USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of genealogy and biography of the state of Pennsylvania with a compendium of history. A record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Volume II > Part 14
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
747
OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
the grant of the province to Penn, and, when Governor Markham formed his cabinet. Clayton was one who took the oath of office, August 3. 1681. During 1683-84-85 he was a member of Penn's provincial council. In the same generation Mr. Broomall is descended from George Maris. the first settler in Springfield, who gave to that township the name it still bears.
In the maternal line he is in the fourth generation from William Hoskins: in the fifth from John Smith : sixth from Robert Booth, Betty Caston. William Cloud. Robert Shelly and John Davis: in the seventh from William Buzby. Elizabeth Acton. Joseph Niels and Rebecca Ilinde : while in the eighth from John Dutton, Henry Reynolds and John Kings- man. In the ninth he descends from John Simcock, who in 1688, dur- ing the quarrel between Penn and the assembly, was commissioned by Penn as one of his deputies or "Leiftenants." To John Simcock, Penn patented more than half of the present township of Ridley. Hence, in Mr. Broomall's case is exemplified Deborah Logan's declaration show- ing "in a good degree the advantages of stability which a family acquires by being fixed in its place of residence."
William Booth Broomall, the eldest son of Hon. John M. and Elizabeth ( Booth ) Broomall, was born January 30, 1843. in the house still standing at the northeast corner of Market Square and Third street. His father, one of the eminent men of Pennsylvania, when his son was two years old, purchased a farm in Upper Chichester, near the present Boothwyn, which he tilled until 1848, when he returned to Chester and resumed the practice of law. The lad was placed in the school con- ducted by Joseph Taylor, in the second story of the Penn buildings, Market Square, and later was instructed in the classics and higher mathematics by James G. Riddle, a learned but eccentric resident of Chester. In September, 1856, Mr. Broomall entered Haverford Col-
748
COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND GENEALOGY
lege, graduating therefrom in July, 1861. Judge Broomall had in the meanwhile removed to Media, where his son entered the father's office. Among his fellow students at law was Hon. James Barton, Jr., and Hon. John B. Hinkson, both of whom later filled the position of mayor of Chester.
When nineteen, W. B. Broomall enlisted in Company D (Gideon's Band). Captain Norris L. Yarnall, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Pennsylvania Infantry, and August 11. 1862, was mustered into the service of the United States with the rank of sergeant. A month later (September 16), after a hard day's march, the regiment, which had been without food for nearly twenty-four hours, was ordered to take part in the battle of Antietam, and from early light until three o'clock in the afternoon of the following day, held its position at the close of the engagement, although several times compelled to recapture the ground, as the battle ebbed and flowed. In the disastrous Chancellorsville cam- paign, the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth, with other regiments, was thrown to the front when the Eleventh Corps became panic stricken, and for five hours held the Confederate veterans in check, until, being outflanked, the line was compelled to retire. In all the service of his regiment in the field, Mr. Broomall took active part. although he was scarcely twenty, until his regiment was honorably discharged at Phila- delphia, on May 9, 1863.
He thereupon resumed the reading of law in Broomall & Ward's office in Chester, and was admitted to the bar of Delaware county, Feb- ruary 28, 1864. By a strange error in the minutes of court, his ad- mission appears as of December 28. 1863. For more than three years he remained in the office of his preceptors without seeking to build up an individual practice. In January, 1867, a partnership was formed for one year, comprising Hon. William Ward, David M. Johnson and
OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA. 749
William B. Broomall. At the expiration of this period Mr. Johnson withdrew, and the firm became Ward & Broomall, which continued until 1878, when Mr. Broomall withdrew. Up to that time he seldom ap- peared in court in the trial of cases, but so quickly did he attract public attention by his advocacy, exact reasoning and profound knowledge of law, that in less than two years he became the recognized leader of the bar of Delaware county. In the spring of 1882 he was elected to the council of Chester. representing what is now the sixth, seventh and eighth wards. He was re-elected in 1884. but in the fall of that year he resigned to accept the solicitorship of the Baltimore & Philadelphia Railroad Company for this district.
From the time Mr. Broomall began individual practice. there has rarely been a case involving nice questions of law, or in which large amounts were in litigation, in which he has not been engaged. In 1889, after the Union Railway Company was authorized to lay tracks upon designated streets, the Chester Street Railway Company. repre- sented by John G. Johnston, Esq .. sought to restrain the former cor- poration from the use of the streets of the city, but at the hearing Mr. Broomall so ably represented the facts and law that the court sustained his contention, with the result that the Union Railway Company purchased the equipment of the Chester Street Railway Company, miles of track were laid, and the present system of street railway communication was inaugurated. In the case. Swarthmore & Morton Railway vs. the Chester Traction Company. Mr. Broomall's argument, which was fol- lowed by the supreme court in its opinion. settled the question that one railway company, in the exercise of eminent domain, cannot condemn the road of another company for its own purposes. In 1901 Mr. Broomall was the leading counsel in the noted Robinson will case, a litigation which attracted the attention of the public throughout the state. Mr.
44
750
COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND GENEALOGY
Broomall has rarely appeared in the criminal side of the courts, but in the Pfitzenmeyer homicide proceedings, the most dramatic and sensa- tional trial in the annals of Delaware county, he was the leading counsel for Caroline Schmidt, indicted in 1891 for the murder of her sister Emma Pfitzenmeyer. The prosecution hinged largely upon medical expert testimony, the witnesses for the state asserting that both the carotid arteries had been cut, which, if true, absolutely destroyed the theory of suicide. the hypothesis upon which the defense was founded. Mr. Broomall produced the neck of the dead woman before the jury. absolutely refuting the testimony of the commonwealth's experts. Since the Colt case, tried in New York, in 1841, when the head of the mur- dered man was produced at the trial, there had been no incident in a criminal trial in the United States where such proof had been intro- duced in court. The jury, after a few minutes' deliberation, acquitted the prisoner. In 1892 Mr. Broomall was leading counsel in the William Brown homicide case, where during a strike at the Standard Steel Works, one of the strikers, attempting to intimidate other workmen, was killed. The accused parties were acquitted.
Mr. Broomall has been prominent in Masonic circles for a score of years. He is past master of Chester Lodge No. 236, and for fifteen years has been deputy grand master representing the grand lodge in Delaware and Chester counties. Since the organization of the Penn Club, in 1896, he has been its presiding officer. In 1874 he visited Eu- rope. and since then has twice spent his vacations abroad. In the western continent he has traveled extensively in the United States, Mexico and Canada, frequently in the interests of clients as well as for pleasant recreation. He has given considerable of his leisure to historical investigation. His papers on William Lewis, an old time leader of the Pennsylvania bar, and on William Ward, read before the Delaware
751
OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
County Historical Society, are valuable contributions to the annals of the state.
October 17. 1876, Mr. Broomall married Anna M. Hinkson. A peculiar incident associated with his marriage is that the wedding took place in the same house where he was born thirty-three years before. the property having passed through many owners in the meanwhile. Mrs. Broomall is a daughter of Joseph Engle and .Anna ( Black) Hink- son, her mother being a daughter of Samuel Black. Her grandparents were John and Abigail-daughter of Frederick and .Abigail ( Vernon ) Engle-Hinkson. Her great-grandparents were John and Jane (Mor- row) Hinkson, who, prior to 1750, emigrated from county Cavan, Ireland. and settled in Upper Providence in Chester (now Delaware) county.
HON. WAYNE MACVEAGHI, LL. D.
Hon. Wayne MacVeagh. LL. D., lawyer and statesman, known and honored throughout the land, is a native of Chester county. born in Phoenixville, April 19, 1833. He came from an unbroken English lineage, recognizable from the beginning of the sixteenth century.
He began his education in the Pottstown public schools. and when sixteen years of age entered Yale College, from which he was gradu- ated at the age of twenty, tenth in a class of one hundred and eight. While yet a student, he gave evidence of those powers which dis- tinguished his active career-vehement oratory, keen analysis, fiery in- vective and cutting sarcasm. This was exemplified in a debate before the Linonia Society of Yale College, three months after his entrance to the institution. The question for debate was: Should the United States recognize the independence of Hungary? The Hungarian patriot, Kos-
752
COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND GENEALOGY
suth, was then in this country, and public sentiment was strong and en- thusiastic in behalf of him and his cause. For this reason, none of the Linonians seemed disposed to uphold the negative of the proposition. Finally, Mac Veagh, then a lad of sixteen, was appealed to, and, to the
great surprise of all, he accepted, and made a most masterly presenta- tion of an unpopular side of the question.
Mr. MacVeagh studied law in West Chester, where he was ad- mitted to the bar, April 26, 1856. Entered at once upon practice, he came in time to prommence in the courts of the state and in the federal courts as well. In 1859 he was elected district attorney, and served until 1864. In 1862 he recruited a company of cavalry for the Union army, and was commissioned captain, soon being promoted to the rank of
753
OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
major, and assigned to duty on the staff of General Crouch, command- ing the district of the Susquehanna, with whom he served at the time of the impending rebel invasion.
His larger political career may be dated from 1864. when he was called to the chairmanship of the Pennsylvania Republican State Central Committee in which capacity he rendered splendid service in the conduct of the gubernatorial and presidential campaigns. In 1870-71 he was United States minister to Constantinople, under appointment by Presi- dent Grant, and in that position he displayed statesmanlike ability of the first order. In 1880 he joined the Young Men's Reform Club of Phil- adelphia, and aided in revolutionizing municipal politics. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State Constitutional Convention in 1872-73. and tock a prominent part during the deliberations of that body. In 1877 he was placed at the head of the commission sent to Louisiana by President Hayes to reconcile political differences in that state. President Garfield, immediately after his inauguration, called Mr. Mac Veagh to his cabinet in the capacity of attorney general, and he discharged the duties of the position with masterly ability until after the assassination of his chief and the installation of President Arthur, when, with the remainder of the cabinet, he resigned, and resumed his law practice in Philadelphia. In 1892 he supported Mr. Cleveland for the presidency. Mr. MacVeagh was ambassador to Italy from 1893 to 1897. A key to his character, illustrating his ideas of political conduct and fair dealing. is found in his long identification with the Civil Reform Association of Philadelphia, of which he has been chairman, and with the Indian Rights Association. In 1881 he received from Amherst College the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.
Mr. MacVeagh married Miss Virginia Cameron, a daughter of Hon. Simon Cameron.
754
COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND GENEALOGY
JOHN WESLEY BLACK.
Pittsburg journalism will long retain the impression left upon it by the labors and original personality of John Wesley Black. His seemed to be one of those rare cases of natural genius for newspaper work which, like that of poets, must be born in its possessor rather than acquired by the usual methods. The latter, of course, is essential in either case, but the best results are never obtained except by the illum- inating power which genius alone can supply. This conclusion is justi- fied by an analysis of the careers of all the great editors from Bryant to Watterson. from Greeley to Medill, as in each and every case will be found that indescribable but all-pervasive quality which enables its possessor to reach results intuitively. No matter whether the field be large or small, the natural born editor will assert himself and come to the front conspicuously. Springfield, Massachusetts, is a comparatively small city, but Samuel Bowles gave the Republican of that place a national reputation and made it a recognized power despite unfavorable environ- ments. The voice of Eugene Field was heard as of one "crying in the wilderness" long before he left the obscurities of Colorado for the calcium light of Chicago journalism. A Texas luminary made his name and sentiments resound all over the Union through a paper that was only issued once a week. The really great editor is not confined by geo- graphical limits or any "Pent-up Utica," nor is he to be crushed by lack of capital or other adverse circumstances. That the late Mr. Black de- served to rank in this limited number of the editorial "immortals" is proved by his achievements at Pittsburg, and his most intimate friends and closest observers readily rank him in the highest order of journalists. John Wesley Black was a son of the late Thomas J. and Mrs. Sarah J. Black, and his birth occurred at Pittsburg, February 23, 1858. He
-
757
OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
received no literary education aside from that acquired by attendance in the public schools of his native city, which culminated in graduation at the high school. While still in his teens the natural bent exhibited itself. and we find the ambitious boy acting at an unusually early age as reporter for one of the city papers. This congenial work proved valuable as a training while serving also as a stepping-stone to the broader field in which he was destined to achieve exceptional success. In 1876 the embryonic editor launched in modest form a small sheet, which by virtue of its location and area of circulation was called the East End Bulletin. This change from subordinate to proprietor necessitated resig- nation of his position as reporter for the Telegraph in order that all his energies might be concentrated to the development of his new enterprise. It will hardly be necessary to describe for the benefit of Pittsburgers either the character of the Bulletin or the measure of success it achieved under Mr. Black's brilliant management. For outsiders it may be perti- nent to say that this little paper. started as a brief chronicle of the times for a small section of a great city. eventually impressed itself so vividly upon the minds of all newspaper readers that its career is a part of the history of Pittsburg journalism. All his tastes were along high lines. and every department of his paper reflected sentiments which could only come from a cultivated mind. This cultivation was by no means confined to newspaper channels, but embraced the whole belles lettres, and in the pages of the Bulletin were reflected the gems of thought which could only come from contact with the great masters of literature. John Wesley Black loved art for art's sake, and loved to display the treasures of genius which he had collected in one of the finest private libraries in western Pennsylvania.
On the 13th of September, 1883. Mr. Black was united in marriage with Miss Sadie Burke, and their five children are named T. Howard,
758
COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND GENEALOGY
John Wesley, Harry W .. Helen Virginia and William Rea, the last named born five months after his father's death, and now the idol and pet of the family.
When the death of this brilliant editor and much-admired man occurred. on the 7th of February, 1898, the general sentiment of the public was expressed in an article written and published by one who knew him well, and a quotation from this heart-felt eulogy will form a fitting finale to this biographical tribute to Mr. Black's memory : "Clean in heart and life and blameless in domestic relations. Mr. Black embodied all that was manly in manhood. Self-reliant and energetic and broad in mental scope, he personified what is best in the highest type of the true American. Called suddenly from his loved ones, from his business associates and from the large circle of many warm friends, his death implies a terrible bereavement. a silence eloquent of the departed. a blank that even time can hardly heal."
THOMAS BUCHANAN READ.
Thomas Buchanan Read, one of America's most famous poets and painters, was born March 12, 1822, & what is now East Brandywine township. Chester county, Pennsylvania. He was left fatherless at a tender age, and his widowed mother apprenticed him to a tailor. The occupation proving uncongenial to the lad. he ran away to Philadelphia. where he became a cigar-maker. At the age of fifteen he left that city for Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was taken into the home of the sculptor, Clevenger, under whose instruction he learned sign and portrait paint- ing. He was occupied in such work for about nine years. during the same period adding to his income by contributing to different news- papers.
759
OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
16
-
-
In 1846, when twenty-four years old, he opened a portrait studio in Philadelphia. In 1850 and again in 1853 he visited Europe, and he subsequently took up his residence in Rome, returning to the United States occasionally for brief visits, and it was on one of these that his
760 COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND GENEALOGY
death occurred, in New York city, May 11. 1872. Perhaps his best known literary composition is "Sheridan's Ride," written shortly after the incident depicted, and which he himself recited on various occasions and once (as was witnessed by the writer of this sketch), in presence of Sheridan himself. with Grant, Sherman, Logan, and other gallant leaders of the Union army, about him. Other writings of Mr. Read were "Poems," "Female Poets of America." "The House by the Sea." and "The Wagoner of the Alleghanies." His best known paintings were "The Spirit of the Waterfall." "The Lost Pleiad," and "Sheridan and llis Horse." His only piece of sculpture was a bust of General Sheri- dan, which attracted much attention. His poetry is marked by a fervent spirit of patriotism, and by artistic power and fidelity in the description of American scenery and rural life. Ilis paintings are full of poetic and graceful fancy, but show somewhat careless technical treatment. His friend. Henry C. Townsend, in writing of him, said: "The dis- tinguishing characteristics of Read's nature were purity of thought, refinement of feeling, gentleness of manner, generosity of disposition, geniality and unselfish devotion to others."
HENRY M. HINKSON.
For a century and a half the Hinkson family have been an im- portant and influential factor in the history of the southern section of the territory now comprising Delaware county. Tradition asserts that early in the Seventeenth century several brothers named Hansen emi- grated from Hanover, in the north of Germany, to county Cavan, in the north of Ireland, where the name underwent a change, taking the present form of Hinkson, which is wholly of Saxon-English origin.
Prior to 1750, John and Jane (Morrow) Hinkson, with an infant
761
OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
son, Thomas, emigrated from county Cavan to the province of Penn- sylvania. During the voyage to their new home in the colonies was born at sea to the young couple an infant son who was called John, after the father. The emigrant ancestor settled in Upper Providence, where he prospered. As early as 1770, John, the sun mentioned, was operating a sawmill in Nether Providence, on Vernon's run. James Hinkson, the third son born in the colony, and the great-uncle of Henry M. Hinkson, prior to 1790 purchased several tracts of land in Nether Providence, where the Providence great road and the Wallingford road cross each other. The eldest son, Thomas, acquired other lands, abutting upon the road, hence that locality. in a descriptive sense, was known as "Hinkson's Corners," a name which is still applied to it.
John Hinkson, third, second son of John and Abigail (Engle) Hinkson, was born in Nether Providence. July 27. 1792. He received an ordinary education of a well-to-do farmer's son of those times, par- ticular care being given to penmanship, in which the boy displayed apti- tude, and in after life he was noted for his handwriting, which has been likened to copper-plate. Until twenty-two John Hinkson had remained on the ancestral farm, but when, in the summer of 1814, the militia of the state was called into service to repel the threatened attack by Admiral Cockburn's fleet and the British army under General Ross, he held rank as sergeant in the Delaware County Troop of Horse, and in 1820, when the troop was reorganized, he became its captain. In 1816 he married Jemima Worrell. a daughter of Joseph Worrell, of Upper Providence, and the couple resided at the court house, the young husband having received the appointment of steward. There, the follow- ing year, their eklest child. Joseph H. Hinkson, was born, hence the latter was wont to declare that he "was born in the work house and brought up in the jail." for in 1825 his father was elected sheriff, and
762
COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND GENEALOGY
the office required that the incumbent should reside in the borough of Chester in the dwelling part of the jail. In 1834 John Hinkson was elected prothonotary, clerk of the orphan's court, recorder of deeds and register of wills. In 1836 or 1837 he represented Delaware county in the legislature, a position he filled with credit to his constituency and himself. but he declined a renomination. Although still active in public affairs, Mr. Hinkson retired to his farm in Chester township, where his health gradually failing, he died, on July 30, 1844, aged fifty-two. To his first marriage were born two sons and one daughter. He married. second, Orpha. daughter of Joseph and Alice Neide, to which union were born three sons and one daughter. The latter. Sarah, became the wife of Ellis Smedley. The other children were Henry M., the subject of this sketch; William, who married Annie, daughter of Edward Engle, to which marriage were born four sons and four daughters, and his second wife was Susan, daughter of Sammel Black, of Chester ; Frederick Hinkson married Annie Hansell, and to the union were born two sons and five daughters.
Henry M. Hinkson. eldest son, was born June 14, 1829, at the old Hinkson homestead. near Sneath's corner. Chester township. The lad, who was fifteen when his father died, attended the schools in the neighborhood and in the borough of Chester. In his eighteenth year he entered the store of George Baker, a cousin, who then conducted in Chester a large general mercantile business. For one year he con- tinued in that employment, when he decided to take up higher branches of classical and mathematical studies than those in which he had been instructed, and with that end in view became a student in a noted academy in Norristown, where he remained for several years. On his return home he managed with profit one of the ancestral farms. By this time Chester had begun to develop rapidly, and much ground
763
OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
which had been used in grazing was laid out with streets and avenues. Mr. Hinkson, who was possessed of considerable means, purchased lots in growing localities and engaged in real estate enterprises, in associa- tion with his nephew, the late Hon. John B. Hinkson. While not a speculator, he was quick to see and appreciate the causes which would lead to enhancing the values of lots in certain localities, and subsequent events proved the accuracy of his judgment. Mr. Hinkson was a man of striking appearance, cultured in address and bearing. So natural was this that he was popularly known as "Gentleman Harry." Al- though frequently solicited to accept nominations for city and county offices, he refused except in one instance. in 1867. when he was elected alderman of the middle ward, a position he held for five years, making a record as one of the best administrators in the history of the office. In 1888 the Penn street planing mills, which he owned. became vacant. and as no tenant applied for the plant he successfully conducted the business until his death, although he had no practical experience there- tofore in that branch of industrial activity.
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.