Levi Bull, of whom further.
8. John Vaughan, born April 28, 1808, died August 28, 1848; married (first), September I, 1834, Mary Smith Marshall; (second), June 4, 1846, Virginia Parker.
9. Susan Grier, born March 31, 1811, died August 29, 1847; married, July 15, 1840, George Burcker.
IO. Jane Correy, born August 22, 1813, died August 1, 1877; married, January 9, 1840, Goodloe Harper Bowman.
(V) LEVI BULL SMITH, son of John and Elizabeth (Bull) Smith, was born February 8, 1806, and died August 8, 1876. He was born at Joanna furnace; was prepared for college by Rev. John F. Grier in Reading, was graduated at Prince- ton College with honors in 1824, read law in the then famous law school at Litch- field, Connecticut, and was admitted to practice at the bar of Berks County, Penn- sylvania, January 10, 1827. In 1833 he formed a partnership to carry on the iron business with his brother-in-law, Judge William Darling. Darling and Smith were well known manufacturers of stoves. Into this partnership his sons were after- ward admitted. In 1862, he relinquished to his sons the active management of the iron business with his brother-in-law, Judge William Darling. Darling and Smith were well known manufacturers of stoves. Into this partnership his sons were afterward admitted. In 1862, he relinquished to his sons the active management of the iron business, and removed to Reading. He was instrumental in establishing the First National Bank of Reading, of which he became, upon its organization, and continued to the end of his life, the president. He was a prominent and much respected citizen of Reading, and a member of the Episcopal Church.
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