History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 184

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 184

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On the 28th of April, 1855, an act prepared by Mr. Price was passed entitled " An act to amend certain defects of the law for the more just and safe transmission and more secure enjoyment of real and personal estate." Es- tates in fee tail are to be taken in fee; intestate estates are to reach grandchildren of brothers and sisters, and children of uncles and aunts, and by representation of their parents ; partitions may be made by three or more commissioners ; in litigations as to realty, title out of the commonwealth is to be presumed after thirty years' possession ; after title had been held for twenty-one years by a purchaser from a corpora- tion who had held it defeasible by the commonwealth the latter is barred; ground-rents, annuities, or other charges upon real estate unclaimed for twenty-one years are barred ; lessees are enabled to mortgage their leasehold .- P. L. 368.

On the 10th of May, 1855, an act prepared by Mr. Price was passed " relating to certain duties and rights of husband and wife, and parents and children." This act sprung from feelings often awakened in professional prac- tice by observing how deplorably helpless is the condition of virtuous wives with spendthrift husbands, who, while possessed of the desire and ability to provide respectably for themselves and children, were unable to do so. Though a dronish and drinking husband might or might not per- sonally meddle and thwart her efforts, the store goods in her shop and furniture might always be scized for his debts and his family cast out, though that debt were incurred for the drink that crazed and unmanned him. The act enabled the wife to become a femme sole trader; to own her own earnings and dispose of her property while living, and when

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

dying, without his interference, and if she die intestate, it enabled her next of kin to take it. If by drunkenness, profligacy, or other cause he shall neglect or refuse to pro- vide for his child or children, the mother shall have all the rights of the father and perform his duties ; may place the children at employment and receive their earnings, or bind them to apprenticeship, without the interference of such a husband, in the same manner as the father can now do by law ; but if the mother be of unsuitable character, the court is to appoint a guardian of such children with like powers. A husband guilty of such conduct for a year preceding his wife's death forfeits all right to her estate, and also the right to appoint a testamentary guardian of his children. Persons are enabled by judicial decree to adopt children, and give them the rights of lawful children, binding them- selves to the duties of parents .- P. L. 430. This law of humanity is probably an advance on the statute-book of any civilized nation, and was necessary, as these protections were not covered by our act of 1848, passed to secure to married women their own property. Mr. Price had passed in 1856 (P. L. 315) sections enabling a deserted or unsupported wife, or one divorced from bed and board, to protect her reputation by action of slander and libel, and to sue for her earnings and property, and to receipt for and give refund- ing bonds for legacies and shares of decedents' estates.

On the 22d of April, 1856, he prepared, and while in the Senate procured to be passed, "an act for the greater security of title and more secure enjoyment of real estate," which cut off all the exceptions to land limitations of twenty-one years after thirty years; requiring all eject- ments for land to be indexed, to give notice to purchasers and mortgagees also of liens acquired by levies on real es- tates ; all trusts to be manifested by writing, except they arise by implication ; specific performance, etc., is required to be demanded in five years ; wills probated to stand un- less objected to within five years, surviving executors and administrators to exercise testamentary powers of sale ; subrogation to liens are regulated; and in partition the highest bidder is to have choice of shares .- P. L. 532. He also drew the act of 1859, which requires action within a year after entry made on land to stop the running of the statute of limitations in favor of the possessor, and to bar the remainder after tenant in tail is barred .- P. L. 603.

In 1857 he published the " Law of Limitations and Liens against Real Estate," pp. 392. He was also the author of many acts of municipal legislation, passed with a view to the health, comfort, and security of the citizens of Philadelphia ; among others, that no street or alley is ever to be laid out of a less width than twenty-five feet. If any house now standing on a street narrower than that shall be taken down, the owner, in rebuilding, must set it back to that regulation. Every new house shall have a curtilage of at least 144 square feet of open space. There must be a parapet wall of brick or stone between the roofs of all houses, extending through the cornices, to prevent the spread of fire. A board of building inspectors was also created, to see that all buildings are safely erected, and in accordance with the strict requirements of law. A board of revision of taxes was established to compel equality of valuation for taxation, and to supervise all as-

sessments of property. A survey department, to lay out plans for streets, culverts, etc., was also created, to which was attached a registry bureau, in which must be registered every deed or conveyance of real estate before it can be re- corded, with a plan of the premises conveyed, so that no property shall escape taxation. And if there be conflict of claim of title, it can be promptly known, as no careful con- veyancer passes any title without a certificate of search. He also prepared most of the sections of the Park Act of 1868.

Mr. Price was an earnest advocate for the centennial international celebration from the first movement towards it. Before the United States Commissioners, the Board of Finance, and the representatives of the City Councils and the Park Commissioners, early in 1873, he fouod great de- spondency to prevail, and spoke earnestly and effectively to infuse hope and courage. At their request he went with their deputation to Harrisburg, and there addressed the members of both Houses of the Legislature; and on his return he, with others, addressed a town-meeting in Inde- pendence Square. The needed legislation and appropriations were made by State and city.

In his eighty-fourth year, Mr. Price is yet giving opin- ions on titles, acting as a Fairmount Park Commissioner, trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, etc.

He has for many years been an active member of the American Philosophical Society, and is now one of its vice- presidents. Its published proceedings bear abundant record of his labors in behalf of science, and in " the promotion of useful knowledge." Among his works in this field are the following treatises :

1. "The Trial by Jury," written in 1863.

2. " The Family as an Element of Government," in 1864. These two discourses were published as pamphlets in the same year. In concluding the latter he tersely apologizes for bringing it before the Philosophical Society by saying, " Truly there is a philosophy that transcends and compre- hends all other philosophies, the philosophy that teaches man how to live and how to die."

3, 4. "Some Phases of Modern Philosophy," written in 1872. Two discourses. The scope and aim of which may be imagined from one initial sentence, " I am a brother to dragons and a companion to owls. So Job was constrained to say in the hour of his great afflictions ; so others now say, induced only by speculative philosophy." The philos- ophy of Darwin and Huxley is therein thoroughly ex- amined and refuted.

5. " The Glacial Epochs," 1876.

6. " Sylviculture," 1877.

But to many minds nothing which he has written can surpass in interest two volumes which were printed for pri- vate circulation. One was a memoir of a rare and excellent couple, his own father and mother, Philip and Rachel Price, of Chester County ; the other gave the life and death of a daughter, not less attractive in character. The latter, es- pecially, contains some thrilling experiences. Both are written with a singular judgment and delicacy, warmed, but not colored, by an intense and well-deserved affection. In fitness of expression they are models of composition.

It is much to be desired that these family memorials were

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more abundant. Written by intelligent minds and prac- ticed hands, with enough of incident to relieve from dull- ness, they would form a legacy to coming generations more and more valued as time passed along, far more interesting and durable than the short record of a tombstone.

: BENJAMIN PRICE, son of Philip and Rachel Price, was born in East Bradford, 12th mo. 17, 1793. His school education was received at Birmingham, under John For- sythe and Ennion Cook, and at Westtown School, complet- ing his course at the academy of Enoch Lewis, in New Garden. His tastes led him to adopt farming as his occu- pation, and in this he became prominent for his progressive spirit. He was among the first to practice underdraining extensively ; also to plant the Virginia thorn for hedges, and to use the mowing-machine, which he did as early as 1820.

In 1817 he was married to Jane, daughter of Jacob Paxson, of Ahington, Montgomery Co. They settled upon the farm lying west of that upon which his father lived, and which is now (1881) held by the children of Mary Mitchell, nee Elwyn. In 1841 they disposed of the southern part of the farm to their eldest son, Paxson, and erecting buildings upon the northern part, opened " Pros- pect Hill Boarding-School for Boys." This continued in operation until the spring of 1847. In 1852 they sold the residue of the farm to their son Jacob, and two years afterwards removed to the home of their son Paxson, near Parkerville. In 1865 they came to live with their son Jacob, in West Chester, where they remained till the close of life. The death of Benjamin occurred on the 15th of 1st mo., 1871, and that of Jane on the 9th of 5th mo., 1876.

In reviewing the life-work of Benjamin Price, we are led to remark the faithfulness and conscientiousness with which he discharged every duty that came to him. As a husband, he was unremitting in devotion and kindness ; as a parent, indulgent, yet steady in discipline ; as a neighbor and citi- zen, kind and public-spirited ; as a farmer, skillful and progressive; and as a member of the Society of Friends, zealous and exemplary. He held the position of elder for about fifty years, traveled extensively with ministers of the society, and for several years filled most satisfactorily the difficult and important position of clerk of the Yearly Meet- ing. During the latter part of his life he spoke frequently in the meetings for worship. Of the peace and anti-slavery movements he was an efficient friend. He was active in assisting fugitive slaves, and his house was for a long while an important post in the " Underground Railway."

Jane Price was most of her life an approved minister, and traveled extensively in that capacity. At the division of the society, in 1827, they remained with that portion of the society denominated " Hicksite," a term which it is well known the society never acknowledged. They had five children to grow to adult life,. viz. : Paxson, married to Jane J., daughter of Halliday Jackson ; they now reside at Cheyney, Delaware Co., Pa. Mary S., married to Josiah Wilson, of Hockessin, Del. ; they now live at Kirk wood, Mo. Isaiah, married to Lydia, daughter of Jacob Heald, of Hockessin, Del. ; he is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Dental Surgery, and is practicing his profession

at No. 1112 Arch Street, Philadelphia. In the suppres- sion of the Rebellion he took an active part, of which men- tion has already been made (p. 138).

The third son, Philip, spent eight years of his early adult life in California. He was one of the first to enlist in the war, and served through all the hard work that fell upon the Pennsylvania Reserves. He left the service with impaired health upon the discharge of his regiment. He entered a private and passed the various promotions to the first lieutenancy. He married Ellen M., daughter of Charles Satterthwait, of Crosswicks, N. J. They now live at El Moro, Colorado.

Jacob (the youngest child of Benjamin and Jane Price that lived to adult life) engaged in the study of medicine, graduating at the Jefferson Medical College, class of 1850. He located for the practice of his profession in West Chester in the fall of the same year, and the following year was married to Rachel L., daughter of Philip D. Thomas, then of Philadelphia. They have lived continuously in West Chester, and the doctor is still actively devoted to his pro- fessional work.

PUGH, JOHN, with Jane, his wife, supposed from Wales, were among the early residents of East Nottingham ; where John died, 4, 24, 1760. Their children, so far as known, were,-1. Mary, m. 10, 11, 1735, to John Barrett. 2. William, m. 2, 8, 1742, to Mary Brown, daughter of Messer and Jane Brown, of East Nottingham ; second mar- riage, 3, 13, 1755, to Sarah Chandler, daughter of Jacob ; she died 7, 27, 1756: third wife, Patience Casner. 3. John, m. 8, 7, 1742, Sarah Littler, daughter of Samuel and Rachel, b. 6, 24, 1721 ; d. 6, 2, 1743, leaving one child. John died 7, 28, 1790, aged over seventy-two years. He married second, 6, 1, 1769, Hannah Bennett, who died 1, 26, 1818. 4. Sarah, m. 9, 10, 1743, to William White. 5. Jane, m. 9, 21, 1751, to John Brown.

William (2) was residing in Londongrove in 1771. His children were Jean, Dinah, John, Jesse, Mary, and William. ' John was born 6, 9, 1747, and married, 5, 9, 1771, Rachel Barrett, daughter of Thomas and Hannah, of East Nottingham. Issue .- 12. Jesse, b. 3, 1, 1772, d. 10, 16, 1847 ; 13. Thomas, b. 11, 17, 1773 ; 14. William, b. 12, 4, 1775 ; 15. John, b. 10, 11, 1778; 16. Mary, b. 2, 16, 1781, m. Jacob Cope; 17. Hannah, b. 2, 16, 1781, m. William Howell; 18. Ellis, b. 2, 25, 1785; 19. David, b. 9, 8, 1788.

Jesse Pugh (12) married, 3, 19, 1795, Elizabeth Hud- son, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth, of East Nottingham. She died 7, 18, 1825. Their children were Rachel, Lewis, Amos, Rachel, Adrianna, Reece, Evan, Abner, Elizabeth, and Mary W. Pugh.

Lewis Pugh, eldest son, born 12, 4, 1796, died 7, 20, 1840, married, 9, 12, 1822, Mary Hutton, horn 9, 8, 1797, daughter of Hiett Hutton and Sarah, his wife, daughter of Joshua and Hannah (Chandler) Pugh, and granddaughter of John (3) and Sarah Pugh. Their children were Re- becca, b. 6, 30, 1823, d. 7, 1, 1823; Susanna, b. 10, 11, 1824; Elizabeth, b. 4, 12, 1826, d. 7, 10, 1847 ; Evan, b. 2, 29, 1828, d. 4, 29, 1864 ; Enoch, b. 2, 2, 1830; John L., b. 3, 2, 1832, d. 11, 15, 1834.

EVAN PUGH, Ph.D., F.C.S., was born at Jordan Bank,

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in East Nottingham township, Chester Co., Feb. 29, 1828. He was of Welsh descent, and of the fifth generation from the emigrant ancestor, John Pugh, from whom both his parents were descended. He was born on a tract of land which had been taken up by the emigrant, a portion of which had always remained in the family.

At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to learn the trade of a blacksmith, but his mind being of a literary aod scientific turn, he was released from his indentures at the end of two years, and repaired to the Manual Labor School, at Whitestown, N. Y. After spending some time there be returned home and taught a district school for one winter, and then, about 1850, established a boarding- and day-school two miles south of Oxford, which he named the Jordan Bank Seminary. He was a very popular teacher, and his school was quite prosperous.

not only in settling satisfactorily the points in dispute, but in demonstrating that he possessed a rare degree of talent in handling scientific questions. While engaged in these investigations he prepared valuable papers, which were read before the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and which procured for him an election as a Fellow of the Chemical Society of England.

Although Mr. Lawes was anxious to retain Dr. Pugh in his laboratory at a handsome remuneration, and notwith- standing the latter was passionately fond of scientific re- search, he returned home in the autumn of 1859, after an absence of six years, and assumed the presidency of the Farmers' High School, near Bellefonte, Pa., the name of which was afterwards changed to that of the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Pugh entered upon his new duties with characteristic

DR. EVAN PUGH.

In the autumn of 1853 he gave up his school and went to Europe, where he spent four years in the Universities of Leipsic, Göttingen, Heidelberg, and in Paris, a most dili- gent and successful student of natural and mathematical science, and especially of practical chemistry. At Göttin- gen he honorably sustained the examination for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, which was conferred upon him. From the outset his mind had been attracted towards agri- cultural science, and his studies shaped themselves more and more towards his future career.

Early in the year 1857 he entered upon a series of in- vestigations in the laboratory of J. B. Lawes, the well- known agricultural chemist of England, at his estate of Rothamstead, near London. He spent two years there, devoted to the solutions of questions upon which the celebrated chemists Boussingault and Ville, of the French Academy, were at issue, and succeeded by his experiments

energy and intelligence. He had visited and carefully studied the chief agricultural academies and schools of Europe, and his idea of what an American agricultural college should be was as definite as it was comprehensive and just. For over five years he labored untiringly in es- tablishing the college on a broad and enduring basis, secur- ing funds, planning and superintending the erection of buildings, besides taking the general guidance of the insti- tution, and giving instruction in scientific agriculture, chemistry, mineralogy, and geology.

In the midst of his heavy duties and still heavier cares, he continued vigorous and with every promise of long use- fulness. During the summer of 1863, however, while re- turning from a business trip by night, he was thrown over an embankment, and received injuries from which he never fully recovered. On the 23d of April following he lectured before the senior class, and then endeavored to complete a

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communication which he was preparing to lay before the Legislature. The hand of death, however, was upon him ; his pen ceased in the midst of an unfinished sentence, and was laid aside never to be resumed. He died six days thereaftor, on April 29, 1864, at the age of thirty-six years and two months.

Dr. Pugh was gifted with a mind of unusual vigor and clearness, enriched by ripe scholarship and varied culture, and he united to these a temper so genial, so fearless, and so just, and a judgment so mature, as to combine in rare meas- ure the talent of felicitous instruction with that of success- ful administration. He was distinguished in a remarkable degree for the most high-toned purity and rectitude in thought, word, and deed. The Agricultural College of Pennsylvania-the first institution of the kind established in this country-was attaining a high degree of success and usefulness, as a result of the rare combination of scientific and practical knowledge with administrative ability and energy which characterized its president.

Dr. Pugh was married Feb. 4, 1864, to Rebecca Valen- tine, of Bellefonte, who survives him. He left no descend- ants. A list of his published works will be found in the chapter on Bibliography, in this volume.

DR. J. HOWARD PUGH is a great-grandson of Rich- ard Barnard (3), and son of Elijah and Lettice (Barnard) Pugh. He was born at Unionville, and is now living at Burlington, N. J. He is a practicing physician, and presi- dent of Mechanics' National Bank at that place. Although an ardent Republican, he has represented in Congress the Democratic district in which he resides. Ile is a first cousin of Joseph B. and John B. Phillips, already men- tioned.

JOSEPH BARNARD PUGH, EsQ., a brother of Dr. J. Howard Pugh, above mentioned, died at his residence, Port Deposit, Md., in 1877, aged about forty-nine years. He was born in Unionville, Chester Co., Pa., and was educated for and admitted to the bar in Philadelphia. He settled at Port Deposit in 1857, and established, in connection with Mr. James Davis, under the firm-name of Davis & Pugh, an extensive lumber and forwarding business. In 1864 he entered political life, and was elected a member of the Maryland State Reform Constitutional Convention. He was chairman of the Maryland Republican State Central Com- mittee from 1873 to 1875, and was eminent for his ability and eloquence as an orator. He was buried in the Friends' burial-ground at West Chester.

PUSEY, CALEB, with his wife, Ann, and daughter of the same name, emigrated in 1682 .- By trade he was a last-maker. Perhaps no one among the early immigrants to Pennsylvania was better qualified to contend with the difficulties incident to the first settlement of a new country than Caleb Pusey. His place of residence, within the limits of this county, was at " the Chester Mills." In the establishment of these mills, and in the conducting of them many years afterwards, he was the active partner and mas- ter-spirit. It required more than ordinary energy to con- tend with the repeated misfortunes attendant on the first erection of this carly improvement. Mill after mill was swept away by the flood, but the indomitable energy of Pusey was not overcome, and at length his efforts were

crowned with success. But his whole time was not occu- pied with his private concerns. Much was devoted to civil affairs and to his religious duties. We find him " taking his turn" as a township officer, and serving as a juror ; in laying out roads and negotiating with the Indians ; in per- forming the duties of sheriff, and acting as a justice of the County Court; as a member of the Provincial Assembly, and at length of the Executive Council. To religious matters he was equally attentive. His name constantly appears in the minutes of the Society of Friends among those who were most active in settling difficulties and in promoting deeds of benevolence. He frequently appeared in the ministry, and sometimes employed his pen in the defense of the doctrines of his sect. His reply to one Daniel Leeds was liberally subscribed for by the meetings. He was a firm man and of the strictest integrity, and though an intimate friend of the celebrated George Keith, when that gentleman chose to attack what was regarded by Caleb Pusey as true Quaker doctrine, he did not hesitate to sustain the testimony that was pronounced against him. It was from Caleb Pusey that Smith, the early historian of Pennsylvania, obtained much of the material from which his work was composed.

His daughter Ann died in the 12th month, 1682, but another, of the same name, born 1, 12, 1684-5, was mar- ried, 1, 5, 1706-7, to John Smith, who settled in Marl- borough. Another daughter, Lydia, born 7, 4, 1689, was married the same day as her sister, to George Painter. About the year 1717, Caleb and his wife removed to Marl- borough, where she died 12, 5, 1725-6, and he 12, 25, 1726-7, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. He left no sons.

JOHN PUSEY, a resident of London, whose wife's name was Frances, purchased land in Pennsylvania, but never came over to reside upon it. He is supposed to have been a brother of Caleb Pusey, and the father of the following:

WILLIAM and CALEB PUSEY when young men appear to have resided with Caleb Pusey, Sr., at Chester, and were doubtless employed in the mill. William married, 9, 5, 1707, Elizabeth, daughter of John and Frances Bowater, and in 1715 removed to Londongrove, where he afterwards erected a mill. His children were John, b. 5, 16, 1708, d. 4, 17, 1766, m. Katharine Maris; William, b. 1, 5, 1710-11, m. Mary Passmore; Lydia, b. 6, 16, 1713, m. Jolın Baily; Joshua, b. 11, 9, 1714, d. 8, 16, 1760, m. Mary Lewis; Elizabeth, b. 11, 14, 1716, m. John Bald- win; Jane, b. 10, 2, 1719, m. Nathaniel Pennock ; Mary, m. 9, 25, 1742, to Joseph Dixson ; Hannah, m. 7, 5, 1750, to George Carson.

Caleb Pusey, Jr., married 9, 5, 1712, Prudence, daughter of Robert and Lydia Carter, and about 1714 removed to Marlborough, where he died 4, 14, 1756. His children were Caleb, b. 9, 30, 1713, m. Margaret -, and left four children,-Robert, b. 10, 16, 1715; Thomas, b. 6, 24, 1818, m. Mary Swayne; Margaret, b. 8, 16, 1720, m. John Parry; Ann, b. 4, 2, 1723, m. William Swayne; David, b. 4, 19, 1726, m. Sarah Dixson. The Puseys were doubtless the builders of more mills in Chester County than any other family.

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History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 184

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