Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 17

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 978

USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II > Part 17

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Sophia, b. May 8, 1731; m. Feb. 14, 1750, Aquila Hall; Elizabeth, b. Jan. 28, 1733, d. unm .;

Sarah Charlotte, b. Oct. 25, 1736, d. Nov. 19, 1776, unm.

By the second marriage, with Esther (Hewlings) Newman, he had two children :

WILLIAM, the Bishop, b. March 24, 1747-8; of whom presently;

Mary, who became wife of Robert Morris, financier of the Revolution, an account of whom and their descendants is given elsewhere in this work.

1047

MONTGOMERY

WILLIAM WHITE, D. D., Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, first Bishop of English consecration in America, was born in Philadelphia, March 24, 1747-8 (O. S.), or April 3, 1748 (N. S.). He was educated at the College of Philadel- phia, now the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from that institution, aged seventeen years, class of 1765. He began the preparation for the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church, under the guidance and council of Rev. Jacob Duché and Rev. Richard Peters, of Christ Church and St. Peter's. One of the incidents of his student life in Philadelphia was his assistance of his friend and associate, Benjamin West, to elope with Betsey Shewell, 1766. On October 15, 1770, he sailed for England, and was ordained deacon, December 23, following, at the Royal Chapel, London, by Bishop Young, of Norwich. Being too young to receive ordination as a priest, he remained in England one and a half years, living with his father's sisters, Mrs. Weeks and Miss White, at Twickenham. June, 1772, he was ordained as a priest of the Church of England, by Dr. Terrick, Bishop of London, and the same month sailed for home, arriving in Philadelphia, September 13, 1772. He was soon after elected assistant rector of Christ Church and St. Peter's, and became rector of both churches April, 1779. From the be- ginning of the struggle for independence, he took decided ground in favor of the Colonies, and as soon as the Declaration of Independence was announced, dropped from the form of prayer the petition for the King, and took the oath of allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. When cautioned of his danger as a minister of the Church of England, he responded, "I know my danger, * * but I trust in Providence : the cause is a just one and I am persuaded will be protected." September, 1777, on the defection of Rev. Jacob Duché, he was appointed Chap- lain to the Continental Congress, and continued as such and of the United States Congress, until the removal of the latter to New York, and on its return to Phila- delphia was again and successively re-elected to that position until the removal to the District of Columbia, 1801.

In 1782, realizing that the Episcopal Church could not survive without organiza- tion, he issued a pamphlet urging its establishment, apart from English jurisdic- tion, but peace, soon declared between the two countries, made this unnecessary. September 14, 1786, he was unanimously elected Bishop of Pennsylvania, and sailing for England, was consecrated there, February 4, 1787, in Lambeth Chapel, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and two other others. Sailing again for home, he arrived in Philadelphia, April 7, 1787, earnestly took up the work of organizing the church in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, and during his long life ever took an active and decided interest in the moral, spiritual and intellectual development of the city of his birth. At the age of twenty-six years he was elected a trustee of the College of Philadelphia, and filled that position in it and its successor, the University of Pennsylvania, until his death, 1836, a period of sixty-two years. He was a founder of the Episcopal Academy, and gave his active and vigorous support to all that pertained to the best interests of the city, consistent with his office as the titular head of his church. He opposed the acceptance by the city of the devise of Stephen Girard, for the founding of Girard College, on the ground that the exclusion of religious training would work incalculable harm to the students there instructed. He was simple, unaffected, earnest, fond of society and its innocent diversions, and despised bigotry and affectation.

1048

MONTGOMERY

Bishop White married, February II, 1773, Mary, daughter of Capt. Henry Harrison, who had come to Philadelphia from Lancashire, England, member of Common Council, 1757; Alderman, 1761, and Mayor, 1762, by his wife, Mary, daughter of Mathew Aspden. She died December 13, 1797, and he, July 17, 1836, aged eighty-eight years. They were parents of eight children, of whom five, Ann, Henry Harrison, William, a second Henry Harrison and a daughter unnamed died in childhood ; the three who survived were:

Elizabeth, b. 1776, m. Gen. William MacPherson, who had been Adjutant of 16th Regi- ment in English army before the Revolution, and refusing to fight against his countrymen had resigned, and joined the American army; was commissioned Major; was later surveyor of Port of Phila., and Naval Officer and Brigadier General in the U. S. A .;

Mary, m. Enos Bronson, of Conn., editor of United States Gazette, published in Phila. She d. 1826.

THOMAS HARRISON WHITE, only son of the Bishop, was born in Philadelphia, November 12, 1779, and followed the business of a wholesale wine merchant there some years. He married Mary Key, who died March 23, 1814, daughter of Daniel Charles and Mary (Key) Heath, of Baltimore. Thomas Harrison White died October 15, 1859.

Issue of Thomas Harrison and Mary (Key) White:

Mary Harrison White, b. Nov. 9, 1805, d. Aug. 2, 1875; m. James Montgomery, D. D .; Rebecca, d. unm .;

William, member of Phila. Bar, d. 1858;

George Harrison, midshipman in U. S. N., resigned and engaged in dry-goods business in Phila .; later again entered navy as a purser, and followed the sea until his death, 1868; m. Margaret Wharton, dat. of Jacob Smith, Esq., of Phila., and has a number of descendants living in Phila .;

Richard Heath White, d. inf.

The English ancestry of Col. Thomas White, of Maryland and Philadelphia, traced back many generations, by his great-great-grandson, Thomas Harrison Montgomery, was published 1877, in connection with an account of the reunion of the descendants held at "Sophia's Dairy," the old homestead on the Bush River, Maryland, June 7, 1877.

THOMAS HARRISON MONTGOMERY, second son of James Montgomery, D. D., by his second marriage with Mary Harrison White, was born at 987 Arch street, Philadelphia, February 27, 1830, and was baptized at St. Stephen's Church, of which his father was then rector, April 7, 1830, by his great-grandfather, the ven- erable Bishop White. He was but a child of four years at the death of his father and was reared by his good mother, with whom he lived in the most pious and filial intimacy. In 1836 his mother, on the death of her grandfather, Bishop White, moved to 224 Walnut street, where she kept house for her father for two years, and then returned to the Spruce street house where her husband had died, and resided there with her little family until 1856, when she and her son, Thomas Harrison, removed to Germantown, residing together on Church Lane (Mill street ) up to the time of his marriage. The companionship of his pious and gifted mother exerted the deepest influence on the whole life and character of her son.

Mr. Montgomery's earliest education was acquired at Mr. Bonnar's private school, with a few terms at the grammar school under Dr. Crawford, in Fourth

1049

MONTGOMERY

street, birthplace of University of Pennsylvania, and later at Dr. Fairies' famous classical school. He was a frequent attendant at lectures at the Franklin Institute and the old college, but the greater and better part of his education he acquired from his mother, and through his own broad and assiduous reading; particularly on the lines of travel, geography and history. It was always a matter of regret to him that he could not take a college course as did his half-brothers, but the careful, self-reliant intellectual training he acquired under the guidance of his mother more than compensated for this loss. He early acquired the habit of expressing his thoughts on matters that came under his observation, by the writing of a journal which he began at the age of fifteen years.

On March 23, 1847, he found his first remunerative employment in the large drug establishment of Charles Ellis & Company, at 56 Chestnut street, in connec- tion with which he took a course in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, 1848-9, and 1850-1, receiving his diploma from that institution April 4, 1851. In January, 1852, in partnership with his friend, Samuel E. Shinn, under firm name of Mont- gomery & Shinn, he bought out the drug store at Broad and Spruce streets, but ill health compelled him to abandon the business two years later. On his removal to Germantown, 1856, he began his genealogical studies, which resulted in the publication of the "History and Pedigree of Montgomery," 1863. During this period he devoted much time to study and ecclesiastical and charitable work. He was rector's warden of the Church of Holy Cross, Germantown, 1856, and later member of the vestry of St. Luke's Church until his removal from Germantown. He also conducted for several years a Bible class for young men, which he had organized.

During his residence in Germantown, Mr. Montgomery became intimately asso- ciated with the family of Dr. Samuel George Morton, the eminent physician, anthropologist and scientist, an account of whom and his family is given elsewhere in these volumes, and, 1860, married his daughter, Anna Morton, and settled on Morton street, Germantown, later removing to Shoemaker Lane, Germantown. At the outbreak of the Civil War, though the state of his health would not permit him to go to the front, he drilled with the troops then being recruited. In 1863 he was elected secretary of the Enterprise Insurance Company ; became its vice- president, 1864, and a director, 1866; thus becoming identified with the business wherein he achieved especial distinction by organizing and placing upon a safe financial basis the insurance institutions of Philadelphia and vicinity.

In 1871, while convalescent from a severe attack of congestion of the lungs, he wrote the "Genealogy of General Richard Montgomery." Failing to regain his normal health, on the advice of his physician, he decided to spend the winter at the south, and, October, 1871, sailed from New York for Frederickstadt, Island of St. Croix. A six months' sojourn there saved his life and made him physically stronger than he had ever been before. On October 31, 1871, the Enterprise In- surance Company failed, owing to heavy losses in the great Chicago fire, and on his return to Philadelphia, Mr. Montgomery was, in 1872, appointed general agent of the National Board of Underwriters, and the same year removed with his fam- ily to New York. This responsible position he filled six years, and on his retire- ment, 1878, was the subject of complimentary testimonials to his good work. in all the leading insurance journals, as well as of resolutions adopted by the National Board. In 1878 he accepted the position of manager of the department of per-

1050

MONTGOMERY

petual insurance, in the Insurance Company of North America, Philadelphia. In 1880, he was elected vice-president of the American Fire Insurance Company, in the same city, and, 1882, became its president, which office he filled until his death.

While residing in New York, Mr. Montgomery was a trustee of the Church of Holy Communion, and was active in founding several charitable societies. On his return to Philadelphia, 1879, he became a member of his ancestral parish, Christ Church, acting for many years as accounting warden, and worshipping at Christ Church chapel. He continued his historical studies and writings, and was a frequent attendant at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. In 1877 he pre- pared a monogram on the descendants of Thomas White, read at a reunion of the descendants held at "Sophia's Dairy," on the Bush River, Maryland, June 7, 1877. In 1882, he purchased a country place near West Chester, Chester county, Penn- sylvania, which he named Ardrossan, after one of the Montgomery family castles in Ayrshire, Scotland, and this became his home for twenty-three years.

Mr. Montgomery was elected to the vestry of the Church of Holy Trinity, West Chester, Pennsylvania, and filled the position of rector's warden there until his death.

In 1885 he published a history of the Insurance Company of North America, the oldest insurance company in America. Among his other numerous publications of an historical nature, were the "Smith Family of New York," 1879; "Battle of Monmouth as described by Dr. James McHenry, Secretary to General Washing- ton," 1879; "Mss. Notes on the Church in America, by William White, 1747- 1836," New York, 1877; "First Vestrymen of Christ Church," Pennsylvania Magasine of History and Biography, 1895; "Diary of Lieut. Francis Nicholls, of Col. William Thompson's Battery, of Pennsylvania Riflemen, January to Septem- ber, 1776," Ibid, vol. xx., 1896; "History of the University of Pennsylvania, from its Foundation to 1770, including Biographical Sketches of Trustees and Faculty ;" besides which he completed, 1903, the manuscript history of the Dulany, Heath and Key families. He travelled very extensively in this country and Canada, and made three trips to Europe, 1887-89-91, each time visiting the ancient homes of his ancestors in Scotland. He spent the winters of 1903-4 and 1904-5 at his house, 1815 DeLancy Place, and died there April 4, 1905. He was buried beside his parents at the Church of St. James the Less, Falls of Schuylkill. His wife and all his children survive him.

Mr. Montgomery held membership in the following organizations: The Prot- estant Episcopal Academy, of which he was for a time a trustee; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, since 1866, of which he was a member of the publication committee from that date, and of its council since 1880; life member of the New York Historical Society ; member of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society ; the Ethnological Society of New York; the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania; one of the founders of the Society of Colonial Wars, and a mem- ber of its council since 1895; member of the Sons of the Revolution; of the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania; director of the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society. He was always active in charitable work, and was a man of deep relig- ious feeling and faith. He was throughout his whole life one of the most vigorous supporters and members of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and wherever he

1051

MONTGOMERY

was located he was public spirited, giving freely of interest and means. In 1901 he received from the University of Pennsylvania the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

Issue of Thomas Harrison and Anna (Morton) Montgomery:

Rebecca Morton Montgomery;

Mary White Montgomery;

James Alan Montgomery, h. Germantown, June 13, 1866; Professor in Phila. Divinity School; m. (first) Mary F., dau. of Rev. Frank Owen, M. A., British Chaplain at Berlin; d. s. p. He m. (second) Edith, dau. of Newcomb B. Thompson, Esq., by whom he had issue-James Alan Montgomery, Jr., Thomas Harrison Montgomery, 3d; Samuel George Morton Montgomery, b. Germantown, May 11, 1868; rector of the As- cension, Parkesburg, Pa .;

Anna Morton Montgomery;

Thomas Harrison Montgomery, b. N. Y. City, March 5, 1873; Professor in Univ. of Texas; m. Anna Priscilla, dau. of John Braislin, Esq., of Crosswicks, N. J .; issue :

Thomas Roger Montgomery;

Hugh Montgomery.

William White Montgomery, b. N. Y. City, Oct. 28, 1874;

Charles Mortimer Montgomery, M. D., b. N. Y. City, Oct. 23, 1876;

Emily Hollingsworth Montgomery.

JOHN CRATHORNE MONTGOMERY, third son of John and Mary (Crathorne) Montgomery, of Philadelphia, was born in that city November 7, 1792, and re- sided there many years, subsequently residing on his estate called "Eglinton" on the Hudson, in New York, and, 1855, removed to New York City, where he died August 5, 1867. He married (first), November 25, 1817, Elizabeth Henrietta, born in Philadelphia, August 31, 1797, died July 11, 1850, daughter of Henry Phillips, who died in Philadelphia, February 11, 1800 (son of John and Sarah Phillips, of Bank Hall, county of Lancaster, England, and grandson of Nathaniel Phillips, of Heath House, county of Stafford), by his wife, Sophia, born Novem- ber 13, 1769, died September 3, 1841, daughter of Chief Justice Benjamin Chew.

John Crathorne was prominent in the affairs of Philadelphia, and was at one time postmaster of the city. He married (second), November 27, 1855, Caroline, daughter of Jeremiah Rogers, of New York, and spent the remainder of his life in New York.

Issue of John Crathorne and Elizabeth H. (Phillips) Montgomery:

John Phillips, b. Sept. 28, 1818, d. Feb. 15, 1875; member of Phila. Bar; m. Nov. 13, 1851, Anna Bowker Clayton, of Lynchburg, Va .;

Rev. Henry Eglinton, b. Dec. 9, 1820, d. Oct. 15, 1874; ordained minister of P. E. Church June 28, 1846; rector of All Saints Church, Phila., until 1855, then removed to N. Y. City, and became rector of Church of the Incarnation; m. Sept. 10, 1846, Margaret Augusta, dau. of Judge James Lynch, of N. Y., by his wife, Jeanette Maria, dau. of Dr. Thomas Tillotson, a surgeon during the Revolution, and subsequently Secretary of State of New York, by his wife, Margaret, dau. of Chancellor Livings- ton. Dr. Montgomery graduated at Univ. of Pa., with degree of A. M., 1839, was attaché of U. S. Legation, Denmark, 1841-2; received degree of Doctor of Divinity at the Univ. 1863;

Oswald Crathorne, b. Phila., Aug. 24, 1822, d. Jan. 19, 1891; m. Oct. 3, 1849, Catharine Gertrude, dau. of George W. and Ann (Smith) Lynch, of N. Y., cousin of Judge Lynch, before mentioned; issue:

Charles Howard, b. July 16, 1850; m. Fanny Hickman; issue:

Mary Oswald; Charles Berwind.

George, b. Oct. 28, 1851, d. Feb. 22, 1852;

Henry Eglinton, b. Dec. 25, 1852, d. Feb. 10, 1877;

1052

MONTGOMERY

Thomas Lynch Montgomery, librarian Pa. State Library, b. March 4, 1862; m. 1889, Brinca Georgianna, dau. of Richard A. Gilpin.

Austin James, b. Oct. 27, 1824; m. Nov. 10, 1858, Cordelia Riché;

Capt. James Eglinton Montgomery, b. Dutchess county, N. Y., Sept. 20, 1826; civil engineer; Captain and Assistant Adjutant General U. S. Volunteers Oct. 21, 1861, Major Aug. 1, 1864, Aide-de-Campe on staffs of Generals Newton, Slocum, Canby, Martindale, Granger, Cadwalader and Hancock; mustered out July 10, 1866; private secretary to Admiral Farragut 1867-70, and with him visited every European country; m. (first) Nina, dau. of Jones Tilghman, of Talbot county, Md., by whom he had issue :

Lloyd Phillips Montgomery ;

Elizabeth Phillips Montgomery ;

Ann Caroline Montgomery;

Arthur Eglinton Montgomery;

Edward Lea Montgomery.

He m. (second) Mary Seymour Walker, by whom he had issue :

Hugh Eglinton Montgomery, b. 1881.

Major Montgomery held several American Consulships abroad, and is now residing at Pasadena, Cal .;

Charles Howard Montgomery, b. Sept. 27, 1828, d. May 8, 1848;

Sophia Henrietta Montgomery, b. Oct. 16, 1830, d. Dec. 22, 1836;

Benjamin Chew Montgomery, b. Jan. 1, 1833, d. July 15, 1856;

Hartman Phillips Montgomery, b. Sept. 25, 1834; admitted to Phila. Bar July 10, 1850; d. Maysville, Cal., Jan. 22, 1870;

Mary Crathorne Montgomery, b. Jan. 20, 1837; m. Sept. 26, 1859, Eugene Tillotson, son of Judge James Lynch, of N. Y.

GILLINGHAM FAMILY.

YEAMANS GILLINGHAM, the ancestor of the Philadelphia and Bucks county family of that name, came from one of the southern counties of England, probably either Kent or Dorset, to Pennsylvania, before 1690; the first record of his resi- dence in this province being the marriage register of Middletown Monthly Meet- ing, Bucks county, where he appears as a witness to the wedding of William Smith and Mary Croasdale, at the house of John Chapman, in Wrightstown town- ship, 9mo. 20, 1690.

The following year he purchased one hundred acres of land in Oxford town- ship, Philadelphia county, "By the Mill Race and fronting Tacony Road and ye King's Road," the deed to him from Thomas Fairman (one of Penn's Commission- ers of Property), being dated August 31, 1691. This was in what is now the central part of Frankford, bounded by Frankford creek, Church street, and Frankford road to the Arsenal or River road on the east. On September 26, 1712, he purchased an- other lot of ground in the same locality from John Worrell, and appears to have been seized of other property there. He is mentioned on the tax list of Oxford township as having paid six shillings tax in 1693. He belonged to Abington Meeting of the Society of Friends (as did the other early Frankford Friends), and on 8mo. 31, 1720, was chosen one of its overseers, Richard Worrell being the other. He died about June, 1722, and his will, dated May 9, 1722, was proved at Philadelphia July 21, of that year. By it he left all his estate, real and personal, to his wife, Mary, except fifty pounds each to his sons, James and John.

Yeamans Gillingham married, presumably after his arrival in Philadelphia, Mary Taylor, who came from the same part of England about the same time he did. She died in November, 1727, and her will, dated October 20, was proved in Philadelphia, November 20, all in the same year. Of the landed estate left her by her husband she bequeathed only two lots of meadow land in Frankford, each of about two acres, to her daughters, Ann, Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth and Susannah, and two acres out of the large plantation "on the mill race and Tacony road" to her two sons, James and John. The main part of the land she did not dispose of by the will, and it was sold by the heirs at a later date.

Issue of Yeamans and Mary (Taylor) Gillingham:

Rebecca, m. (first) William Wright, of Dublin (Phila. Co); (second) Kirk; liv- ing 12mo. 6, 1766;

Ann, b. 5mo. 8, 1694; m. Henry Paul, of Phila .;

Mary, b. 10mo. 21, 1698; m. James Willson, of the Northern Liberties, Phila .; Sarah, b. 9mo. 27, 1699, d. before 8mo. 5, 1731 ;

Elizabeth, b. 2mo. 22, 1705-6; m. Samuel Eastburn, of Solebury township, Bucks co .; JAMES, b. Smo. 2, 1708, of whom presently;

John, b. 5mo. 12, 1710; m. 8mo. 21, 1735, Ann Jacob; lived in Phila .; Susannah, b. 11mo. 29, 1712, d. before 8mo. 5, 1731.

JAMES GILLINGHAM, born on the plantation on Tacony road, Oxford township, Philadelphia, 8mo. 2, 1708, eldest son of Yeamans and Mary (Taylor) Gillingham, removed to Bucks county, receiving a certificate from Abington Friends Meeting,

1054

GILLINGHAM

4mo. 29, 1730, which he presented to Buckingham Monthly Meeting. He settled in Buckingham township, and on October 5, 1731, joined in a deed with the other heirs of Yeamans and Mary Gillingham, his father and mother, for the Frankford property. He died in Bucks county, November 4, 1745, and letters of adminis- tration were granted upon his estate in 1747.

James Gillingham married, 3mo. 4, 1730, at Abington Meeting, Martha Canby (born March 9, 1705-6), daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Jarvis) Canby, who married (second) Joseph Duer, of Solebury.

Thomas Canby was born in 1667, and was the son of Benjamin Canby, of Thorn, Yorkshire, England. He came to Pennsylvania with his mother's brother, Henry Baker, in the ship "Vine," of Liverpool, arriving in Philadelphia, Septem- ber 17, 1684. He lived for some years on the plantation of his uncle in Bucks county. The uncle, Henry Baker, was one of the leading men of the county, a member of Assembly and justice of the county courts. Thomas Canby married three times, (first), 9mo. 2, 1693, to Sarah Jarvis, who was the mother of his daughter, Martha, who married James Gillingham; (second), 2mo. 4, 1709, to Mary, daughter of Evan and Jean Oliver; and (third), 8mo. 9, 1722, to James Preston, a widow.

Thomas Canby was prominent in Bucks county, being appointed justice of the county courts, in 1719-22-25-26-27 and 38, and was a member of Provincial As- sembly, 1721-22-30-33 and 38. His son, Oliver, removed to New Castle county, now Delaware, and for many years owned and operated a mill on Brandywine creek, which is said to have been the first in operation on that stream. He was the ancestor of a branch of the family, which has long been one of the leading families in and about Wilmington, Delaware, one with which a number of the prominent families of Philadelphia have intermarried at different periods.

Issue of James and Martha (Canby) Gillingham:

John, b. Imo. 19, 1731; m. (first) 10mo. 17, 1754, Sarah, dau, of Benjamin and Hannah (Towne) Taylor, of Newtown twp., Bucks co .; and (second) Iomo. 21, 1761, Sarah White, dau. of Joseph and Martha (Taylor) White, of Falls twp., Bucks co., and cousin to his first wife. They were the great-grandparents of J. Gillingham Fell, late of Phila. John Gillingham lived and d. in Buckingham, Bucks co .;

YEAMANS, b. 8mo. 15, 1734; of whom presently ;

James, b. 6mo. 30, 1736, d. 2mo. 1, 1781 ; m. 2mo. 15, 1763. Phebe, dau. of John and Han- nah (Lewis) Hallowell, of Phila .;

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 17

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed Publication date: 1911 Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 978

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 978