Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 35

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

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In June, 1863, when Lee again invaded Maryland, Col. Thomas, at once marched his regiment, then 1200 strong, to Harrisburg, where he was ordered to guard the Northern Central Railroad, a matter of vital importance to the Army of the Potomac. His regiment was afterwards engaged with the enemy at Wrightsville and York, Pennsylvania, where Colonel Thomas, in command of the forces, prevented the enemy from crossing the river. He then joined Gen. Meade and aided in the pursuit of Lee, in full retreat southward.

In July 1864, the term of enlistment of his old regiment having expired, Col. Thomas organized the 192d Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, with seven com- panies from Philadelphia and three from Reading, the former largely equipped at his own expense, and placed himself and his command at his country's service. He was ordered to garrison Fort M'Henry, at Baltimore, then to Johnson's Island, and next to guard the large military stores at Gallipolis, Ohio, then threatened by the rebels, and remained at that post until November, 1864; thus in his three years of service he had participated in four campaigns, in each of which he displayed many of the highest qualities of a soldier.

On his return to Philadelphia, Col. Thomas was elected Brigadier General of the Fourth Brigade, First Pennsylvania State Guard, which rank he held at the time of his death.

An article in Harper's Weekly, of June 9, 1866, giving a brief sketch of Gen. Thomas, accompanied by his portrait, concludes as follows: "His military record v would be honorable to any soldier : it is doubly so as that of a man holding respon- sible civil position under the National Government. His duties as Collector of the Port would have excused Colonel Thomas from any active part in the war; but he refused to throw off one responsibility by pleading another. His adminis- tration of the Custom House has given entire satisfaction to business men, as well

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as to the Government, and there is no citizen of Philadelphia in whom a deeper trust is more worthily reposed by the community."

Gen. Thomas was a good citizen, a steadfast friend, and a wise counsellor. He was conspicuous in philanthropic enterprises, a great benefactor of the poor, and deeply interested in most of the charitable and benevolent institutions and projects of Philadelphia from the time of his settlement there. Religiously, he was in later life an attendant at Dr. Furness's Church. He died in Philadelphia, December 12, 1887, in his 77th year, honored and lamented by all who knew him.

Gen. Thomas married, September 26, 1836, Emily Wilson, daughter of Colonel George Washington Holstein, of Upper Merion, by his wife, Elizabeth Wayne Hayman, and they celebrated their golden wedding at Philadelphia, on September 26, 1886.

Matthias Holstein, the great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Thomas, was born July 1, 1681. He married, October 10, 1705, Brita Rambo, a descendant of one of the earliest Swedish settlers on the Delaware. Matthias Holstein was a mem- ber of Assembly, 1718-22-24-25. His son, Matthias Holstein, Jr., who was born February 2, 1717, died December 12, 1768. Matthias Holstein Jr. was Lieutenant of the Philadelphia Associators in 1747. Andrew Holstein was one of the trus- tees of Christ (Swedes) Church of Merion, to whom Peter Rambo conveyed the land in 1757, upon which the church, and its predecessor, the stone school house, which did service as a place of learning and worship, were erected. The wife of Matthias Holstein Jr. was Magdalene Huling, born in 1717, died December 4, 1799.

Samuel Holstein, son of Matthias and Magdalene (Huling) Holstein, was the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Thomas, and was born March II, 1745, and died December 22, 1802. He married, November 12, 1771, Rachel Moore, born Octo- ber 8, 1746, and their son, George Washington Holstein, born April 10, 1778, died March 10, 1841, married, November 5, 1801, Elizabeth Wayne Hayman, born April 5, 1780, daughter of Capt. William Hayman, of the United States Navy, Commander of the ship "Hope" in 1781. Capt. Hayman was a son of William Hayman, Surveyor General of Exeter, England, and was born in Exeter, February 22, 1740, and died in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, September 23, 1826. He married, October 15, 1772, Ann, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth ( Iddings) Wayne, sister to Gen. Anthony Wayne of the Revolution.

The Wayne Family, to which Capt. Anthony Wayne, the first American ancestor in Pennsylvania belonged, is mentioned in the early records of the coun- ties of York and Derby, England, where for many centuries and down to the present time, they have held a most respectable position among the gentry ; some of the name still being found in the parishes where their ancestors held lands in Derby centuries ago. The names of Francis, Gabriel and Anthony Wayne, appear on the list of soldiers of the civil wars of England, and the arms cut on the seal ring which Anthony Wayne brought with him to Pennsylvania, correspond with those cut upon the tombstones of the Waynes in the ancient burying-ground of the family in Derby, viz: "Gules, a chevron ermine, between three inside gaunt- lets, or," but the Crest, "a stag's head erased, or," differs from the crest now used by the Derbyshire family.

CAPTAIN ANTHONY WAYNE was born in Derbyshire, near the border line of Yorkshire, in 1666, and at an early age adopted the profession of arms, for which

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he seems to have inherited a decided preference. While a lad he served under John Churchill, in Holland, and later under the great Duke of Marlborough, with his lifelong friend John Hunter. Whether he accompanied the Army of William of Orange to England, or joined it later in Ireland, does not appear. At any rate he was in command of a troop of horse at the battle of Boyne, in 1690, where he was still associated with his friend Hunter, and at the conclusion of peace, both settled as graziers in the county of Wicklow, Ireland, on land confiscated by William and conferred upon them as his loyal supporters. At about this date, Capt Wayne married, at Rathdrum, county Wicklow, Ireland, Hannah Faulkner, of Holland descent.

In 1723 Captain Anthony Wayne emigrated with his family to America, land- ing at Boston Massachusetts, from whence he made his way to Chester county, Pennsylvania, where his old companion in arms, John Hunter, had settled in 1722. By deed dated May 11, 1724, he purchased of Thomas Edwards 386 acres. of land in Easttown township, being named in the deed, as "Anthony Wayne, Gentleman." On May 31, 1729, he conveyed forty acres of this land to his son Francis Wayne, and having added about the same quantity by purchase in 1735, on February 20, 1738-9, conveyed the balance of the whole plantation to his son. Isaac, conditioned on the payment of an annuity to the parents during life.

Capt. Anthony Wayne died in Easttown township, December 2, 1739, and was buried at St. David's Church, in Radnor township, of which he had been a vestry- man and pew-holder from the time of his arrival in Chester county.

Issue of Captain Anthony and Hannah (Faulkner ) Wayne :--

Francis, b. in Ireland, about 1690, d. in Chester Co., Pa., Jan. 31, 1763; m. Elizabeth Jackson, and had issue;

Gabriel, b. in Ireland about 1694;

ISAAC, b. 1699, d. 1774, m. Elizabeth Iddings, of whom presently;

Humphrey, b. 1701, m. Priscilla Iddings;

Jacob, m. Elizabeth

William, b. 1708, d. Apr. 22, 1726; John, executor of his father's will in 1739; Sarah, m. James Norton; Ann, m. Samuel McCue; Mary.

ISAAC WAYNE, third son of Capt. Anthony Wayne, born in Ireland in, 1699, acquired the home plantation from his father just prior to the latters death, and spent his life thereon, naming the estate "Waynesborough." He was a man of great force of character and became prominently identified with provincial affairs. He was a captain in the provincial forces during the Indian troubles of 1755, raising a company for the defense of the frontier after Braddock's defeat, with which he was stationed at De Puy's, now Monroe county, until January, 1756, when he was ordered to Nazareth, Northampton county, where he was at the time Benjamin Franklin took charge of fortifying our northeastern frontier. He recruited another company when the trouble was renewed in 1757-8, and served with it on the frontier. He was elected to the Colonial Assembly in 1757, and annually re-elected thereafter until 1764. He was, like his father, a prominent member of the vestry of St. David's Church, where he was associated with his lifelong political opponent, William Moore, of Moore Hall. Capt. Wayne accu- mulated a handsome estate, and greatly enlarged and improved the mansion at

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Waynesborough, which descended, at his death in 1774, to his eldest surviving son, Gen. Anthony Wayne.

Capt. Wayne married, in 1738, Elizabeth, daughter of Richard and Margaret (Phillips) Iddings, of Chester county. She survived him many years, dying in May. 1793, at the age of eighty-four years.

Issue of Captain Isaac and Elizabeth (Iddings) Wayne :-

William Wayne, d. inf .:

Gen. Anthony Wayne, b. Jan. 1, 1745, d. Dec. 15, 1796, m. Mary Penrose; Hannah Wayne, m. Samuel Van Lear;

Ann Wayne, b. 1751, d. June 9, 1807, m. Oct. 15, 1772, Capt. William Hayman, of U. S. Navy, before mentioned.

Issue of Gen. William B. and Emily W. (Holstein ) Thomas :-

Anna Elizabeth Thomas, m. Feb. 3, 1858, Nathan Brooke, of Media, son of Hon. Hugh Jones Brooke and wife Elizabeth Longmire, and had issue :

William Thomas Brooke, m. May 11, 1881, Rebecca Chapman;

Ida Longmire Brooke, m. Dec. 14, 1881, J. Howard Lewis, Jr .;

Hugh Jones Brooke, m. Apr. 25, 1893, Harriet Boyer Weand;

Hunter Brooke;

Emily Thomas Brooke, m. May 12, 1903, John Brander Austin, Jr. Benjamin Brooke, d. inf .;

Rebecca Brooke, m. Nov. 20, 1867, George Hamilton Colket, son of Coffin and Mary Pennypacker (Walker) Colket, Pres. of Germantown, Norristown and Chestnut Hill R. R. Co., and the City Passenger Railway Co., up to time of death. They had issue :

Emily Thomas Colket, m. Oct. 30, 1889. Harrison Koons Caner;

Mary Walker Colket;

Tristram Coffin Colket, m. Nov. 15, 1900, Eleanor Lippincott ;

George Hamilton Colket.

Mary Amies Brooke, m. Feb. 25, 1874, Hunter Brooke, son of Hon. Hugh Jones Brooke and wife Elizabeth Longmire, of Media. They had issue :

Helen Brooke, m. Jan. 21, 1905, George Callendine, son of Col. Jonathan McGee and Mattie (Callendine) Heck, of Raleigh, N. C .;

Marie Thomas Brooke, m. April 14, 1909, George W., son of William P. and Emeline Hill Clyde, of New York.

JOHN BROOKE, the ancestor of Hunter Brooke, above mentioned, came from Yorkshire with sons, James and Matthew, in the latter part of the seventeenth century ; having purchased of William Penn, seven hundred and fifty acres of land to be laid out in Pennsylvania. He died, however, at the house of William Cooper, of Pine Point, Gloucester county, New Jersey, leaving a will dated Octo- ber 25, 1699, and proven March 1, 1699-1700, which leaves legacies to the children of his three children in England, viz: Son, Jonathan and daughters, Abigail, wife of Robert Todd, and Elizabeth, wife of Joshua Sickes. His sons, James and Matthew, evidently accompanied him to America and later settled in Limerick township, Philadelphia, now Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.

JAMES BROOKE, son of John, died in Limerick township, in the year 1720.

JONATHAN BROOKE, son of James, died in 1751, his will being proven on Octo- ber 11, of that year. By his wife, Elizabeth Reece, of Welsh descent, he had one son, James Brooke, born in 1723, died June. 1787. who married Mary Evans, also of Welsh descent.

CAPTAIN BENJAMIN BROOKE, son of James and Mary (Evans) Brooke, born in Limerick township, September 24, 1753, was a distinguished patriot in the Revolutionary War. He was a man of considerable energy and force of char-

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acter, and at the outbreak of the Revolution, he ardently espoused the cause of the colonies, and although he had but recently married and established himself in a good business, he at once volunteered for military service in the field and was commissioned Lieutenant of a Company of Foot, in the Third Battalion of Asso- ciators of Philadelphia county, and leaving his bride of a few months, marched with his command to Amboy, New Jersey. From that time until the close of the war, he was actively engaged in the patriotic struggle. He was commissioned Captain of his company, then in the Sixth Battalion, May 12, 1777.

Capt. Benjamin Brooke, married, April 25, 1776, Anna Davis, of Welsh ances- try, born November 29, 1754, died September 7, 1823. He died at his residence, Gulph Mills, Upper Merion township, July 22, 1834. They were the parents of Rebecca Brooke, who married Reese Thomas, before referred to, and among others, of Nathan Brooke, born February 8, 1778, who was a farmer and promi- nent business man of Lower Merion, and died there, February 5, 1815. He mar- ried, October 11, 1804, Mary, daughter of Hugh Jones, of Marble township, Chester county, born in Merion, May 12, 1746, died in Marble, December 29, 1796, by his wife, Mary, daughter of James and Hannah (Morgan) Hunter, of Radnor, born November 12, 1757, died August 20, 1820. Hugh Jones Sr., the grandfather of Mary (Jones) Brooke, was born in Merion in 1705, died there, August 8, 1790. He was the original owner of "Brookfield," north of Bryn Mawr, later owned by Hon. Wayne MacVeagh, having purchased first a part of the Lloyd plantation, taken up by Robert Lloyd, and later added largely thereto

HONORABLE HUGH JONES BROOKE, of Radnor, son of Nathan and Mary (Jones) Brooke, born December 27, 1805, died December 19, 1876, was for over half a century prominently identified with the affairs of Delaware county and the city of Philadelphia. He was many years a member of the State Senate of Penn- sylvania and filled various other public positions of trust and honor. He was largely instrumental in securing the construction of the Philadelphia, Media and Westchester Railroad, and was identified with a number of other public improve- ments, amongst them the Pennsylvania School for Feeble-minded Children, erected near Media, and Brooke Hall Female Seminary, erected by him in Media. He was for many years President of the Farmers' Market Company. of Phila- delphia. He married, April 16, 1829, Jemima Elizabeth Longmire, a native of Nottingham, England, and they had issue :-

Anna Elizabeth Brooke, d. in childhood;

Nathan Brooke, d. May 13, 1885: m. Anna Elizabeth Thomas;

Mary Brooke, d. inf .;

Francis Mark Brooke, d. Dec. 29, 1898; m. July 19. 1862, Adelaide Hunter Vogdes; Hannah Maria Brooke, m. John L. Evans;

Colonel Benjamin Brooke, b. Dec. 13, 1840; d. March 12, 1902, unm. At the out- break of War of Rebellion, he enlisted in 124th Pa. Infantry, under Col. Joseph Hawley, and as Sergeant of Company D of that Regiment, fought in battles of Antietam and Chancellorsville. When term of enlistment expired, he recruited Company B of 203rd Infantry, with which he was at storming of Fort Fisher, where he was severely wounded. He was again wounded in front of Wilmington, N. C., in one of last battles of war. He was then promoted to Lieut .- Col. of 203rd, and came home with that rank. At close of war, he was offered commis- sion in regular army, but declined;

Hunter Brooke, m. Mary Amies Thomas:

Jemima E. Brooke, d. inf .:

Sarah Ann Brooke, m. George M. Lewis.

HOPKINSON FAMILY.

THOMAS HOPKINSON, founder of the Philadelphia family of that name, was son of Thomas and Mary Hopkinson, and was born in London, England, April 6, 1709, where his father was a prosperous merchant. He attended Oxford Uni- versity, but did not graduate there. He studied law at London, and soon after attaining his majority, emigrated to America. He and his family seem to have had influential friends in Philadelphia, where the young barrister was appointed deputy to Charles Read, then Clerk of the Orphans' Court of Philadelphia county, and on the death of Read was commissioned his successor, January 20, 1736-7, and filled that position until his death on November 5, 1751. On the same date he was commissioned Master of Rolls for Philadelphia, and served until 1741. He was also Deputy Prothonotary under James Hamilton, was commissioned Pro- thonotary November 24, 1748, and served until his death. He was commissioned a Justice June 30, 1749, and a Judge of Vice Admiralty of the Province January 17, 1744-5, and became a member of Provincial Council May 13, 1747. He was also a member of Common Council of Philadelphia from October 6, 1741, to his death. He was a man of high scholastic attainments and deeply interested in scientific and literary subjects. Dr. Franklin, in one of his dissertations on elec- tricity, says, "The power of points to throw off electrical fire was first communi- cated to me by my ingenious friend, Thomas Hopkinson, since deceased, whose virtue and integrity in every station of life, public and private, will ever make his memory dear to those who knew him and knew how to value him." He was an originator of the Philadelphia Library, an original trustee of the College of Phila- delphia (later University of Pennsylvania), first president and one of the most prominent members of the American Philosophical Society. He was from his arrival in Philadelphia until his death prominent in the political and social life of Philadelphia. He was one of the early subscribers to the Dancing Assembly, one of the exclusive social institutions of Colonial Philadelphia.

Thomas Hopkinson married at Christ Church, September 9, 1735, Mary John- son, born in Appoquinimink Hundred, New Castle county, August 4, 1718, died in Philadelphia, November 9, 1804. Her grandfather, George Johnson, was a son of William Johnson, of Laycock, county Wilts, England, and Elizabeth, his wife, and was born at Laycock, Wiltshire, about 1620. He was admitted to the Middle Temple, May 2, 1645; admitted to the bar, November 24, 1654, and was a Sergeant-at-law in reign of Charles II., who granted him the reversion of the office of Master of Rolls, August 15, 1677, but he did not live to realize the grant, dying May, 1683, before the office became vacant, his wife, Mary, surviving him. A grandson, first cousin of Mrs. Hopkinson, was James Johnson, Lord, Bishop of Worcester. Baldwin Johnson, father of Mrs. Hopkinson, born at Laycock, Wilt- shire, baptized October 25, 1672, removed to the Island of Antigua, and thence to the Lower Counties on the Delaware, where he married Jane, widow of William Dyer, of Kent county (son of Mary Dyer, the Boston Quaker martyr), who had settled in Delaware about 1669.

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Francis Hopkinson 3

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Issue of Thomas and Mary (Johnson) Hopkinson:

FRANCIS, b. Sept. 21, 1737; m. Anne Borden; of whom presently;

Elizabeth, b. Sept. 15, 1738; m. Rev. Jacob Duché, first pastor of St. Peter's Church, Phila., and first chaplain of Continental Congress; later became "disaffected" to the cause of American independence, went to England and d. there;

Mary, b. July 5, 1741, d. Aug. 9, 1741;

Mary, b. Oct. 9, 1742, d. s. p., Jan. 2, 1785; m. Sept. 4, 1765, John Morgan, A. B., M. D., graduated at Univ. of Pa., (A. B.) 1757; studied medicine under Dr. John Redman, and was director general and physician in chief of General Hospital, Continental Army, 1775-7; member of Society of Belles Letters, Rome; Academy of Surgery, Paris; College of Physicians, London; College of Physicians, Edinburgh, and College of Physicians, Phila .; d. at Phila., Oct. 15, 1789;

Jane, b. Oct. 3, 1744, d. unm., Baltimore, Aug. 6, 1811;

Anne, b. Nov. 23, 1745, d. Baltimore, Md., April 26, 1817; m. April 26, 1775, Dr. Samuel Stringer Coale, who studied medicine under Dr. John Morgan, and practiced in Balti- more ;

Thomas, b. Sept. 7, 1747, d. May 26, 1784, graduated at College of Phila., 1766, studied divinity, went to England and France, 1773, returned to Phila., 1774, with a view of taking charge of a mission in Bucks co., but became pastor of St. Thomas' Parish, Baltimore co., Md., Dec. 10, 1775; later had a charge at Shrewsbury, Kent co., and subsequently in Mathews co., Va .;

Margaret, b. July 21, 1749, d. Sept. 9, 1751.

FRANCIS HOPKINSON, son of Thomas and Mary (Johnson ) Hopkinson, born in Philadelphia, September 21, 1737, was one of the first pupils of the College and Academy of Philadelphia, now University of Pennsylvania, and graduated there 1757. He studied law under Benjamin Chew, Esq., then Provincial Councillor and Attorney General of the Province, and was admitted to the Bar of Philadel- phia county 1761. The same year he officiated as Secretary at a treaty with the Indians, and commemorated that event in his first poetical effusion, entitled "The Treaty." He became secretary of the Philadelphia Library Company 1759, and was librarian 1764-5. He was also secretary of the vestry of Christ Church and assisted in organizing the library of that church. In May, 1766, he went to Europe with his friend, Redmond Conyngham, who was returning to his estates at Letterkinny, Ireland; arriving at Londonderry June 27, 1766, he spent several weeks in Ireland, and then proceeded to London, where he remained for about one year, with occasional visits to Hartlebury Castle, the home of his mother's first cousin, the Bishop of Worcester. He was hospitably received and entertained by persons of distinction in London, and associated with Hon. John Penn, Lord North, Benjamin West, and others of like distinction. He made an effort to obtain the appointment as one of the Commissioners of Customs in North Amer- ica, but did not succeed. He returned to Philadelphia and took up the practice of law, and also devoted some attention to mercantile pursuits, having his store, dwelling and law office on Race street, above Third. He became a member of the American Philosophical Society 1768, and was warden of Christ Church 1770-1. In March, 1772, he was made Collector of His Majesty's Customs at New Castle, the last to serve under the Crown, performing the duties, however, by deputy. He married September II, 1768, Anne Borden, of Bordentown, New Jersey, made his principal residence for some years in that town, and became a member of Provincial Council of New Jersey (1774-6), was chosen by the Provincial Con- vention, June, 1776, one of its delegates to the Continental Congress, and was one of the committee of that body to draft the Articles of Confederation. He voted

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in favor of declaring the Colonies independent, and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Francis Hopkinson was delegated by Congress to the important positions of head of Navy Department, and Treasurer of Continental Loan Office, and lie espoused the cause of the struggling Colonies with the utmost zeal and patriotism ; in addition to bringing to official position an executive ability amounting to genius, his ready pen was of incalculable benefit to the cause of independence, his poems, political songs and essays, with their humorous satire, received the widest circula- tion, and did very much to arouse and foster the spirit of national independence and cheer the flagging spirits of its defenders. He had acquired quite a reputation as an author prior to the Revolution, and his "Pretty Story," published 1774, in pamphlet form, met with great success, as did his "Prophecy," 1776, the cutting satire of his "Political Catechism," and other essays, poems and popular airs, did much to expose the weakness of the philosophy of the nation's enemies, and it is impossible to overestimate "the irresistible influence of the ridicule which he poured from time to time upon the enemies of those great political events." His "Battle of the Kegs," written 1778, his best known ballad, described an attempt on the British fleet at Philadelphia by floating torpedoes down the river, and brought out the ridiculous side of the terror it caused among the British officers in the greatest possible manner. On July 16, 1779, he was appointed by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, to succeed George Ross as Judge of the Admiralty, and held that position until 1790, when the office was abolished by the adoption of the new constitution. He was then appointed by President Washing- ton, Judge of the newly established District Court of the United States, for the District of Pennsylvania, and died while filling that position, May 9, 1791, from a stroke of apoplexy, which he survived but two hours. In 1789 he published a volume of his decisions as Judge of the Admiralty Court. His best known writ- ings were "The Pretty Story," 1774; "The Prophecy," 1776; "The Political Catechism," 1777; "The Treaty," 1762; "The Battle of the Kegs," 1778; "History of a New Roof," descriptive of the adoption of the Federal Constitution, 1790; "Typographical Method of Conducting a Quarrel." "Essay on White Washing,' and "Modern Learning." An edition of his "Miscellaneous Essays and Occa- sional Writings" was published in three volumes, Philadelphia, 1792.

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Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 35

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