History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 177

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 177

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).

Joseph Newlin, son of Nathaniel (2), married, in 1740, Phebe, granddaughter of Ralph Lewis, an eminent Welsh settler. He died 1768, his wife surviving, and left his plantation to his eldest son, Ellis Newlin, who, in 1771, married Jane Mason. They had three sons,-Joseph, Wil- liam, and George.

It will thus be seen that Nathaniel Newlin (1) left three sons,-Nicholas, Nathaniel, and John; that of these Na- thaniel had sons,-Nathaniel, Joseph, Nicholas, and Nathan; and that John had sons,-Nathaniel and John. From these, or some of them, the families in Pennsylvania bear- iog the surname of Newlin have probably all descended.

NILES, HEZEKIAH, was born Oct. 10, 1777, at the residence then of James Jefferis (now of John James), on the east side of the main branch of the Brandywine, near Jefferis' Ford. When Howe's army moved from the Head of Elk for Philadelphia, it was generally expected that the march would be by way of Wilmington, Del., and to evade

"Signed by the advice and in the behalf of the Meeting, Tobias Pladwell, William Edmundson, Christopher Raper," and othera.

The original of the foregoing certificate is in the handwriting of William Edmundaon, as appeara by hia signature thereto. The name Newland may either have been miaspelled by him, or afterwards changed. It has always been spelled Newlin in this county.

670

HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

the evils of such a visit Mrs. Niles, being a resident of that place, and near her confinement, sought a refuge in the fam- ily of James Jefferis, aforesaid, where Hezekiah was born, about four weeks after the military passed by. On this ground he is claimed as a Chester County man. The Hessian auxiliaries of Britain were notorious for maltreat- ing and plundering the inhabitants. They menaced the life of Mrs. Niles for hesitating to surrender her personal property ; and her son mentions more than once, in his Weekly Register, that the myrmidons of George III. threatened to bayonet him before he was born.

When Hezekiah was old enough to engage in a profes- sion he was apprenticed to learn " the art preservative of all arts," and at the close of the last century was one of the firm of Bonsall & Niles, printers and publishers, in Wil- mington. In 1801 this firm was employed in publishing a revised edition of the political writings of John Dickinson, in two handsome octavo volumes. The printing establish- ment in which Mr. Niles was then concerned was unsuc- cessful. For some time after the failure Mr. Niles was connected with a periodical, to which he contributed amus- ing-essays under the title of " Quill-driving, by Geoffrey Thickneck," and then he became for several years editor of a daily paper in the city of Baltimore. But the great work of his life was his incomparable Weekly Register, a compendium of general intelligence, commenced at Balti- more in 1811, and conducted by H. Niles for a quarter of a century with untiring industry and consummate ability. Referring to it in one of his letters, he says,-

" Whatever may be its merits, I can say this, that it is the most laborious publication that, I believe, ever issued by the editorship of one man. A daily paper-of which I had six years' experience-is mere play compared with the toil of this thing."

He also compiled a volume entitled "Principles and Acts of the Revolution," highly illustrative of opinions and events in that stormy period.

Hezekiah Niles was a kind, amiable, sagacious man, an earnest politician, and a zealous Republican. Skilled in the science of political economy, he was at once a ready writer and an accomplished advocate of the protection due to our national industry.

In the latter years of his life Mr. Niles was disabled by a paralytic affection, and retired to Wilmington, Del., whither he went, as he said, "To die and be buried with his kindred." He departed this life April 2, 1839, in the sixty-second year of his age.

NIXON, COL. JOHN .- Richard Nixon, a native of Wexford, Ireland, emigrated to this country in the first half of the eighteenth century. His son John, the subject of this sketch, was born in Chester Co., Pa., and having received a good education, became a merchant in Philadel- phia. He was one of the founders of the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, in 1771, and was an ardent patriot. He was one of the Committee of Safety, often pre- sided as chairman, and served on the Committee of Accounts. As lieutenant-colonel he commanded the City Guard of Philadelphia from July 19, 1776, and was one of the navy board. He commanded the Third Pennsylvania Battalion in the defense of the Delaware in 1776-77, and during his absence at the camp at Valley Forge, and the occupation

of Philadelphia by the British, in the winter of 1777-78, his country-seat was burned by the enemy. The Declara- tion of Independence was first read in public by him on the 8th of July, 1776, four days after its final adoption, from the platform of an observatory in the State-House yard, which had been erected in 1769 to observe the transit of Venus over the sun, to an assemblage of the people of that city and vicinity. The people listened in silence and with solemn thought upon the momentous character of the act.

When the old Bank of Pennsylvania was established by subscription, July 17, 1780, to procure supplies of provi- sions for the then extremely destitute armies of the United States, he was chosen one of the first directors. He was president of the Bank of North America, which grew out of and superseded the old Bank of Pennsylvania, from its organization in January, 1782, until his death, about Jan. 1,1809.

Col. John Nixon was a gentleman of more than average ability, upright, patriotic, enthusiastic, and hospitable. He was highly esteemed by his brother-officers and fellow- citizens generally.

NUTT, SAMUEL, the founder of the Coventry Iron- Works, came from Coventry, in Warwickshire, bringing a certificate from the Monthly Meeting of Coventry, dated 2, 7, 1714, which was presented at Concord Monthly Meeting 10, 13, 1714. No further notice of him appears on the records of the latter meeting. Before leaving Eng- land he, on the 4th of May, 1714, purchased from Benja- min Weight, of Coventry, 1250 acres of land in Pennsyl- vania, some of which was laid out in Sadsbury township, now owned by William L. Paxson and others. He is said to have returned to England to bring over skilled workers in iron, and it may be that his nephew of the same name ac- companied him hither at that time. Samuel Nutt, Sr., married Anna, widow of Samuel Savage, and daughter of Thomas Rutter, and her daughter, Rebecca Savage, became the wife of Samuel Nutt, Jr., May 17, 1733. In the Pennsylvania Gazette of May 29, 1740, we find the fol- lowing :

"We hear from French Creek, in Chester County, that on Monday last Mr. Robert Grace, a Gentleman of this city, was married to Mrs. Rebecca Nutt, an agreeable young Lady, with a Fortune of Ten Thou- sand Pound."

Samuel Nutt, Jr., left no son, and the name became ex- tinct in that family. (See p. 34.)

OGIER, SEPTIMUS AUGUSTUS, M.D., was born in Charleston, S. C., on Sept. 17, 1821; died in East Whiteland township, Chester Co., Pa., Nov. 26, 1857, and is interred in St. Paul's graveyard, West Whiteland. He was the seventh child of Thomas and Sarah Ogier. His father was a Frenchman, and was engaged in the mercan- tile business between Charleston and Marseilles, France. The family were Huguenots, and during the troubles in France between the Protestants and Roman Catholics, dur- ing the reign of Charles IX., were forced to flee from the country.

Dr. Ogier, as a child, was remarkable for his sprightli- ness, great amiability of character, and affectionate disposi- tion, traits that were of great service to him in after-life in

671

BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL.

making him a successful physician. He received a colle- giate education, first graduating at the South Carolina Col- lege and afterwards at Yale. In 1840, at the age of nine- teen, he entered the office of his brother, Dr. Thomas Louis Ogier, a distinguished practitioner in Charleston, and com- menced the study of medicine. He graduated at the State Medical College of South Carolina, at Charleston, in 1842. To further perfect himself and to secure a better oppor- tunity to study surgery he came North, and in 1843 entered the Jefferson Medical College, in Philadelphia, where he again received a medical diploma. It was while engaged in studying that he made the acquaintance of Miss Catha- rine Gross Brinton, daughter of Maj. Thomas H. Brinton, of Delaware Co., Pa., whom he married in 1845, and with his bride returned to his native city, intending to engage in the practice of medicine. The climate of the South not agreeing with his wife's health, he returned North the next year and settled in Philadelphia, where he was induced to engage in the business of an apothecary. The business being distasteful to him, he abandoned it and removed to Glen- loch, then called " The Steamboat," and boarded with the late E. Dunbar. At that time Dr. Stephen Harris removed from that section of the county, and Dr. Ogier, it appears, was just the man to take his place ; this was in 1849. He came among the people an entire stranger, but from his gentle and kindly disposition it was not long before he be- came very popular, and soon acquired a large though not lucrative practice. He was always to be found at his post of duty, whether it was in the liovel of the poor or in the elegant mansion of the wealthy, nor were his ministrations alone confined to those of a physician for the ailments to which the body is heir, but he consoled the grief-stricken when the Angel of Death visited an abode, and did not feel it beneath a man to weep with the afflicted and give them Christian consolation.

He placed his standard high, and steadfastly aimed to reach it. Almost immediately after his settlement in Ches- ter Valley he connected himself with the Chester County Medical Society, and became one of its most active mem- bers. He was chosen for one year its president, and on several occasions represented the society in the National and State Associations, and was at the time of his death one of the standing secretaries of the latter association, to which he had been elected in 1856. He was the author of several medical papers.

He was an active member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and was for a number of years one of the vestrymen. Nov. 26, 1857, he came to a most untimely and melancholy death. He had been engaged during the day in making professional visits, and was on his way home, between the hours of four and five o'clock in the afternoon, and whilst attempting to cross the Pennsylvania Railroad at Frazer, within sight of his home, the fast passenger-train bound west struck his carriage, killing him almost instantly. His death threw a great gloom over the whole community and the medical gentlemen of the county.

He left a wife and five children, to wit: Thomas Louis, Catharine Brinton, Mary Brinton, Amelius St. Julien, and Carolina Blanche. The two youngest daughters are deceased.

PAINTER, SAMUEL, is supposed to have come from that part of England bordering on Wales, and his name is found as a lot-owner in Philadelphia in 1705. His son Samuel purchased 532 acres of land in Birmingham in 1707, and his father bought adjoining land in 1711. The son was married, 4, 7, 1716, at Concord Meeting, to Eliza- beth Buxcey, a sister to the wife of John Passmore, of Kennet. Their children were Mary, m. to Isaac Gilpin ; Samuel ; John, m. to Agnes Cobourn and Sarah Yeatman ; Thomas, m. to Grace Cloud; Ann, m. to Robert Chamber- lin ; and Lydia.

Samuel (3) married, 6, 5, 1741, Esther, daughter of Joseph and Hannah Gilpin, of Birmingham. Their chil- dren were James, m. to Jane Carter ; George; Lydia, m. to Isaac Baily ; Joseph ; Thomas; Hannah, m. to Joseph Townsend, of Baltimore; and Samuel. Of these, Joseph, b. 4, 1, 1748, d. 10, 24, 1804, m. Elizabeth Woodward, b. 6, 12, 1748, d. 8, 24, 1808, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Kirk) Woodward. They lived in East Brad- ford, now Birmingham township, where he followed the fulling business.

Of their five children, Joseph Painter was born 7th mo. 5, 1782, and was married at Bradford Meeting, 9th mo. 12, 1805, to Lydia Marshall, daughter of Samuel and Rachel Marshall, of West Bradford, born 8th mo. 2, 1788. They resided for many years in East Bradford, but settled in West Chester in 1829. Their children were, -- 1. Mary Ann, b. 7, 11, 1806, d. 11, 11, 1809 ; 2. Rachel M., b. 4, 17, 1808, d. 11, 15, 1865 ; 3. Samuel M., b. 9, 16, 1809, m. 10, 17, 1839, Ann Vickers, of Uwchlan, daughter of John and Abigail Vickers ; 4. Elizabeth P., b. 5, 31, 1813, m. Joseph Vickers, d. 9, 8, 1863 ; 5. Lydia S., b. 8, 3, 1815, d. 11, 24, 1832 ; 6. Sarah, b. 12, 8, 1816, d. 6, 30, 1817 ; 7. Joseph H., b. 10, 5, 1818, m. 2, 19, 1840, Esther, daughter of Joseph and Charity Kersey ; 8. Mary H., b. 9, 30, 1820, m. 12, 30, 1840, Chalkley M. Valentine; 9. James G., b. 5, 12, 1823, m. Mary H. Pierce ; 10. Cyrus P., b. 11, 20, 1825, m. Abigail A. Alison ; 11. Thomas, b. 7, 7, 1830. Joseph Painter died 8th mo. 12, 1855, and his wife, Lydia, 5th mo. 10, 1857. Joseph Painter was a man of strong character, and for many years wielded a con- trolling political influence in the county. Immediately succeeding the alleged abduction and murder of Morgan by the Freemasons, the feeling against the Masonic order was very high all over the land. In 1829, Mr. Painter published a few numbers of a paper at Yellow Springs, which was printed by Alexander Marshall, and devoted to the interests of the Anti-Masonic party. Later in the same year he es- tablished at West Chester the Anti-Masonic Register. (See page 331.)

About six months after starting his paper at West Chester, he built a frame office at the east end of what is now the Mansion House. He began his paper at Yellow Springs with only one hundred and fifty subscribers, but in two or three years his list increased to over two thousand. His papers were delivered all over the county, at the stores and elsewhere, to subscribers by riders outside of the post facilities. For a decade of years the Anti-Masonic party, of which his paper was the organ, swept the county, and elected Governor Ritner to the gubernatorial chair.

672

HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Mr. Painter was an able writer and first-class business man, and in the publication of his paper a power in the county and State. He amassed a snug competence. His paper took advanced ground in favor of the cause of tem- perance, and was strongly anti-slavery, opposing the holding of human beings in bondage, and attacking the slave dyn- asty and interests in every conceivable way. Mr. Painter was one of the agents of the "Underground Railroad," through whom many a slave found a channel for escape to Canada and the more Northern States. During the height of the Anti-Masonic furor the Masonic lodge at West Chester surrendered its charter. Mr. Painter was a humani- tarian in its broadest sense, a friend of liberty and good society, and a foe to tyranny, whether in governmental, religious, or mental economies, and for a long period was the brilliant and trusted leader of a party whose most able exponent he was with his trenchant pen and iron will.

James Painter, son of Samuel (3), was married, 5, 9, 1771, to Jane Carter, daughter of John and Hannah (Cope) Carter, of East Bradford (now Birmingham) township, and settled close by her father's late residence. Their children were Elizabeth, Enos, John, Hannah, and Phebe. Enos, the only one that married, was born 12, 1, 1773, died 5, 30, 1857 ; married Hannah, only daughter of Jacob and Ann Minshall, of Middletown, Delaware Co., and settled on her father's farm. At this homestead Minshall and Jacob Painter, his two unmarried sons, spent their lives, which were largely devoted to the acquisition of knowledge, the care of a botanical garden, and collection of family and local history. The former was one of the founders of the Dela- ware County Institute of Science. Their brother James, born 12, 17, 1802, married, 5, 6, 1835, Betsy G., daugh- ter of William and Betsy Thatcher, of Thornbury, and settled on the ancestral farm on the Brandywine. He died 3, 25, 1867, after which his widow removed to West Chester.

Their children were William T., Hannah, Minshall, Mary, and Annie. Of these, the eldest, William T., was born 4th mo. 23, 1836, and married, 10th mo. 13, 1864, Hannah Mary, daughter of Job and Sarah S. Hayes, of Newlin township. He settled at the homestead of his father, formerly of East Bradford, but now of Birmingham. His children are George, born 12th mo. 8, 1866, and Mary B., born 9th mo. 12, 1870. His wife, Hannah Mary (Hayes), died 5th mo. 26, 1880. His dwelling-house was erected in 1773, and its immediate locality was the scene of Revolutionary conflicts, the Brandywine battle being fought only two miles from it. The American army passed by the Painter house, and his grandmother, a stanch patriot, making bread, the soldiers, hungry and tired, ate all the dough and drank the well dry.

PALMER, R. and E .- John Palmer emigrated from England to this State shortly after the organization of Chester County, and 7th month 26, 1688, purchased by patent a hundred acres in Concord township (now Delaware County). About this time he married Mary Suddery (Southery), daughter of Robert Southery, a fuller by trade, and late of Westbury, county of Wilts, in Great Britain. They were originally Friends, but left the society through the defec- tion of George Keith. Their only son, John, married Martha Yearsley, 4th month 9, 1714. The fifth child of

this couple was Moses, born 5th month 26, 1721, and who married, 2d month 17, 1745, Abigail Newlin, and for his second wife Abigail Sharpless, 11th month 22, 1752. Jo- seph, the third child of Moses' second marriage, was born 4th month 21, 1759. He married, 5th month 18, 1785, Hannah Peters, and of their nine children Wilson, the sixth, was born 2d month 4, 1798, and married, in 1825, Ann J. Jaquette. Of their seven children, Rees, the fifth, was born March 5, 1834, and Eli, the sixth, Sept. 10, 1835. Rees Palmer, married, Feb. 14, 1861, Mary S. Nields, daughter of Daniel and Eliza (Smedley) Nields, and to them have been born George Jaquette, June 25, 1862; Anna Maria, Dec. 16, 1864, d. July 31, 1866; Mary Nina, Dec. 12, 1867; Charles, July 12, 1870; Eliza D., March 18, 1872; and H. Ralph, April 28, 1876. Eli, brother of Rees Palmer, was married Nov. 30, 1865, to Marianna, daughter of R. Baker and Susan (Woodward) Smedley. Their children have been Linda B., born Nov. 30, 1866; Alice S., May, 1870 ; Louis M., and Florence E.

R. and E. Palmer opened a large stove, tinware, and furnishing store in 1857 on Church Street, and moved to their present location on Market Street in 1861, where they have been in active and successful business ever since.

PARISH, DR. CHARLES W., son of Charles and Ann Parish, was born in London, England, on Feb. 5, 1793. He was educated at home. He had a capacity for the rapid acquisition of knowledge, and mastered with great facility every branch of study he undertook, and hence at an early age his mind was well stored with useful information.

Aug. 12, 1815, he married Ann Aldred, daughter of Richard Aldred, of London, and soon thereafter came to Philadelphia, where he found himself surrounded by strangers, and in possession of very limited means of sup- port. He engaged in teaching, and also turned his atten- tion to the study of medicine, for which he had always had a strong partiality, and after attending three courses of lectures at the University of Pennsylvania he commenced practice in 1821, in connection with his medical preceptor, Dr. Thomas Dunn. He soon concluded to change his field of labor, and with that view visited West Chester, but finding the field there occupied, he continued his journey to Marshallton, where he located in 1822, and spent the remainder of his life in the faithful and diligent pursuit of his professional duties. For many years he was the prin- cipal physician of the neighborhood in which he lived, and he enjoyed in an eminent degree the confidence of the people. On June 4, 1848, he met with an accident, by. the running away of his horse, which occasioned the loss of a leg by amputation and the use of an artificial. limb thereafter, which greatly interfered with the proper per- formance of his professional duties. He died Dec. 17, 1856, from an attack of pneumonia.

Dr. Parish was endowed by nature with more than ordi- nary intellect. He possessed a discerning and comprehensive mind, capable of penetrating the mysteries of science, as well as enjoying the beauties of poetry and pleasures of literature, all of which received a portion of his attention. He had a retentive memory, and was possessed of consid- erable conversational powers, which made him an agreeable companion.

JOSEPH PYLE.

Robert Pyle came from Eng- laod and settled in Chestor County. Joseph, the son of Robert, had a son of the same name who settled in Marlborough, between London- grove meeting-house and the State road. His son James married Mary, daughter of Robert Bunnell, and to them were born the follow- ing children : Joseph; James B., married to Susan, daughter of Levi Hayes, near Unionville; Alioe, married to Isaiah Faddis; Mary, married to James Burdsal; Eliza- beth, married first to a Mr. Mo- Laughlin, and second to Aaron Pierce; Sarab, married to Chris- topher H. Webb; Ana; and Phi- lena, married to Eli Hutton. Joseph, the subject of this sketch, was born in 1794, in Marlborough township, near Londongrove. He was raised on the farm, and educated in the early subscrip- tion schools. He began farming ia the State of Delaware, where for seventeen years he was thus engaged ou rented land, in which time he saved some fourteen thou- sand dollars. In 1840 be removed to Laurel, purchasing the " Laurel Iron-Works" and farm of three hundred and sixty acres. The farm he leased for three years. He afterwards sold the works, with one hundred acres, retaining the remaining part of his purchase, which, before his death, he had io- creased to some five hundred acres.

He was married April 15, 1824, to Mary A., daughter of James and Margery (Mason) Cloud, by

JOSEPH PYLE.

whom he had ten children, of whom the following eight are living : Sarab, married to Daniel Ramsey; Cloud; Mary, married to Ebenezer Worth ; Elizabeth Ann, married to Levis Passmore, and afterwards to Charles H. Penny- packer; Philena, married to Wil- liam P. Phipps ; Anna M., married to J. Bernard Walton; Joseph, mar- ried first to Emma Harlan, and subsequently to Maggie J. McFar- land; and Emma L., married to Jonathan K. Taylor. Joseph Pyle died Nov. 27, 1854, and his wife, Mary A. (Cloud), Nov. 1, 1880. He served in the school board, and often in other township positions. Was a member of the Society of Friends, and a Republican in poli- tics, and always a zealous anti- slavery man. He was a systematic farmer, and universally estcemed as an upright man in his dealings and deportment. In 1844 he built a stone residence on the homestead farm now owned by his son, Cloud Pyle, while the lat- ter erected the brick building (see engraving) ou the lower place in 1860, where be now resides. Cloud, the eldest son, was born Oct. 27, 1826, and was married June 1, 1856, to Mary L., daughter of James and Hannab K. (Betts) Mo- Fadden, of Kennet township. They have one living child, a son, Car- Jeton J.

Mr. Pyle is an excellent farmer, largely engaged in dairying, and has one of the best farms in the township, on which are fioe im- provements. His residence is near Laurel Station, and post-office at Morton ville.

RESIDENCE OF CLOUD PYLE, EAST FALLOWFIELD

Samuel Pinkerton, son of an Irish emigrant, was born in 1770, in this county, and married Sarah Chrisman, a descendant of Daniel Chrisman, who came from Ger- many in the ship " Alexander and Anu," Sept. 5, 1730. To them were born nine children, viz. : Robert; Elisha C .; David; John; Thomas; Mary, married to Rob- ort Harris; Jane, to William Baker; Agnes, to Isaac Bice; and Elizabeth, to John Brown. Of these, Elisha Chrisman Pinkerton was born Aug. 4, 1803, in East Brandywine township. He carly . learned the trade of a weaver, and carried on that business until 1853 in Upper Uwchlan township. In 1840 he purchased a farm, and from that time united farming with weaving. He was married Dec. 4, 1834, to Rebecca, daughter of George and Anoa (Ramstin) Stit- eler, from which union were born the following children : George Stiteler Pinkerton ; Elizabeth, mar- ried to Edwin M. Philips, now deceased; Morgan Hoffman Pink- erton, deceased; Anna Mary, mar- ried to George L. Maris; and Vernon Pinkerton, deceased. Eli- sha C. Pinkerton died April 3, 1877, and his widow resides with her son George S. He served frequently

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.

History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 177

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