Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 79

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

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Richard Corson, father of Nancy M. (Corson) Search, was the fifth son of Benjamin and Sarah (Dungan) Corson, and was born in Bucks county, December 4, 1768. He married (first) Ann Marple and removed to Plymouth, Montgomery county, where he resided until the death of his wife, and then returned to Bucks county, where he died October 29, 1845. His second wife, Elizabeth Bennett. died June 29, 1843, at the age of sixty-eight years.

Issue of Jacob M. and Nancy M. (Corson) Search:

Elwood, b. Sept. 22, 1838;

THEODORE CORSON, b. March 20, 1841; of whom presently;

Henry Lott, b. Sept. 8, 1846; m. Mary M. Lefferts, and resided for many years near Yardley, Bucks co., Pa .;

Erasmus N. Miles, b. March 7, 1851; m. Mary Ella Warren, and had three children --- Pauline, wife of William Benny; Leroy, and Ethel;

. Anna Elizabeth, b. March 13, 1858; m. Edwin W. Roberts, for some years a produce commission merchant in Phila., but who d. in Southampton, Bucks co., 1898.

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THEODORE CORSON SEARCH was born on the old family homestead in Southamp- ton township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, March 20, 1841, and attended the country district schools of that section until his seventeenth year, when he enter- ed the State Normal School, at Millersville, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and after a year's course there entered the Crozier Normal High School, at Upland, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, from which institution he graduated in 1861, after a three years' course. He at once took up the profession of teaching, and after one term as teacher of the school at Fallsington, Bucks county, was appoint- ed principal of the High School at Middletown, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, where he remained for two years, and then became principal of the Middletown Academy, at the same place. After filling the latter position for two years, he came to Philadelphia, 1866, as an instructor in the Quaker City Business College. Two years later he became principal of the National Commercial Institute in that city, and in 1869 began his business career, with the wholesale wool firm of Davis, Fiss & Banes, and four years later became a partner in the same firm under the name of Fiss, Banes, Erben & Company, manufacturers of worsted and woolen yarns. In 1886 the firm was reorganized under the name of Erben, Search & Company, and took high rank as a manufacturing concern, largely due to the business capacity of Mr. Search, who was universally recognized as possessed of extraordinary business acumen, and his advice and counsel were sought by busi- ness and financial institutions of the city and elsewhere. He became a director of the Bank of North America in 1876, and filled that position for over thirty years ; he was elected president of the Colonial Fire Insurance Company, and is now president of the Cold Spring Bleaching & Finishing Works, Yardley, Pennsyl- vania. He has filled many other positions of high trust and honor. It was, how- ever, in the organization and perpetuation of associations for the protection, de- velopment and improvement of American manufacturing institutions and inter- ests that Mr. Search became especially prominent. He was for many years a member, and for some years president, of the Philadelphia Textile Association, and was a director of its successor, the Manufacturers' Club; was vice-president of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, and of the American Pro- tective Tariff Association. For five years he was president of the National Asso- ciation of Manufacturers, and in this position did much toward moulding public opinion in favor of practical legislation in the interests of American manufac- turers, and in securing such national legislation.

Theodore C. Search was the originator of the Philadelphia Textile School, later merged with the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. He gave much time and attention to these institutions, for the education of the American public in the practical ethics of manufacturing industries. A recent publication has this to say in reference to Mr. Search's connection with these institutions.

"Perhaps the work which Mr. Search takes most pride in, is the founding and building up of the Philadelphia Textile School, which is now included in the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. For more than a dozen years he has sustained and developed it, and for this unselfish service the people of Philadelphia and manufacturers of the entire country owe him a large debt of gratitude.

"The story of the progress of this school, started by Mr. Search in a small room on Spring Garden Street, rented for the purpose, with five pupils, up to its present

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fine quarters in the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, at Broad and Pine streets, with its more than seven hundred pupils, would fill a large volume if told in detail; it suffices here to say that Theodore C. Search was its sole sup- porter for some time, until the late William Arrott and Thomas Dolan, hearing of the good work being done by Mr. Search, told him to depend upon them for their share of the expenses, and thus was the school afterwards supported.

"The fostering of the school has been Mr. Search's most exacting, and, at the same time, most satisfactory work during the last twenty years of his life; and while he has given to the city and country, a unique institution of the most prac- tical value-viewed either from the art or humanitarian standpoint-he has un- consciously, also, reared himself a lasting monument. * * * he has made im- pressive addresses in its interest before the Legislature of Pennsylvania, and be- fore the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, at Boston. His speech before the latter body, together with the striking illustrative exhibit of the product of the school, aroused intense interest throughout the New England States, and elicited the most profound and gratifying recognition of the value of the school and its work to the textile art and manufactures of America."

Mr. Search served as vice-president and chairman of the Industrial Committee of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art for many years, and for the last ten years has been its president.

In 1892 Mr. Search became treasurer and executive head of the John B. Stet- son Company, the mammoth hat manufacturing concern, which position he re- signed seven years later. He has also been interested in many other manufactur- ing and industrial concerns. He is a member of the Franklin Institute at Phila- delphia, and was for many years a member of the Committee of Science and Art of that institution. In religion he conforms to the faith of his ancestors for many generations, and is president of the Board of Trustees of the Baptist Memorial Church, of which he and his family have long been members. He is also treasurer of the Baptist Orphanage.

Theodore C. Search married, December 25, 1862, Anna L., daughter of Eph- raim White, of Newtown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, who was born in 1841, died January 14, 1907. Their only child :

Ida May Search, b. July 24, 1864; m. Prof. George Howard Cliff, then principal of the Philadelphia Normal School, since treasurer of the DeLong Hook and Eye Co., and now its president; one daughter :

Anna Search Cliff.

SMITH FAMILY.

WILLIAM SMITH, founder of the family of that name in Bucks county, came from Yorkshire, England, arriving in the river Delaware, 7mo. (September ) 28, 1682, in the "Friends Adventure." He was then a young man and unmarried, and for several years lived with Phineas Pemberton, in Falls township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He later removed back into the woods of Wrightstown, where John Chapman was the only other white settler, and purchasing one hundred acres of the 500-acre tract surveyed there to Chapman, took unto himself a wife and settled thereon. He later purchased 150 acres adjoining his first purchase, and ex- tending from the Newtown township line to the Penn's Park Square, and built thereon a stone house in which he resided until his death in 1743. On 2mo. (April) 28, 1709, there was surveyed to him 200 acres in the Manor of Highlands, Upper Makefield township, which became known as the "Windy Bush Farm"; its name being later applied to the locality and the road extending from Wrightstown thereto.

William Smith was a staunch member of the Society of Friends, and was prob- ably the same William Smith who like his neighbor, John Chapman, and his father- in-law, Thomas Croasdale, is mentioned in Besse's "Collection of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers" as having been frequently fined and imprisoned in England for attending Friends' Meeting and non-conformity with the national church government. John Chapman and William Smith were the first settlers in Wrightstown township, and their families are the only ones of the original set- tlers there to hold continual residence in the township from that early date to the present time. Both families have likewise taken a prominent part in the affairs of the township, county and state, many of them holding high official positions at different periods, and others ranking high in professional life.

William Smith married, at the home of John Chapman, in Wrightstown, 9mo. (November) 20, 1690, Mary, born in England 8mo. (October) 31, 1669, daughter of Thomas and Agnes Croasdale, of Middletown, who, with their several children, had crossed in the "Welcome" with William Penn, 1682, bringing a certificate from Settle Monthly Meeting, dated 4mo. (June) 7, 1682.

Mary (Croasdale) Smith, after bearing her husband eight children, and sharing with him in rigors of a life in the new settlement for twenty-six years, died on Iomo. (December) 16, 1716, and was buried in the old graveyard at "Log-town," now Penn's Park. William Smith married ( second), 1720, Mercy --- , who bore him seven children.

Issue of William and Mary (Croasdale) Smith:

Margaret Smith, b. Oct. 20, 1691: m., 1712, Enoch Pearson, and her descendants are still numerous in Bucks co. and Phila .;

Mary Smith, b. April 16, 1696; m., 1717, John Atkinson, and also has numerous descend- ants:

Elizabeth Smith, m. Thomas Watson, Jr., of Buckingham, and was the mother of John Watson, Jr., the famous surveyor, who assisted in surveying the Pa. and Md. line, and was almost constantly in the employ of the Proprietaries of his native county;

William Smith, b. Jan. 2, 1697; m. Rebecca Wilson; he inherited the homestead in Wrightstown, and was a prominent man in the community, representing Bucks co. in the Provincial Assembly for eleven years, 1755 to 1765, inclusive;

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SMITH

Sarah Smith, b. Jan. 26, 1700; m. Samuel Blaker, 1721;

THOMAS SMITH, of whom presently;

Hannah Smith, m. William Lee, of Makefield, and left descendants: Lydia Smith, m. Joseph Heston.

THOMAS SMITH, second son of William and Mary (Croasdale) Smith, inherit- ed his father's "Windy Bush Plantation," on which he had settled at the time of his marriage, and died there in 1750. He married, 1727, Elizabeth, born Decem- ber 20, 1796, daughter of Robert and Mary (Large) Sanders, of Buckingham, and they had children.

Issue of Thomas and Elizabeth (Sanders ) Smith:

THOMAS SMITH, b. Aug. 13, 1728; m. Mary Ross; of whom presently:

Samuel Smith, b. March 17, 1729-30; m., 1750, Jane Shofield;

William Smith, b. March 6, 1731-2: m., 1754, Ann Williams;

Elizabeth Smith ;

Mary Smith; Margaret Smith, m., 1758, Thomas Rinsey;

Ephraim Smith, m., 1765, Rachel Hartley; Jacob Smith.

THOMAS SMITH, eldest son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Sanders) Smith, was born at "Windy Bush Farm," Bucks county, 6mo. (August) 13, 1728, died there October 20, 1813. He married at Buckingham Friends' Meeting, 8mo., 1750, Mary, born in Solebury township, Bucks county, March 2, 1735-36, died Septem- ber 5, 1777, daughter of Thomas Ross, the eminent preacher among Friends, by his wife, Keziah Wilkinson.

Issue of Thomas and Mary (Ross) Smith:

Samuel Smith, b. Sept. 20, 1753; m. Rachel Cooper; Joseph Smith, b. May 13, 1757; m. Rachel Hayhurst;

Keziah Smith, b. Aug. 11, 1759;

John Smith, b. Nov. 27, 1761;

Susannah Smith, b. Aug. 23, 1764; m. Bezeleel Hayhurst;

Ezra Smith, b. April 15, 1767; m. Margery Hayhurst;

THOMAS SMITH, b. Aug. 23, 1769; d. April 7, 1847; m. Elizabeth Linton; of whom pres- ently ;

Margaret Smith, b. April 10, 1772.

THOMAS SMITH, fifth son of Thomas and Mary (Ross) Smith, continued to reside in the township where his ancestors had resided for three generations, and took an active part in local affairs. He married, December 11, 1793, Elizabeth, born October 14, 1774, died May 10, 1844, daughter of John and Mary (Moon) Linton, of Bucks county, and fifth in descent from Sir Roger Linton, of York- shire, England.

Issue of Thomas and Elizabeth (Linton) Smith:

SAMUEL SMITH, b. Nov. 24, 1794, of whom presently ;

Sarah Linton Smith, b. Dec. 27, 1796;

Mary Smith, b. May 27, 1799; m. William Stratton ; Anna Smith, b. Sept. 14, 1801 ; John Linton Smith, b. Dec. 25, 1803;

Daniel Linton Smith, b. Jan. 8, 1806;

Elizabeth Smith, b. July 6, 1807; m. Amos Burgess ;

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George Fox Smith, b. Feb. 18, 1810; Martha Ann Smith, b. Jan. 16, 1812; Keziah Smith, m. John Simpson.

SAMUEL SMITH, eldest son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Linton) Smith, born in Wrightstown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, November 24, 1794, was a man of fine intellectual endowment. He was for several years a prominent school teacher, residing for some years on a portion of the paternal estate, in Wrightstown, and later in New Castle county, Delaware, where he died June 26, 1861.

Samuel Smith married, April 10, 1817, Sarah, born June 23, 1797, died Sep- tember, 1857, daughter of Levi Watson, of Bristol township, Bucks county, later of Wayne county, New York, by his wife, Rebecca Yerkes, and was sixth in de- scent from Thomas and Jennett (Feddell) Watson, of county Cumberland, Eng- land.

Thomas Watson, son of Thomas and Jennett above mentioned, "of Strawberry How, parish of Cockermouth, Cumberland, and Rebecca Mark, daughter of Thomas Mark, of Bleckelhall, near Carlisle, county of Cumberland," were mar- ried in England, and in 1702 brought a certificate to Falls Monthly Meeting, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. They settled in Falls township, Bucks county, on a planta- tion of 300 acres which they named "Strawberry How" after the little rural village of Strawberry How on the northern slope of the Cumbrian Mountains, in the ward of Allderdale-below-Derwent, county of Cumberland, England, where Thomas Watson was born. It was not, however, in the parish of Cockermouth, as stated in the above quotation, not being even in the same parish as the town of Cocker- mouth, but several miles further south, near the source of the river Derwent, on the southern border of Cumberland next Westmoreland.

Thomas Watson was a Justice of the Courts of Bucks county, 1710-28, and a member of Colonial Assembly from 1720 to 1725. To distinguish him from Thomas Watson, of Buckingham, also a Colonial Justice and Member of the Assembly, he is noted on the official records as "Strawberry How." His will, dated February 15, 1737-38, proved August 15, 1738, also mentions him as "late of Strawberry How, now of Bristol, Bucks County," &c.

Thomas Mark, father of Rebecca (Mark) Watson, married, April 8, 1658, Mary Bewley, of the ancient family of Bewley, Cumberland, an account of which is given in the Bewleys, of Cumberland. Her father, Thomas Bewley, was an early convert of George Fox, and one of his most intimate friends and associates. The journal of the distinguished Founder of the Society of Friends makes frequent mention of his sojourning at the house of Thomas Bewley, near Carlisle, Cumber- land. Both Thomas Bewley and his sons suffered severe persecutions and im- prisonments for "Truth's sake."

Mark Watson, son of Thomas and Rebecca (Mark) Watson, was like his father prominent in public affairs, being a member of Colonial Assembly, 1739-45. and a Justice of the Courts of Bucks county, 1741-50. He was an Elder and Trustee of Falls Monthly Meeting of Friends. He married, April 23, 1723, Ann. daughter of John Sotcher, Penn's faithful steward at Pennsbury, also a Colonial Justice and member of Provincial Assembly, by his wife, Mary Loftus, to whom he was married in the presence of William Penn, just prior to his return to Eng- land in 1701.

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SMITH

Joseph Watson, son of Mark and Ann (Sotcher) Watson, married, January 19, 1757, Rachel Croasdale, and they were the parents of Levi Watson, above men- tioned, and grandparents of Sarah (Watson) Smith.

Rebecca Yerkes, mother of Sarah (Watson) Smith, was born in Bucks county, October 2, 1766, and was a daughter of Stephen Yerkes (1727-1810), of More- land, Philadelphia, now Montgomery county, later of Warminster, Bucks county, by his wife, Rebecca Whitesides, of a prominent family of Philadelphia and Bucks counties in Colonial times.

Anthony Yerkes, founder of the family in Pennsylvania, supposed to have been a native of Holland, was one of the Burgesses of Germantown in 1703. In 1709 he purchased a large tract of land in the Manor of Moreland and settled thereon. His wife's name was Margaret, but nothing is known of the parentage of either.

Herman, or Harman Yerkes, son of Anthony and Margaret, was born in 1689, and died in Moreland in 1750. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. John Watts (a native of Kent, England, and many years pastor of Pennepack Baptist Church), by his wife, Sarah Eaton.

Samuel Smith married (second) Elizabeth Smith.

Issue of Samuel and Sarah (Watson) Smith:

ALBERT WATSON SMITH, of whom presently ;

Levi Watson Smith, unm .;

Rebecca E. Smith, m. Richard Walmsley; Gulielma Maria Smith, unm .; Abigail Hopper Smith, m. Evert Jansen Wendell;

Percival Roscoe Smith, unm .;

Samnel Dilwyn Smith, m. Fannie Thackery;

Sarah Cornelia Smith, unm.

ALBERT WATSON SMITH, eldest child of Samuel and Sarah (Watson) Smith, born February 13, 1818, married, June 6, 1839, Elizabeth Wollaston, born De- cember 9, 1817, died November 5, 1893, of an eminent Delaware county family, sixth in descent from Thomas Wollaston, who "came over to these partes in his Majestie's service in 1664." The Arms of this ancient family of Wollaston were, "Arg. three Mullets sa. pierced of the field,-Quartering, the ensigns of Charlton. Crest, a demigriffin salient, arg. in a mural crown or, holding a mullet sa. pierced salver." Motto, "Ne quid fales."

The following tribute to the memory of Elizabeth (Wollaston) Smith was writ- ten at the time of her death :

"ELIZABETH W. SMITH. "An Estimate of Her Character by One Who Knew Her Worth.

"In the death of Elizabeth W. Smith, it is not alone her family who have suffered an irreparable loss, but the entire community in which she moved, is deprived of a brilliant ornament and inestimable friend-a model of the highest type of womanhood. Possessed of a clear and vigorous mind, with an intelligence broadened by reading, travel and the con- versation of cultured people, she was not only a wise counselor in the various progressive movements of the day, in which she took an active interest, but as well the most enthusiastic and efficient worker.

"With a quiet and charming demeanor, her convictions were earnest and strong, and were urged with a degree of firmness and sweetness, that made her an efficient advocate. An early pleader for the emancipation of woman from the thraldom to which ignorance and prejudice assigned her, she made by the manner of her apology, the subject of the rights and privileges of women an attractive theme.

"During the terrible years of the sectional war, she shared the wasting anxiety with other mothers, whose sons, like her own, were at the front; and was an active and earnest

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worker in all the good works that tended to mitigate the hardships and sufferings of the loyal soldiery.

"When the struggle was ended and the emancipated and ignorant slaves flocked North, she was one of the band of noble women, who gave their time to the instruction of the un- fortunates, in the endeavor to secure to them the first elements of an education. Nor was her interest in the matter of education confined to this laudable work. She was one of the most interested and efficient aids in bringing to its present high state of efficiency and use- fulness, the Friends School in her native city.

"In the religious Society of Friends of which she was a member, and in whose principles she was a firm and sincere believer, she was an active worker, taking a prominent part in the meetings for business, and at times uttering words of encouragement and wisdom in the meetings for worship.

"Her disposition from childhood was gentle and persuasive; never a harsh or unkindly word escaped her, never an apology for wrong nor an unjust censure in her condemnation of wrong-doing. Patient to hear and slow to condemn, her judgments were just, whether to chide or approve, her kindliness and gentleness were universal.

"Possessed of an intense love for all that was beautiful in nature, and for all that was good and pure in character, an accurate observer, her published account of a visit to Mexico and the great West, as well as the recital of her experiences in Europe, were interesting and instructive to a high degree.

"Carrying into a long life the purity and innocence of childhood, she never grew old in aught save wisdom and years. The world is the better for her life, and in the language of one of her daughters: 'No sweeter wife, mother or friend ever left this world for a higher and better inheritance'."

Issue of Albert Watson and Elizabeth (Wollaston) Smith:

Samuel Redmond Smith, m. Sarah Elizabeth, dau. of Charles and Anna Maria Ware; Linton Smith, m. Margaret R., dau. of Charles and Mary (Richardson) Warner; Alexis du Pont Smith, m. Mary, dau. of Allen and Mary Harmon;

Walter Harold Smith, m. Isabella, dau. of George and Annie (Wilson) Sellers; JOSHUA ERNEST SMITH, of whom presently ;

Arthur H. Smith, m. Blanche, dau. of Henry R. and Mary E. Allen.

JOSHUA ERNEST SMITHI, of Wilmington, Delaware, son of Albert Watson and Elizabeth (Wollaston) Smith, married, September 11, 1877, Josephine Wales, daughter of Henry Lea Tatnall, of Wilmington, Delaware, by his wife, Caroline Gibbons.

The paternal ancestry of Josephine Wales (Tatnall) Smith is as follows:

The family name of de Taten, Tatton, Tattenhall, Tatenal, Tatnall, as it was variously spelled, occurs in England as early as the reign of Edward II .; the fam- ily of de Taten having come there from France at the time of the Norman Con- quest. The arms of this family, borne by them in France, are still used by the Tatnall family ; they are "Ar. a cutlass in hand, ppr. garnished, or." Crest, "a cut- lass erect, ar. hilt and pommel, or,-around the gripe a ribbon tied, gu." The early history of the family in England is clearly set out in the Cheshire county records, bringing the line down to the middle of the seventeenth century.

Very early in the eighteenth century, probably in 1705, Thomas Tatnall and "E. Tatnall" appear in South Carolina. The date of their arrival, however, is unknown to the writer. "E. Tatnall," is supposed to have been Edward Tatnall, and a brother of Thomas. He married a daughter of Sir Hugh Bryan, of South Carolina, and her tomb is on the sea island of Accbee.

Thomas Tatnall settled near Charleston, South Carolina, and married a grand- daughter of Baron Trimble Heston, of the Irish Peerage. He is known to have been at Beaufort and Charleston in 1710, actively engaged in association with Col. John Gibbs and Col. John Fenwick in locating church sites and building churches on the east coast and nearby islands, for the Church of England.

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SMITH

In 1776 Thomas Tatnall's son, Josiah Tatnall, of Bonaventure, known as the Royalist, though American at heart, refused a commission from the royal govern- ment and abandoning a valuable property, went to England with his daughter and two sons. The youngest son, Josiah Tatnall, Jr., begged to be allowed to remain and enter the army of the struggling Colonists, but this was denied him. After his arrival in England, the son became so restless to return to America, that his father secured him a commission on the Admiral's flag-ship in the English navy, in which ship he set sail for America. On its arrival in the West Indies, young Tatnall, then seventeen years of age, obtained his discharge from the Admiral, threatening desertion as an alternative, and finding his way back to his native shore, at once joined Gen. Greene's army of the South, and fought on the side of the Colonies until peace and independence were assured.

At the close of the Revolutionary War, Josiah Tatnall, Jr., settled in Georgia, where he became successively, member of the State Legislature, member of United States Congress, and Governor of the State, dying while holding the latter posi- tion, at the early age of thirty-eight years.

Josiah Tatnall, 3d, son of the last mentioned Josiah, was also a man of great distinction, becoming a commodore in the United States Navy. The Georgia family spelled the name with two "t's" thus "Tattnall."

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Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 79

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