Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 53

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

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VAUGHAN SMITH became a clergyman of the Methodist church, 1840. His clerical life was spent at various stations in Pennsylvania and Delaware. He was an earnest, able and industrious worker in his chosen vocation.

His wife, Mary Elizabeth, born August 30, 1824, died July 22, 1896, was a daughter of Benjamin Lloyd Shepperd and Sarah Wooten, of Delaware.

Issue of Stephen and Marianne (Smith) Harris:

STEPHEN HARRIS, b. May 23, 1834; m. March 10, 1863; d. March 10, 1874;

JOSEPH SMITH HARRIS, b. April 29, 1836; m. (first) June 20, 1865; (second) April 27, 1882; (third) Oct. 19, 1896;

MARTHA FRAZER HARRIS, b. May 24, 1838; m. May 17, 1870;

JOHN CAMPBELL HARRIS, b. April 10, 1840; m. Oct. 21, 1869;

FRAZER HARRIS, b. Nov. 12, 1841, d. April 19, 1859;

MARY CAMPBELL HARRIS, b. July 16, 1843, d. June 19, 1866;

William Harris, b. Feb. 15, 1845, d. March 8, 1845;

Emma Vaughan Harris, b. Aug. 17, 1846, d. Dec. 19, 1849;

Thomas Harris, b. Dec. 23, 1848, d. July 15, 1851.

STEPHEN HARRIS was educated, first, in Chester Valley, Pennsylvania, and after the removal of his father to Philadelphia, April, 1850, he entered the Central High School, September, 1850, passing an examination which placed him at the head of a class of over one hundred and forty boys. His progress was so satis- factory that he was twice promoted into the next class above his own, and gradu- ated June, 1853, with degree of A. B., being one of a very few who ever finished the four years' course at the Central High School in three years. He was gen- erally at or very near the head of his class during his whole course, though he was graduated without rank, as he was ill of typhoid fever at the time the class finish- ed its work.

He entered at once the service of the United States Coast Survey, in which he remained seven years, rising to the rank of sub-assistant. His work was mostly on the coast of Maine in summer, and on the coast of Florida, Mississippi or Louisiana in winter. He rendered valuable service and was highly thought of in the service, but he desired a more settled life, and, 1860, established himself as a civil and mining engineer in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where he spent his remain- ing years.

He and his brother, Joseph, formed, 1860, a partnership which lasted till Ste- phen's death, though Joseph did not permanently join him in Pottsville till 1864. The engineering practice became at once a remunerative one, and his services were held in high estimation by a wide range of clients. In 1864 he was appointed the agent and engineer of the city of Philadelphia, in which capacity he had charge of the very valuable coal estate left to the city by Stephen Girard, 1831. This property he developed and made very remunerative.

A long career of usefulness seemed to have opened before him, but it was

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destined to come to a tragic close. On the morning of March 10, 1874, he went to inspect some mining work that was being done on the Broad Mountain lands, about nine miles from his home. The day was cold and there was a furious snow storm raging on the mountain, which seems to have prevented his seeing or hear- ing perfectly. In some unknown way he was struck by a coal train which was backing up the Broad Mountain and Mahanoy Railroad, and was instantly killed.

He was a man of unusual gifts, an able mathematician, an untiring student, and a man of great reasoning power and of wide influence. He was an earnest, de- voted and useful Christian man, and combined in a degree rarely seen the abilities of a successful man of business and the deep and true family affections with de- voted and self-sacrificing piety.

At his death, the authorities of the church in which he was active, adopted a minute stating :

"He was at once distinguished in the church by his deep-toned, practical piety, and by his modest but zealous and unselfish devotion to all the best interests of the church. He was appointed Superintendent of the Sunday School on May 23, 1869 (his 35th birthday), and continued in that position until his death, excepting for an interval of less than two years when he served as a teacher of a class, laboring unceasingly and successfully to in- crease the power of the school as an instructor in God's truth and a means of bringing the young under the influence of His grace. He was elected to the eldership on May 12, 1868, and at once because of the maturity of his judgment and the commanding power of his fine intelligence, his pure motives, and his spiritual aim, was looked up to by all as a leader in every department of labor to which his office called. Without a semblance of ostentation he was to all a bright example of large and cheerful liberality, of unswerving energy, and per- sistent diligence in every good work. He was eminent in his profession, commanding the most respectful confidence of those most competent to judge, and he performed his daily duties with such conscientious integrity and elevated aim that his most secular labors appeared to men as they truly were a worship of God."

To which his pastor added :

"I am thankful especially for an opportunity to share in the tribute you pay to the memory of one to whom, under God, the church owes so much. He is living still in our hearts, and is still, and ever will be, a real force in all that makes our beloved church the power it is for good, in the town and in the world. Personally, I owed to his influence not only my call to the pastorate, but my acceptance of it; and never had I known in all my previous ministry, an elder of the church so close in fellowship, so tender in sympathy, and so helpful in my work, and never had I seen such self-abnegation, and such self-sacrificing devotion to the church's work. I have ever since felt the power of his influence, and have rejoiced to see it evident in others."

His wife, Catharine, born January 7, 1837, was a daughter of John McArthur and his wife, born Elizabeth Wilson, of Philadelphia. Mr. McArthur was an arch- itect and builder of Scottish birth, and an elder in the Tenth Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia.

JOSEPH SMITH HARRIS had a career which, during his school life, ran closely parallel to that of his brother, Stephen, entering the Central High School with him, and being graduated with him, and holding, like him, the highest places in his class.

Upon leaving school, 1853, he entered the service of the North Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in which he rose to the rank of topographer. On leaving this work upon the completion of the surveys in which he was engaged, he entered, in the fall of 1854, the service of the United States government, in which he remain- ed nearly ten years. He served about two years in the coast survey in Mississippi Sound, spent the season of 1850 in Kentucky, running a base line for the Ken-

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tucky Geological Survey, and was appointed one of the astronomers of the North- west Boundary Survey, 1857. He remained nearly five years on the extreme northwestern frontier of the United States, in what are now the states of Wash- ington, Idaho and British Columbia. In the season of 1862 he was, at first, the first officer, and later was in command of the United States steamer, "Sachem," on duty with Farragut's fleet in the Mississippi.

Leaving the service of the United States government, 1864, he removed to Pottsville, Pennsylvania, joining there his brother, Stephen, in business. He was engaged there in civil and mining engineering a number of years, until he was called to New York, 1880, as general manager of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. In 1882 he was elected president of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company and removed to Philadelphia. In 1893 he was appointed managing re- ceiver, and elected president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company and the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. He held these presi- dencies till his retirement, 1901. Under his adminstration the Reading Company, which, under the reorganization of the two companies above named, became owner of their capital stock, was able to resume, in 1900, the payment of dividends which had been intermitted since 1876. In June, 1903, he was given the degree of "Doctor of Science" by Franklin and Marshall College.

His first wife, the mother of all his children, Delia Silliman, born January 20, 1842, died August 19, 1880, was second daughter of George Hamilton Brodhead, of New York, for many years secretary of the New York Stock Exchange, later vice-president and president, and his wife, born Julia Ann Phelps.

His second wife, Emily Eliza, born July 14, 1843, died December 29, 1890, was a daughter of George Henry Potts, president of the National Park Bank, New York, and his wife, born Emily Dilworth Cumming.

His third wife, Anna Zelia Potts, was born June 11, 1850.

MARTHA FRAZER HARRIS married, May, 1870, Henry Chester Parry ; born June 17, 1839, died November 7, 1893, a physician, graduate of Medical School of University of Pennsylvania. He was, during the Civil War, and for some years later, a surgeon in the United States Army. After his marriage he commenced the private practice of medicine in Brooklyn, New York, and, in 1874, removed to Pottsville, Pennsylvania. After his death, November 7, 1893, his widow removed, in 1897, to Augusta, Georgia, where she now lives.

JOHN CAMPBELL HARRIS received college education ; graduated 1858, receiving degrees of A. B. and A. M .; was admitted to the bar when twenty-one years old, in Washington, D. C .; also a member of the Philadelphia Bar.

The book "Civil War Officers of the Army and Navy" (Hammersly, 1892), says :

"First Lieutenant John C. Harris was born near Philadelphia in 1840; admitted to the Bar in 1861; before entering the service, he volunteered, in January, 1861, on an expedition to take and hold Fort Washington, on the Potomac, and witnessed the first Bull Run dis- aster. He received a commission in 1861, in the Marine Corps, of which his uncle was then chief. After some service about Washington, he was placed in command of the guard of the war-steamer, 'Pensacola' (now, thirty years later, probably the only vessel of that date, still in active service). After much delay, in preparation, she passed down the Potomac with President Lincoln and some of his Cabinet, until under the fire of the rebel batteries, which failed, after repeated efforts, to seriously injure her. At Hampton Roads some time was spent in watching for the rebel iron-clad 'Merrimac.' In February 1862, she continued South, to join Admiral Farragut's fleet; and, after almost a wreck on the Florida reefs, and getting off with difficulty, reached Key West, Florida; refitted, and proceeded to Ship Island, where were rendezvoused the fleet, Porter's mortar flotilla, and General Butler's army. In

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April, 1862, after heavy fighting at Forts St. Philip and Jackson, and the Chalmette batteries (he being wounded, and, later brevetted, for `gallant and meritorious service' there), these naval forces captured New Orleans, where the 'Pensacola' remained over a year; though he was, for a time, a volunteer at the siege of Port Hudson, with his friend, General Godfrey Weitzel, of the U. S. Engineers. Before General Butler's troops arrived, Lieutenant Harris was thrice landed, with his men, to carry out Admiral Farragut's different orders. In April, 1863, he was ordered North; and soon after the Union repulse, with great slaughter, at Fort Wagner, off Charleston, was made adjutant of a battalion of five hundred men, sent from New York, to lead a second storming-party against the Fort; which, with Fort Gregg, was soon after taken, and the rebels cleared off Morris Island. After these captures and the assault on Fort Sumter,-in which he was again a volunteer, in a picked body of one hundred men, called for by Admiral Dahlgren,-the command retired to Folly Island, where the long stay on the Mississippi and exposure off Charleston, with bad food and water, culminated in a severe fever, which sent him, successively, to the hos- pital-ship, 'Vermont;' to the hospital at Beaufort, South Carolina; and, when able to travel, back to the North. A short service thereafter (in which he again volunteered) against the rebel cavalry raider, General Harry Gilmore (under Ewell) in Maryland, terminated his war experiences ;- as the war about then ceased. Service on many courts-martial (in which he was generally Judge-Advocate) and at the Philadelphia Navy-Yard then occupied him, until the U. S. S., 'Ticonderoga' ( whose guard he commanded), sailed in November, 1865, for the European Squadron; where he spent some three years, under Admirals Farragut and Goldsborough, visiting all the main ports of Europe, the East, and North and West Africa, with the Madeiras, Azores, Canaries, Balearics, etc.,-a cruise of unsurpassed interest ; opportunity having been given for travelling, also, through the interior of countries. On his return to the United States with Admiral Farragut, in 1869, on the frigate, 'Franklin,' he resigned, and resumed business-life. The Naval Register of that year credits him with more 'sea-service' than any of the corps of his date, or of the six preceding dates,-one officer excepted; who, however, was three dates ahead of him. On both sides of his family he came from pre-Revolutionary Pennsylvania ancestry. His grandfathers, General William Harris, of Pennsylvania, whose monument is at Great Valley Church, near Philadelphia, and Colonel Persifor Frazer on his maternal side, both served with the Pennsylvania troops under General Washington. His Frazer and Campbell ancestors evidence his partly Scotch origin, and the Harris name (which is identified with Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsyl- vania), is English, being the family name of the Earis of Malmesbury. As he only served when quite young, and in the regular Navy, where promotion awaited a vacancy ahead, there was no opportunity for other advance, as in the army. He was one of the million or more, whose course of life, was deflected by the war-call of the country, who did what occasion offered; and the survivors, when no more needed, returned whence they came."

After leaving the navy, he was some ten years in business, retiring 1878. He married Mary, daughter of Mr. Thomas H. Powers, an eminent and widely re- spected philanthropist. His wife's family, also early settled in Pennsylvania, Mr. Blunston, an ancestor, being one of Penn's Council of State; and Mrs. Harris holds membership in the Society of Colonial Wars, Daughters of the Revolution, etc.

Issue of John Campbell and Mary (Powers) Harris:

THOMAS POWERS HARRIS, b. Oct. 10, 1870, unm .; ALAN CAMPBELL, HARRIS, b. March 18, 1873, unm .; HENRY FRAZER HARRIS, b. May 28, 1880; m. Dec. 5, 1903.

FRAZER HARRIS was a lad of great promise and decided artistic ability. He died suddenly before his education was completed, from a malignant pustule in his face, which ended his life a few days after its appearance.

MARY CAMPBELL HARRIS died of consumption in her early womanhood.

Issue of Stephen and Catharine ( Mc Arthur) Harris:

STEPHEN HARRIS, b. Oct. 15, 1864; m. June 12, 1899; JOHN MCARTHUR HARRIS, b. March 5, 1867; m. June 14, 1894; ELIZABETH HARRIS, b. Feb. 26, 1870; m. June 18, 1896; MARY HARRIS, b. Sept. 6, 1872, unm.

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Issue of Joseph Smith and Delia Silliman ( Brodhead ) Harris:

Marian Frazer Harris, b. Dec. 3, 1866, unm .;

GEORGE BRODHEAD HARRIS, b. Sept. 3, 1868; m. June 12, 1896;

FRANCES BRODHEAD HARRIS, b. March 15, 1870; m. June 4, 1895;

CLINTON GARDNER HARRIS, b. March 18, 1872, unm .;

MADELINE VAUGHAN HARRIS, b. Nov. 5, 1873; m. Nov. 14, 1900.

Issue of Henry Chester and Martha Fraser (Harris) Parry:

MARY CAMPBELL PARRY, b. March 20, 1871; m. April 12, 1899; GEORGE GOWEN PARRY, b. Dec. 4, 1872; m. Oct. 14, 1905.

STEPHEN HARRIS was graduated University of Pennsylvania, B. S., 1886, C. E., 1887. He was an assistant engineer on the surveys for the Nicaragua Canal, 1897-1900. In 1901-2 he was in the service of the city of Philadelphia ; 1903-4, in the service of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company, and has since been in the service of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company.

His wife, Agnes, born August 29, 1868, is a daughter of Achille Cointat, of Tournay, Department of the Yonne, France, and his wife, born Clarisse Eleonore Dubois.

Issue of Stephen and Agnes (Cointat) Harris:

Eleonore Dubois Harris, b. April 1, 1900.

JOHN MCARTHUR HARRIS was graduated at University of Pennsylvania, A. B., 1887, A. M., 1890, and is an architect of the firm of Wilson, Harris & Richards, Philadelphia. He is an elder of the Second Presbyterian Church of Germantown, Philadelphia.

His wife, Sophia, is a daughter of the late Cornelius Weygandt, president of the Western National Bank of Philadelphia, and his wife, born Lucy Thomas. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College, A. B., 1889.

Issue of John Mc Arthur and Sophia (Weygandt) Harris:

Lucy Weygandt Harris, b. June 3, 1895;

John McArthur Harris, Jr., b. June 16, 1901.

ELIZABETH HARRIS was graduated at Bryn Mawr College, A. B., 1890, A. M., 1891.

Her husband, Edward H. Keiser, born November 20, 1861, a son of Bernhard Keiser, and his wife, born Katharina Pfeifer, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, re- ceived from Swarthmore College degree of B. S., 1880, M. S., 1881, and Ph. D., from Johns Hopkins University, 1884. He was professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College till 1900, when he was appointed to the same position at Washing- ton University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Issue of Edward H. and Elisabeth (Harris) Keiser:

Catharine Harris Keiser, b. April 16, 1897;

Bernhard Keiser, b. March 17, 1899; Stephen Harris Keiser, b. April 29, 1901;

Edward H. Keiser, Jr., b. Sept., 1903.

MARY CAMPBELL HARRIS was graduated at Bryn Mawr College, A. B., 1895. She is now a teacher at Miss Irvine's School, Philadelphia.

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GEORGE BRODHEAD HARRIS was graduated at University of Pennsylvania, B. S., 1888, C. E., 1889. After his graduation he spent eight years in the service of the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey and the Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad. In 1896 he entered the service of the Reading Iron Company, of which he was treasurer several years, till 1905, when he became vice-president of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company.

His wife, Elizabeth, born June 21, 1867, is a daughter of Albert Ruggles Hol- bert, and his wife, born Mary Henrietta Wisner, of Warwick, Orange county, New York.

Issue of George Brodhead and Elisabeth (Holbert) Harris:

George Brodhead Harris, Jr., b. May 5, 1899, d. Feb. 11, 1901 ;

Marian Frazer Harris, b. Dec. 15, 1900;

Joseph Macdonald Harris, b. Sept. 6, 1902.

FRANCES BRODHEAD HARRIS was graduated at Bryn Mawr College, 1892.

Her husband, Reynolds Driver Brown, born May 6, 1869, is a son of Henry W. Brown and his wife, born Alice P. Driver, of Philadelphia ; was graduated at Harvard University, A. B., 1890, and at Law School of University of Pennsyl- vania, 1894. He is a member of law firm of Burr, Brown & Lloyd, Philadelphia, and a professor of law, University of Pennsylvania.

Issue of Reynolds Driver and Frances Brodhead ( Harris) Brown:

Joseph Harris Brown, b. Feb. 23, 1897, d. March 22, 1899;

Reynolds Driver Brown, Jr., b. Nov. 14, 1903; Delia Brodhead Brown, b. Oct. 27, 1905.

CLINTON GARDNER HARRIS was graduated at University of Pennsylvania, B. S., 1892, B. Arch., 1893; was in the office of Cope & Stewardson, Philadelphia, for several years ; studied architecture in Paris and elsewhere in Europe, 1899-1902, and was in the office of Warren & Wetmore, architects, New York City, till 1906, and is now practicing his profession in Philadelphia.

MADELINE VAUGHAN HARRIS was graduated at Bryn Mawr College, 1895. Her husband, Henry Ingersoll Brown, born May 7, 1870, is a son of Henry W. Brown and his wife, born Alice P. Driver, of Philadelphia. He was a member of the class of 1891, at University of Pennsylvania, but left college during his junior year. He is a member of the insurance firm of Henry W. Brown & Company, Philadelphia.

Issue of Henry Ingersoll and Madeline l'aughan (Harris) Brown:

Henry Ingersoll Brown, Jr., b. Oct. 14, 1903;

Clinton Harris Brown, b. Nov. 8, 1905.

MARY CAMPBELL PARRY married, April, 1899, William E. Mikell, a cotton broker of Augusta, Georgia.

Issue of William E. and Mary Campbell (Parry) Mikell:

Waring Mikell, b. Feb. 26, 1900.

GEORGE GOWEN PARRY is engaged in the law department of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company in Philadelphia. He is Lieutenant and Adjutant

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of Second Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. His wife, Flora R., is a daughter of Charles C. Lockwood, of Philadelphia, and his wife, born Charlotte Wheeler.

THOMAS POWERS HARRIS was educated at Philadelphia Episcopal Academy and University of Pennsylvania. He is owner of the Sapony cattle ranch, Cedar Edge, Colorado; has taken the surname of his mother's father, and is now Thomas Harris Powers.

ALAN CAMPBELL HARRIS was educated at Philadelphia Episcopal Academy, Lawrenceville, and Princeton College, New Jersey.

HENRY FRAZER HARRIS was educated in Philadelphia at the Penn Charter School, and Princeton College, New Jersey. He married Miss Virginia Blair Johnston, of Pittsburg, a daughter of Ross Johnston and Anna Dyke Blair.

Issue of Henry Fraser and Virginia Blair (Johnston) Harris:

Anna Blair Harris, b. Sept. 6, 1905.

HINCHMAN FAMILY.

EDMOND HINCHMAN, pioneer ancestor of the Philadelphia family of the name, is supposed to have come from the parish of St. James, county Suffolk, England. He arrived at Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1637, with his wife, Elizabeth, and three infant sons, Thomas, Daniel and John. He later removed to Marshfield, Massachusetts, where, as shown by the records of that town, he resided 1652-60; removing about the latter date within the present limits of the town of Scituate, and from thence to Chelmsford, now Lowell, Massachusetts, where he resided with his son, Major Thomas Hinchman, until his death, October 27, 1668, aged about seventy years. The two sons, Captain Daniel Hinchman, and Major Thomas Hinchman, remained in Massachusetts, and are said to have left descendants.

JOHN HINCHMAN, son of Edmond and Elizabeth Hinchman, born in England, came with his parents to Massachusetts when an infant. He married at Boston, Massachusetts, August 10, 1660, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Emmons. He was a soldier in the British expedition from Boston, against the Dutch in New York, 1664, and was a patentee of Flushing, Long Island, February, 1666. He was again named in the patent from Governor Thomas Dongan, March 23, 1685. He was taxed in the Assessment Roll of 1675, for twenty-five acres of land, a negro servant, two horses, four oxen, four cows, two colts, and forty sheep. He probably died prior to 1698, when a list of the residents of Flushing was made out, which includes the names of only his sons, John and Thomas. Two other sons, James and Joseph, had probably removed elsewhere prior to this date. The last named we know to have been a resident of Gloucester county, New Jersey, prior to 1699. He is also said to have had daughters, Mercy, Mary and Sarah, the latter of whom married, August 24, 1695, Thomas Willett. Thomas Hinchman remain- ed a resident of Flushing, Long Island, and his will, dated November 3, 1733, mentions a number of children, among them a son, Joseph, whose will bears date December 5, 1744. The latter was the father of Dr. Joseph Hinchman, of Jamaica, Long Island, who was the great-great-grandfather of Mortimer L. Hinchman, Esq., attorney and counsellor at law, of Long Island City, New York, to whom we are indebted for an account of the earlier generations of the family.

JOHN HINCHMAN, son of John and Elizabeth (Emmons) Hinchman, of Flush- ing, married there, Sarah, daughter of Samuel Harrison, another of the earliest settlers on Long Island, and prior to 1699, he and his brother, Joseph, settled in Newton township, Gloucester county, New Jersey. On May 18, 1699, John and Priscilla Hugg conveyed to "John Hinchman, late of Long Island, 1000 acres on the South branch of Newton Creek, called King's Run, between Sarah Collins, Joseph Collins, the Salem Road, John Hillman and the North branch of Gloucester River, of which 400 acres were conveyed by Francis Collins, father of the said Priscilla Hugg, to Samuel Jennings and Robert Dimsdale in trust for the said Priscilla."

The will of John Hinchman, dated October 15, 1713, was proven November 4, 1721 ; it names his wife, Sarah, and his ten children, and mentions his brother, Joseph, as owning adjoining land.

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Issue of John and Sarah (Harrison) Hinchman:

John Hinchman, m. (first) Sarah, (second) Jan. 6, 1747, Elizabeth Smith, a widow ; JOSEPH HINCHMAN, of whom presently;

Sarah Hinchman, m. Thomas Bispham, Judge of Gloucester county 1733 to his death, 1750;

James Hinchman, was executor of his father's will, and inherited a portion of the home- stead : m. Keziah -

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Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 53

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