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 31
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James Guffey, the only son of William Guffey, married Margaret Campbell, whose father, William Campbell, was also among those who followed the Forbes expedition. The first child of this marriage was John Guffey born in 1764. In 1780 James Guffey purchased land in what is now Sewickley township, Westmoreland county, and there James McChurg Guffey was born, the fifth and next to the youngest one of the family of James Guffev.
James McClurg Guffey attended the public schools, then pursued a course in a commercial school, and at the age of eighteen years accepted a clerical position in the office of the superintendent of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, at Louisville, Kentucky, where he remained for sev- eral years. lle next filled a responsible position with the Adams Ex- press Company, at Nashville, Tennessee, and in 1872 returned to Penn- sylvania. Locating in the oil regions, he engaged in the production of petroleum, of which industry he has since been one of the most active and successful representatives. He became probably the largest indi- vidual producer and operator in America. interested in all the fields of northwestern Pennsylvania and through the district extending to Pitts- burg. In addition to the production of oil, he also extended his labors to the development of the natural gas resources of the state, and with his business associates he developed the enormous gas fields of Weston and Allegheny counties, and became largely interested in the transport- ation of natural gas. He became the vice-president of the Westmoreland and Cambria Natural Gas Company, which supplies Johnstown, Penn- sylvania; is president of the Southwest Natural Gas Company, which supphes the Connellsville coke region; vice-president of the Wheeling ( West Virginia ) Natural Gas Company: president of the Bellevue Nat- ural Gas Company : and president of the United Fuel Gas Company. whose pipe lines extend from Washington county, Pennsylvania, to
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Pittsburg. He is an indefatigable and resourceful business man, and has made it his plan to give personal supervision and executive ability to his large concerns.
Mr. Guffey's investments are also represented by vast coal proper- ties in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and by gold and silver mine in- terests in Idaho. He has served as president of the Trade Dollar Min- ing and Milling Company, at Silver City, Idaho, and is one of the pricipal owners and an officer of the Florida Mountain Mining and Milling Company of the same locality. He is likewise interested in the production of petroleum in four states, and is connected with the finan- cial circles of Pittsburg as a director of the Columbia National Bank.
Mr. Guffey belongs to the Duquesne Club and gives his political support to the Democracy, but has never been active in politics, his at- tention being directed in business channels, in which his intelligent and practical effort has led to large successes.
WILLIAM WAYNE.
The Wayne family represented in the present generation by Will- iam Wayne, a resident of Paoli. Chester county, Pennsylvania, is among the oldest and most distinguished in the state, and its history has been closely intertwined with that of Chester county. The founder of the American branch of the family was Anthony Wayne, a native of York- shire, England, who in early life removed to county Wicklow, Ireland: he commanded a squadron of dragoons under King William, at the bat- tle of the Boyne, and being warmly attached to liberal principles he mi- grated with his wife, Hannah ( Faulkner) Wayne and family to Amer- ica in the year 1722.
Isaac Wayne, son of Anthony and Hannah Wayne, followed the
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quiet but useful calling of agriculture, and during his entire lifetime was a useful and public-spirited citizen of the community in which he re- sided. He repeatedly occupied a seat in the provincial assembly, which attested to the esteem in which he was held by his fellow townsmen, and he distinguished himself in various expeditions against the belligerent Indians. He was united in marriage to Elizabeth Iddings, and among the children born to them was a son. Anthony Wayne.
Anthony Wayne, the famous military chieftain of Chester county. a son of Isaac and Elizabeth Wayne, was born in the township of East- town, January 1. 1745. He received an excellent education, and for a number of years after completing his studies was employed in survey- ing. practical astronomy and engineering. He was an active and prom- inent factor in the preparation for the Revolutionary contest, being a member of the Chester county Whigs, and at a large meeting of the in- habitants of the county held at Chester in December. 1774. he was chosen chairman of a committee of seventy, who were appointed to aid in superseding the colonial government and to take charge of the local interests of the county. January 3. 1776, he was commissioned colonel of the Fourth Pennsylvania Battalion, and saw service in Canada, being wounded at the battle of Three Rivers, and being commander at Fort Ticonderoga. He was promoted to brigadier general in 1777, and joined Washington in New Jersey. He defended Chadd's Ford at the battle of Brandywine. September 11, 1777. and commanded the right wing at the battle of Germantown, in October of the same year. Ile performed excellent service during the starvation winter at Valley Forge. to which he brought many captured horses, cattle and other supplies. He was in the battle of Monmouth, New Jersey, June 28. 1778. He led the attack at Stony Point, on the Hudson. July 16, 1779. and with twelve hundred men reached the fort without being observed, and by a
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bayonet charge forced a surrender of the garrison. This was his most famous achievement, and for it Congress voted to him a gold medal ( which priceless heirloom is now in possession of Mr. William Wayne. of Paoli), while his impetuous valor won for him the sobriquet of "Mad Anthony Wayne." Early in 1781 he suppressed a mutiny among the troops; he commanded at Green Spring in the same year; and bore a conspicuous part in the campaign which had its triumphant close in the capture of Yorktown. In 1782 he was assigned to the command in Georgia, and defeated the British and Indians, for which achievement that state rewarded him with the gift of a valuable plantation. He was brevetted major general in 1783: was a member of the Pennsylvania legislature in 1784: and a member of the state ratifying convention in 1787. In 1792 he was commissioned full major general, and was ap- pointed by President Washington to the command in the northwest, to succeed General St. Clair, after the defeat of that officer. General Wayne's services here were conspicuously successful, and it is entirely probable that without them the Louisiana Purchase would not have been effected. He defeated the Indians at Fallen Timbers, or Maumee Rap- ids, August 12, 1794: built Fort Wayne, on the site of the present flourishing city of that name in Indiana; and concluded a treaty with the Indians at Greenville, in 1795. Truly a splendid record of patriotic service.
The Pennsylvania farm on which General Wayne resided was pur- chased by the emigrant ancestor. Anthony Wayne, and was situated in Easttown township, about one mile southeast of Paoli. and near the road leading from that town to the Leopard. The stone dwelling was erected by Anthony, the emigrant, in 1722 and 1724: the furniture of the parlor remains exactly as it was in the days of General Wayne, and the room is an admirably preserved relic of the olden time. General
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Wayne married Mary Penrose, who bore him two children-Isaac and Margaret Wayne. His death occurred at Presque Isle. Pennsylvania, December 14, 1796, and his remains were interred on the shore of Lake Frie. Subsequently his son brought the remains to the family cem- etery at St. David's church, and on June 5. 1811. a monument to his memory was erected by the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cin- cinnati.
The next in line of descent was Margaret Wayne, daughter of General Anthony and Mary ( Penrose) Wayne, who was born in 1770, and died in 1810. She became the wife of William Richardson Atlee, and they were the parents of one child, Mary Wayne Atlee, who was united in marriage to Isaacher Evans, and the issue of this union was a son, William Wayne Evans.
William Wayne Evans, who by an act of legislature was allowed to drop the name of Evans, was born in 1828. He was educated in the schools of Philadelphia, and this knowledge was supplemented by a course at the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he was graduated. He was a member of the Pennsylvania legislature, and served as captain during the war of the Rebellion. His religions membership was in the Protestant Episcopal church, and his political affiliations were with the Republican party. He married Hannah J. Zook, a daughter of David and Eleanor Zook, of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. Their children are: William, mentioned hereinafter ; and Mary Atlee, who became the wife of John McCrea Wirgman. William Wayne, the father of these children, died in 1901.
William Wayne, only son of William and Hannah J. (Zook) Wayne, was born at Waynesborough, Chester county, Pennsylvania, August 27. 1855. and occupies the house in which he was born, erected by Anthony, the emigrant, in 1722 and 1724. His early educational
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advantages were obtained in the schools of Philadelphia, and at the University of Pennsylvania. His business career has been devoted to the tilling of the soil, and this occupation has proved both pleasant and remunerative. He is serving as a member of the Pennsylvania legisla- ture, is active and prominent in the work of St. David's Episcopal church, Radnor, Pennsylvania, and his political sentiments coincide with those advocated by the Republican party. He holds membership in the following named societies: Cincinnati, Sons of the Revolution, Colonial Wars, Loyal Legion and Order of Albion.
In the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1883. Mr. Wayne mar- ried Mary Valentine Fox, a daughter of Dr. George and Sarah (Val- entine) Fox, her education having been acquired in the schools of Phil- adelphia. Their children are: William, born February 29, 1884. at Paoli; and Edith Sarah Fox, born November 12, 1889, at Paoli.
MICHAEL BUTZ.
Michael Butz, who was during a long and peculiarly active career one of the most enterprising citizens of Easton, a leading merchant and manufacturer and prominent in public affairs, was a descendant of an old and honored Pennsylvania ancestry. He was born in Palmer town- ship. Northampton county, Pennsylvania, January 1. 1796, a son of Christian Butz.
Michael Butz, father of Christian Butz, was born in Springfield township. Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and his father was a native of the Pfalz region in Germany. Michael Butz removed in 1763 to North- ampton county, and settled upon a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, which he purchased that year (May 10) from Paul Abel. He was a member of the first military company organized in Easton, in
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1763, and during the Revolutionary war he was with the patriot army as a teamster, using his own team. He lived to an advanced age, and lied in Palmer township. Northampton county. His wife, who was Elizabeth Messinger, bore him eleven children; the sons were Henry, Michael, Peter, George, Abraham, Christian and Jacob; the daughters were Mrs. Heller, Mrs. Emory, Mrs. Odenwelder and Mrs. Hilliand.
Christian Butz, son of Michael and Elizabeth ( Messinger) Butz, was born in Springfield township. Bucks county, Pennsylvania. November 18, 1756. He was a child when his parents removed to Palmer town- ship, Northampton county, and there was reared on the paternal farm. He married Mary Wagner, who was of Quaker descent, and well car- ried the simple dignity of that people. Her father was Daniel Wag- ner, who owned a large tract of land on both sides of Bushkill creek, and whose home was one of the most beautiful in the vicinity of Easton. Mr. Butz moved into Easton and built what was then one of the most stately residences in that region, and which even to-day presents a mod- ern appearance. Ile was sagacious in business affairs, conducting his farm with success, and also owning and operating a grist mill, and in his day was deemed a wealthy man. It is remembered of him that he was among the first to introduce a gig in the neighborhood, which at- tracted much attention when he and his wife used it upon the public roads. They were a congenial couple, deeply attached to each other and to their family, and were exemplary members of the Reformed church. They were the parents of seven children-Jacob. Daniel, Michael, David, Elizabeth, Susan and Mary. One of their children came to a most distressing death. Mrs. Butz had placed the babe in its cradle, and on returning to the room shortly afterward discovered to her horror that a snake had buried its fangs in the little one. Mr. Chris- tian Butz died in 1821. at the age of sixty-five years. His widow then
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removed to Easton, where she passed her declining years in a comfortable home.
Michael Butz, son of Christian and Mary ( Wagner ) Butz, was born in Palmer township. Northampton county, Pennsylvania, on the family homestead. January 1. 1796. He was four years old when his parents removed to Easton. There he was a student in the old academy, with Mr. Miles as his teacher. He completed his education at Doylestown under the Rev. Mr. Dubois, in whose family he lived during the time.
When sixteen years of age, Michael Butz engaged in work in his father's mill. meantime receiving instruction from his brother. In 1818, with his brother Jacob, he engaged in a mercantile business in Easton. In 1827 he purchased the old homestead with its mill. operat- ing the latter in connection with his store. While generally success- ful in business. Mr. Butz also experienced some serious losses. With his brother, in 1837. he embarked in a woolen manufacturing business. in which they remained for six years, when they abandoned the enter- prise, having lost considerable means. The venture was, however. highly advantageous to the town, for it marked the beginning of what developed into an industry of great importance. Mr. Butz retired from his mercantile business in 1856. continuing his milling business until 1870. and during these periods he had in his employ at one time or another, several young men who afterwards came to prominence in commercial life.
Mr. Butz was throughout his life active in all pertaining to com- munity affairs. In his early manhood he was a member of the famous Easton Union Guards, which was from 1816 ( the year of its organiza- tion) to 1829, the pride of the city. its membership being made up of its foremost young citizens, and he was a corporal when he marched with it to Philadelphia to join in the wonderfully enthusiastic greeting
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to Lafayette, who visited that city in 1824. For some fifty years he was a director in the bank which became the National Bank of Easton, and he was a member of the town council for many years. He was a man of unusually wise judgment, keen foresight, public spirit and enterprise, and it is to be said of him that during his active career he was an efficient leader in promoting the best interests of the community. In his personal life he was considerate and sympathetic. His aid was freely extended to assist in the establishment of a worthy neighbor. and he afforded liberally of his means to benevolent and charitable ob- jects. He connected himself with the Reformed church at the early age of fifteen years, and he was throughout his life one of its most exemplary members, serving it usefully in various official stations. In 1845 he built the home in which he reared his family, and which is now occupied by some of his children. He died November 5, 1889.
October 22, 1822. Mr. Butz married Elizabeth Shimer. a daughter of Jacob Shimer. The following named children, five sons and three daughters, were horn of this marriage: Mary, born July. 1823. died December 5. 1881. Eliza, born March 12. 1826, died in January. 1843. Jacob, born April 3, 1828, died January 10. 1901 : he succeeded his father in the mercantile business: his wife was AAdelia Bixler, and they were the parents of four children-Charles M., Elizabeth. Eloise and Lewis. David, born April 21. 1831. died September 10. 1898, was a lumber dealer by occupation, and served honorably in the Union army during the rebellion. Charles, born June 6. 1834. died October 1, 1838. Matilda, born May 5. 1837, married August 11. 1869, Henry R. Chidsey, who was born in Easton, June 16. 1834. a son of Russell Chidsey; he was a hardware and stove merchant by occupa- tion, was a member of the American Reformed church, and was presi- dlent of the town council at the time of his death. July 21. 1870. Sam-
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uel, born September 9. 1840, became a shirt manufacturer in Easton. Edward, born August 31, 1844, is a lumber manufacturer by occupa- tion; married, in 1870, Annie E. Geary, and to them were born two children-Mary, December 25, 1870, and Edward, February 6, 1873.
EDWARD J. FOX.
Edward J. Fox, one of the most distinguished members of the Penn- sylvania bar, whose brilliant professional life extended over the long period of forty-four years, came of a splendid colonial ancestry.
The Fox family was English, and of assured position. In the Church of SS. Peter and Paul in Northamptonshire, England, are memo- rials to Michael Fox. and the family coat-of-arms is recorded in the Herald's College. A branch of the family was planted in Ireland, and from this descended Edward Fox, paternal grandfather of Edward J. Fox, born in Dublin in 1752, and who came to America some years before the Revolution. He settled in Philadelphia, and there married, in 1780, a sister of Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant. This Sergeant was also of a distinguished family, and one of its most illustrious members was his nephew. Hon. John Sergeant, lawyer and statesman, who in 1832 was a candidate for vice president on the same ticket with the great Henry Clay: Edward Fox carved out for himself a noble career. He studied law under Sammuel Chase, of Maryland (afterwards a judge of the supreme court of the United States by appointment of President Washington ), became a prominent member of the Pennsylvania bar, and in 1783 was auditor-general of the state.
John Fox, son of Edward Fox, became even more conspicuous than his sire. Born in Philadelphia, April 26, 1787. he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and studied law under the preceptorship
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of Alexander J. Dallas, whose son. George Mifflin Dallas, was elected to the vice presidency in 1844 upon the same ticket with President Polk. John Fox was admitted to the bar in 1807. and entered upon practice in Newtown, where he remained until 1813. when he removed to Doyles- town, to which place the county seat of Bucks county was removed from that first named. In 1814 he became deputy attorney general for Bucks county under appointment by Governor Simon Snyder. When court opened in that year, a few days after the burning of the capitol at Wash- ington, Mr. Fox arose and said that the British were devastating the country, and, without asking what others deemed their duty. felt that he had no business in a court room while an enemy occupied the land. He at once left the buikling and joined a company of volunteers, and was elected a lieutenant. lle practiced his profession until 1830, when he was appointed president judge of the Bucks and Montgomery dis- trict, in which capacity he served until 1841, when he retired from the bench and resumed law practice at Doylestown, to which he devoted himself until his death. April 15. 1849, at the age of sixty-two years.
A profoundly learned lawyer. Judge Fox was incomparable as a jurist. Among the most notable trials upon which he sat were those of Mina and Mrs. Chapman, in 1832. In 1838 he handed down a long and exhaustive decision denying the right of a negro to vote in Pennsyl- vania under the state constitution of 1790. and one which attracted wide attention, and which the French historian de Tocqueville deemed so thorough a presentation of an important question that he cited it in his "Democracy in America." Judge Fox was a man of intense feeling and controversial nature, and bore a full share in the political struggles of his day. He was the bosom friend and adviser of Samuel D. Ingham, who was secretary of the treasury under President Jackson, and who left the cabinet on account of the Eaton imbroglio.
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Judge Fox was married, June 6, 1816, to Margery Rodman. Her father, Gilbert Rodman, of Bensalem, was a man of strong character and highly connected. An ardent patriot. he was disowned by the Quaker congregation of which he was a member because of his taking up arms in the Revolution, in which he served as major in the Second Bucks County Battalion, on the Amboy campaign in 1776. His brother William was also disowned by the same people for voluntarily taking the oath of allegiance to the continental government in 1778. William served under General Lacey in 1781, was a member of the state senate, commanded a troop of horse in the Fries rebellion in 1799. and was a member of con- gress from 1812 to 1816.
Of this excellent lineage was born Edward J. Fox, son of Judge John and Margery (Rodman) Fox, at Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 15. 1824. His education was begun in the village schools, and was completed at Princeton College, which he entered at so early an age and where he pursued his studies with such avidity that in his eighteenth year he began the study of law in the office of his father, who had just retired from the bench. His training under the masterly paternal pre- ceptorship was deep and thorough and long continued. For four years the son was daily taught in the principles and practice of the profession. and was admitted to the bar in 1845. on the day after his attaining his majority. He soon afterwards became associated in practice with his elder brother. Gilbert R. Fox, at Norristown (now deceased), but sub- sequently removed to Philadelphia, where he remained but a year. when he was called to Doylestown on account of the illness of his father, and a partnership was formed between sire and son which only terminated with the death of the senior Fox. In 1846 he was admitted to practice before the, supreme court of Pennsylvania, in 1847 to the United States district and circuit courts, and in 1875 to the Supreme Court of the
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United States. In 1853 he removed to Easton, where he was engaged in practice for thirty-six years. In January, 1882. he took as a law part- ner his son. Edward J. Fox, Jr., and their association was maintained until his death.
Mr. Fox was entirely devoted to his profession, from which he could not be withdrawn by the most alluring invitations to official or public position. His friends presented him for a nomination to the supreme bench in 1880, and he was strongly supported in the Democratic state convention, but this effort received no aid from him, and, when it failed for want of a few votes which he could have secured. he thanked his friends for their labors and pleasantly congratulated them upon their failure. Yet while thus destitute of political ambition, he was an ag- gressive advocate of his political principles, and habitually took the plat- form in every important campaign, at all times exerting a marked in- fluence through his captivating personality and forcible oratory.
The remarkable professional industry of Mr. Fox is discernible in the references to him as counsel in the State Reports for the long period of forty-three years from 1846 to 1889. His first reported argument in the supreme court is in Commonwealth, to the use of Meyers vs. Frets. 4 Barr, 344. and his last was Miller vs. Chester Slate Company. 129 Pa. St., 81. decided less than three weeks before his death, and these two cases are marked by a division line of one hundred and twenty-five vol- umes within which are his arguments. Hle had a large practice in all the civil courts in his own and adjoining districts, and in the federal courts reaching to the supreme court of the United States, his services being in special demand in the trial of issues involving large sums of money. In the MeKeen will case, in 1859. he adjusted a dispute over the validity of two codicils, reported as McKeen's Appeal, 6 Wright. 479. The First National Bank of Easton vs. Executors of Jacob Wire-
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