History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 175

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162

USA > Pennsylvania > Chester County > History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches > Part 175

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In 1816 he took charge of a paper in Philadelphia en- titled The True American, and conducted it one year.

In 1817 he removed to West Chester and purchased The Chester and Delaware Federalist, the name of which he subsequently changed to that of The Village Record. This paper was conducted by him with unusual ability until 1834, when he sold it to Henry S. Evans. Its literary character during his editorship was far above that of the ordinary weeklies of that day. He wrote for it a series of cssays of much merit under the signature of " John Har- wood," which added to its popularity.

From March, 1825, to March, 1829, he was a member of Congress from Chester County. He was a useful and able member, took great interest in the subject of slavery, to which he was opposed, and made efforts to abolish the slave-trade and slavery in the District, or at least to dimin- ish the wrongs and outrages perpetrated at the Federal capital. He failed in those attempts, but happily lived to see a consummation far surpassing his most sanguine ex- pectations,-the virtual abolition of all slavery in the Dis- trict and all the States.

He awakened the country to the silk-growing business, and drew and introduced the first resolutions on the subject, and wrote the able report which was introduced by Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer, as chairman of the Committee on Agriculture.

Mr. Miner was the associate of the great men of his day. Intelligent and social, he was attractive, and the ease and brilliancy with which he expressed his thoughts on paper made him useful as well as ornamental in advancing the doctrines of his party, and in furthering the objects of the mighty leaders who wielded the baton of power. Henry Clay, at that time Secretary of State, recognized at once the abilities and usefulness of the member from Pennsyl- vania, made him his friend personally, as he knew him to be politically, and looked to him more than any other gen- tleman of the House to carry out his views upon the sub- jects of internal improvement, the tariff, and a United States bank.

In 1834 he returned to the Wyoming Valley, where he devoted some years to collecting materials for a " History of Wyoming," which was published in 1845. After this he furnished contributions to the newspapers upon various

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BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL.

subjects of interest to the community until advancing years and the infirmities of age compelled him to desist. He continued to reside in the Wyoming Valley until his death, Oct. 26, 1865, at the age of eighty-five years.

Mr. Miner, in youth and in age, was the perfect gentleman, a true type of what is termed a gentleman of the old school. He was easy and winning in his manners, scrupulously neat and precise in his dress, kind of heart, courteous in de- meanor to all who approached him, open and generous in purse even to his own detriment, and a lover of all those nobler qualities which help to make up the true and honest man. In conversation he was peculiarly agreeable,- no tongue more eloquent than his, so smooth its compliments, so polished its language. He was a model journalist and statesman, and the father of a school of sound thinkers.

During a portion of the time he resided in West Chester he owned and occupied what has since been known as the Dallett farm (now owned by Dr. Jacob Price), which he called " Spring Grove," and which, while he resided there, was a favorite resort for the young people of West Chester. He always took a friendly interest in the young, and they, on their part, were greatly attached to him. The following will illustrate this mutual feeling : passing along the street one day, he was met by a boy, who inquired of him " whether the peaches were ripe at Spring Grove ?" He alluded to it in his paper, and remarked, in substance, " Well did the young rogue know that when the peaches were ripe at Spring Grove he would have his share of them."

MODE, ALEXANDER, received a certificate from Chester Monthly Meeting 2, 27, 1702, to remove to Bucks County and marry Ellen, daughter of William Dunkin, of Byberry. Perhaps the same person was of Duck Creek in 1721, and married Sarah Hussey, a widow, of Newark Monthly Meet- ing, in that year.

Alexander Mode, doubtless his son, born 9, 16, 1713, died 3, 20, 1751, settled in East Fallowfield township about 1739, and married, 4, 18, 1741, Rebecca, daughter of John Allen, of Londongrove, by whom he had children,-Wil- liam, b. 10, 18, 1742 ; Emey, b. 8, 30, 1745, d. 1785, m. 9, 23, 1767, to William Greave ; Ruth, b. 10, 21, 1747, d. 4, 5, 1789, m. Samuel Cook ; Hannah, b. 4, 18, 1750, d. 9, 23, 1791, m. 4, 11, 1770, to Francis Wilkinson.

William Mode married, 11, 14, 1764, Phebe, daughter of Joseph and Mary Taylor, of West Marlborough, and had children,-Alexander, Mary, Rebecca, Emey (Amy), Wil- liam, Phebe, Allen, Alexander, and Phebe. In 1776 he had a saw- and fulling-mill, and on February 17th adver- tised in the Pennsylvania Gazette a runaway servant-boy or apprentice in a lengthy verse.

MONTGOMERY, ALEXANDER, and William Nevin received patents, April 18, 1744, for two tracts of land in Londonderry, containing together 650 acres. The will of Alexander Montgomery, of Mill Creek, New Castle Co., dated Sept. 10, 1746, gave his moiety of the land to his sons William and Daniel, they payiog something to the other children. Oct. 13, 1761, John Montgomery and wife Esther, Moses Montgomery and wife Elizabeth, Wil- liam Montgomery and Margaret Montgomery released to Daniel bis share of the land, and on the 26th of the same

month Daniel Montgomery, of Philadelphia City, glazier, sold to his brother William, of Londonderry. The latter was about ten or eleven years old at the time of his parents' death. Daniel and Margaret are said to have removed to Northumberland County at the same time as their brother William.

WILLIAM MONTGOMERY, third son of Alexander and Mary Montgomery, was born in Londonderry township, Chester Co., Aug. 3, 1736. He was raised in a district and among a people where the spirit of independence seemed to be indigenous, and only required an exciting cause to de- velop it. When the difficulties with the mother-country became serious, Mr. Montgomery was one of the large com- mittee appointed by a county meeting held at Chester Dec. 20, 1774, to aid in organizing an acceptable government to supersede the old provincial establishment. He was one of ten delegates from Chester County to the Convention as- sembled in Philadelphia, Jan. 23, 1775, which substantially took charge of the Commonwealth ; and was also a delegate to the Provincial Conference of Committees, which in July, 1776, appointed members of Congress from Pennsylvania who had nerve enough to vote for the Declaration of Inde- pendence. In June, 1776, he was colonel of the Fourth Battalion of Chester County, which then required four hundred and fifty stand of arms for service. During his absence in the field his place as a member of the Conven- tion was filled by his brother-in-law, Thomas Strawbridge, as a delegate from Chester County. Col. Montgomery's battalion of the " Flying Camp" was probably in the battle of Long Island, in August, 1776, inasmuch as several of his officers were in Fort Washington at the time of the unfortunate capture of that post in the month of November following.

Some time in the fall of 1776 or early in 1777, Col. Montgomery removed to the frontier region, in the county of Northumberland, having purchased in 1774 a tract at the site of the present town of Danville (now Montour County), where the settlers were then constantly annoyed by the Indians. On one occasion he was driven from his home for a time by the cruel chief Montour, who ravaged those settlements.

In 1779 and 1780, Col. Montgomery was a member of Assembly from Northumberland County. In 1790 he was elected to the State Senate, and in 1792 he was chosen a member of the Third Congress. April 17, 1793, he was commissioned major-general of the militia of the counties of Northampton, Northumberland, and Luzerne. In 1801 he was appointed by Governor Mckean an asso- ciate judge of Northumberland County. He was also at one time deputy surveyor of that county, and had held other important appointments, such as commissioner to adjust the Connecticut land claims in Wyoming Valley, etc. He died May 1, 1816, in the eightieth year of his age, and was in- terred in the Presbyterian graveyard at Danville. His de- scendants have been, and continue to be, among the most public-spirited and valuable citizens of the district where they reside.

William Montgomery was a man of excellent character, and of great influence in his day. Nothing of importance in his section of country was undertaken without consult-

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

ing him. He was the Nestor of the early settlers, and his advice was law with them.

His first wife was Margaret Nivin, by whom he had children,-Mary, who died at twenty-three years of age; Alexander, who died in infancy; Margaret, who died in the same year with her sister; William, b. about 1762; John, b. about 1764; Daniel, b. Oct. 30, 1765; and Alexander, who died young. By a second wife, Isabella Evans, he had Robert, b. April, 1773; Hannah, b. Jan. 22, 1775; Alexander, b. Oct. 8, 1777 ; Margaret, b. Jan. 8, 1784. Isabella died August, 1791, and in April, 1793, he married Hannah, widow of Matthew Boyd, and sister of Judge James Boyd, of Chester County, but had no children by the last wife.

Daniel Montgomery, the third son, born in Londonderry, died Dec. 30, 1831. He married Christiana Strawbridge, Nov. 27, 1791, by whom he had nine children. He was one of the most prominent citizens of the region around Danville, which name is said to have been given in compli- ment to him, and, being appointed major-general of militia in 1809, he was known as Gen. Daniel Montgomery.

Alexander Montgomery, son of William, married Jane Boyd, daughter of John and Mary, of Chester County, and had four daughters, one of whom married M. C. Grier, and was the mother of J. A. M. Grier, known in politics as the " original" Garfield man. Another married A. F. Russel, to whom we are indebted for some of the family history.

MOORE, WILLIAM, of Moore Hall .- William Moore was a son of John Moore, collector of the port of Phila- delphia, and was born in that city on the 6th of May, 1699. In his early youth he was sent to England to be educated, and he graduated at the University of Oxford in 1719. His wife is said to have been a descendant of the Earl of Wemyss, and this tradition receives support from the fact that in his will her husband refers to the noble and honor- able family from which she sprang. John Moore having become interested in the Pickering tract in Charlestown township, Chester Co., Pa., gave his proportion,-a lot of 240 acres on the Pickering Creek, adjacent to the Schuyl- kill,-in 1729, to his son William, who had been living on it for some years, and who there passed the remainder of his long and eventful life. On it the latter erected a frame house, which was later superseded by a stone mansion over- looking the river, which is still standing, and has ever since borne the name of Moore Hall. He also built a saw-mill and the Bull tavern, a famous hostelry in the colonial days. He lived in considerable style, and had a number of slaves and other servants. In the Weekly Mercury for Feb. 28, 1737-8, he advertises for sale " a young man who under- stands writing and accounts, and lately kept school." He was an enthusiastic churchman, and at different times was a vestryman of St. James' Episcopal Church, on the Perkio- men, and of Radnor Church, in Delaware County. He was colonel of one of the Chester County militia regiments during the time of the trouble with the Indians. As be- came a gentleman of his standing, he early began to take a part in political affairs, and in 1733 was sent to the Assem- bly, being re-elected each succeeding fall until 1740. There is a letter to him in the Taylor MSS., which says,-

" A few days agoe a noted minister of the Gospel, beyond New Garden, and several of his congregation told me they were Informed by Isaac Wayne that thee declines Serving the County as a repre- sentative in Assembly the ensuing year and has Consented that he shall put thy name with his on a Tickett for Sheriff in order to Es- tablish him in that post. This Information flies like the wind and has given a vast number of those who were in thy Interest a violent shock to hear that a Gent. on whom they so much relied should de- sert their service at a time when ye Publick affairs seem to challenge the Strictest attendance for to help a p'son of so feeble a charracter as Wayne into an office which so little Concerns the true Interest of an English Subject as that of Sheriff."

This letter probably marks the beginning of an antago- nism between Wayne, the father of the Revolutionary general, and Moore, which subsequently led to important results. It also lends some strength to the belief that during the time of his legislative service Moore belonged to the Quaker and anti-proprietary party. An anonymous piece of satire concerning him, purporting to be a confes- sion, published in 1757, says,-

" I once made myself believe I could act the Patriot and accordingly made Interest to be chosen for a Representative. Then I opposed loudly all Proprietary Innovations and was warm for the Liberty of my Country but getting nothing but the Honour of serving my Coun- try I found that a Post of Profit might with my skill be more advanta- geous."

In 1741 he was appointed by the Governor a justice of the peace and judge of the County Court. For about forty years thereafter he was president judge of that court. Whatever may have been his previous political creed, it is certain that henceforth he was one of the most decided and influential friends of the proprietaries in the province. In the disputes between the Governor and the Assembly he took an active part, and on the 23d of November, 1755, he wrote to the Assembly that two thousand men were coming down to Philadelphia from Chester County to compel them to pass a militia law, a measure to which the Quaker majority were opposed. This was the first step in a struggle, of which he was the central figure, that shook the whole province, and finally required the intervention of the throne to decide. During the two succeeding years a great many petitions were presented to the Assembly by citizens of Chester County charging him with tyranny, injustice, and even ex- tortion, in the performance of the duties of his magisterial office, and asking for his removal. The names that were signed to them are too numerous to be repeated here, but among them were some of the best people in the county. It is manifest to the impartial reader that while the haughty and aristocratic bearing of Moore doubtless gave offense, and may have at times led to arbitrary decisions, political rivalry had much to do with the complaints. In a broad- side published in reply, Moore explains the circumstances of each case in detail, and says that the petitions were pro- cured by Isaac Wayne, with whom he had had a quarrel, through spite and rancor, by " riding night and day among ignorant and weak Persons using many Persuasions and Promises." The Assembly, after a hearing of the peti- tioners, which was many times adjourned in order to give him an opportunity to be present, but which he declined to attend, on the ground that they had no authority to make the investigation, determined that he had been guilty of extortion, and many other fraudulent, wicked, and cor-

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BIVGRAPHIVAL AND GENEALOGICAL.

rupt practices, and asked for his removal from office. Soon afterwards, on the 19th of October, 1757, Moore wrote a paper, printed in Franklin's Gazette and some other news- papers, in which lie fiercely reviewed the action of the Assembly, calling it " virulent and scandalous," and a " con- tinued string of the severest calumny and most rancorous epithets conceived in all the terms of malice and party rage," and based upon petitions procured by a member and tool of the Assembly at a tavern when the signers were incapable of knowing what they did. Immediately after the meeting of the new Assembly, which was composed mainly of the same persons as the preceding, a warrant was issued to the sergeant-at-arms for the arrest of Moore. He was seized at his home at Moore Hall by two armed men one Friday evening, early in January, 1758, hurried away to Philadel- phia, and there confined in jail. A warrant was also issued for the arrest of Dr. William Smith, provost of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, who it was believed had been con- cerned in the preparation of the libelous address. They were both brought before the Assembly, where they refused to make a defense, though Moore admitted that he had written the paper, and refused to retract its statements. It was ordered that he should be confined until he should make a recantation, and that the address be burned by the hangman. They were both given into the custody of the sheriff, with directions that they should not be discharged

upon any writ of habeas corpus. They were, however, re- leased in this way, after the adjournment of the Assembly, in about three months. In August the Governor, after a series of quarrels with the Assembly about it, examined a number of witnesses, and went through the form of a trial, as a result of which lie announced that Moore had purged himself of every one of the original charges, and that he had never known a more full and clear defense. Smith went to England to prosecute an appeal to the crown, and on Feb. 13, 1760, there was signified formally to the As- sembly " His Majesty's high displeasure" at their unwar- rantable behavior in assuming power that did not belong to them, and invading the royal prerogative and the liberties of the people. The time had not yet come when this au- thority could be resisted, and Moore and his friends came off victorious. As in most political contests, there was much unnecessary heat and some truth on both sides. There is plenty of contemporary evidence to show that Moore, admirable as was the part he played in those old days, and loath as we would be to take even one horse-tooth button set in brass from the dimity coat he wore, was haughty in temper, and none too gentle in the exercise of power. " Unless they put me to the necessity of bringing ejectments, and in that case they are to expect no favor," he wrote in 1769 to Benjamin Jacobs about some people who had made improvements on some of his lands. "This is a season," he adds, " when most or all farmers have their barns or stock-yards filled with the produce of their plan- tations."

John Ross, the celebrated Philadelphia lawyer, noted in his private docket, in November, 1765, that a case in which he represented some young Quakers accused of a criminal charge had been adjourned three times by Moore without cause, though seventeen witnesses were present,-

" the first instance of that kind of oppression that ever hap- pened in this Province,"-and that it was supposed to have occurred "from his great love to Quakers." At the time of the outbreak of the Revolutionary war he was an old man of about seventy-six years, and much troubled with the gout. He was, however, keenly alive to the importance of the struggle, and his sympathies, like those of the greater number of men who had secured wealth, position, and reputation under the old order of things, were entirely on the side of the crown. The rebels he regarded as a rude rabble. Jacob Smith, a sort of political eavesdropper, made an affidavit that he heard Moore say, at Moore Hall, on the 7th of May, 1775, that the people of Boston were a " vile set of rebels," and that "he was determined to commit every man to prison who would associate or muster." There was much excitement abroad, and it was the way of the new men who were coming into power to compel by force those who were suspected of Toryism to recant. On June 6th the committee of Chester County, of which Anthony Wayne was chairman, visited Moore Hall for this purpose. Broken with years and ill in health, the judge was brought to bay, confronted with a power which Great Britain, in eight years of war, was unable to subdue. The spirit, however, with which two decades earlier he had de- fied the Assembly and suffered imprisonment was still un- daunted, and the paper he signed said, " I also further de- clare that I have of late encouraged and will continue to encourage learning the military art, apprehending the time is not far distant when there may be occasion for it." The latent sarcasm was entirely unnoticed, and the committee unanimously resolved that a perfectly satisfactory answer had been given.

On another occasion a party from the American army, among whom was Isaac Anderson, afterwards a member of Congress from -this district, which was sent to deprive the Tories of arms, went to Moore Hall, and found its haughty occupant confined to his easy-chair. Among other things they discovered a beautifully wrought sword, whose handle was inlaid with gold and silver, which had probably been an heirloom. They were about to carry it off, when the judge asked permission to see it once more. It had scarcely been given to him before, with his foot on the floor, he snapped the blade from the handle. Then, clinching tightly the hilt, he threw to them the useless blade, and with a gesture of contempt, and eyes gleaming, cried, "There, take that if you are anxious to fight ; but you have no busi- ness to steal my plate !" While the army was at Valley Forge, Col. Clement Biddle and others were quartered at Moore Hall, and a committee of Congress met there in the early part of 1778. Moore died on the 30th of May, 1783. He and his old antagonists, the Waynes, rest to- gether in peace in the graveyard at Radnor. Moore lies directly in front of the door, and all the worshipers at that ancient and celebrated church as they enter pass over the remains of one who during his life was probably the most conspicuous and heroic figure in the county of Chester.

Among his descendants are the Cadwaladers and Rawles of Philadelphia, the Goldsboroughs and Duponts of Del- aware, and some of the English and German nobility.

REV. CHARLES MOORE .- George Moore and his wife,

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Jane (Jorden), came from the north of Ireland about the year 1760, and settled in Philadelphia, in which city they located on Market Street, between Second and Third Streets, and where he lived and died, Dec. 27, 1787. Their son, Rev. Charles Moore, the subject of this sketch, was born in Philadelphia, Jan. 30, 1771, and departed this life July 17, 1847, at his residence, West Vincent township, Chester Co. He was in his sixth year at the time of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, and was at the State- House and heard the tolling of the old bell that proclaimed the birth of a new nation. He was reared and educated in the Episcopal faith or church, and it was the intention of his parents that he should become a clergyman in that denomination. He was married to Margaret, daughter of William and Eliza Carroll, of Philadelphia. Rev. Charles

In October, 1802, he was baptized by Rev. Mr. Vaughan in the Brandywine at Chads' Ford, and received into the fellowship of the Brandywine Church, Delaware County. His mind having been exercised in regard to preaching, and believing it to be his duty, and the church readily agreeing with him in this view, he received a letter of li- conse to preach the gospel in September, 1812. He con- tinued to supply this church until October, 1813, when he was ordained as their pastor. He continued to preach here for six years, supplying at the same time monthly the Rock Springs Church.

In 1819 he accepted a unanimous call to the Vincent Baptist Church, Chester County, as pastor, where he labored acceptably and faithfully until the spring of 1844, em- bracing a period of twenty-five years, when increasing in-

Chat Moore

Moore early in life obtained peace with God through Christ and united himself with the Old Swedes' Protestant Church, of Philadelphia, in which for several years he faithfully discharged the duties of clerk. In 1797, when the yellow fever prevailed in Philadelphia, and after he and his wife had recovered from an attack of it, he removed to Concord, Delaware Co., and there connected himself with the Epis- copal Church. This church being without a stated minis- try, upon its solicitation he officiated for some time in the public service in reading sermons, making exhortations, etc. During his residence here he occasionally attended the Baptist meetings, and under the preaching of Rev. Joshua Vaughan his attention was called to the subject of Christian baptism, which cansed him to enter upon a more thorough and careful examination of this and other Bible doctrines.

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History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 175

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts Number of Pages: 1162

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162