History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 197

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 197

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John Vanderslice

751

BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL.

Jonathan Valentine, son of Thomas and Mary, born about 1730, married, in 1755 or 1756, Lydia, daughter of John and Lydia (Pusey) Baldwin. They settled in East Caln, where Jonathan died about 1811. Their children were Absalom, Jehu, John, Jonathan, Elizabeth, Mary, Lydia (m. to Jesse Evans), and Thomas. Absalom mar- ried Mary Temple, daughter of Thomas (and Mary Jefferis?) Temple, of East Caln, and had children,-Abner, William, Lydia (Scott), Thomas, Benjamin, John, Elizabeth (Gray), Mary (Bentley), Samuel, Absalom, Temple, and Joseph. Of these, John was born April 23, 1787, and is still living. He is the father of John K. Valentine, Esq., of Philadel- phia, and of the late Chalkley M. Valentine, of West Chester.

VANDERSLICE, JOHN, a retired merchant, was born two and a half miles from Phoenixville, Pa., May 27, 1801. His father, also named John, was a prominent and pros- perous farmer in Pikeland township, of which he was an early settler, and where his son, the subject of this notice, passed his youth and received his education. In 1826, after his marriage, for four years he worked on his father's farm upon shares. Two years subsequently he was engaged in butchering, after which he purchased a farm of eighty acres, for three thousand dollars, near Kimberton. During the ensuing seven years he cut some twelve hundred dol- lars' worth of wood upon this land, and disposed of most of the tract for nine thousand four hundred dollars, reserving about one acre, upon which he erected a house, which was his home but a short time, for nine months later he sold it for fifteen liundred dollars. He then purchased a seventy- five-acre farm in Phoenixville. In January, 1840, he es- tablished his home upon this land,-a piece of real estate which eventually realized him a fortune, inasmuch as one- half of Phoenixville has been built upon the lots sold by him since 1840. He erected upon these lots one hundred and twenty houses, thereby greatly advancing the growth and prosperity of the place. He now owns twenty-six houses, also built by himself, and which he leases to tenants.

In the year 1841, Mr. Vanderslice, in partnership with Mr. Samuel Cornett, embarked in the coal and lumber busi- ness, connected with which for many years was a dry- goods and grocery store. These undertakings were finan- cially successful. In 1855 he took his son, Addison S., into partnership, having previously purchased Mr. Cornett's interest ; the coal and lumber business was thus continued until Jan. 11, 1879, when Mr. Vanderslice retired from the firm, leaving his son to continue the business, and which he is still conducting.

Mr. Vanderslice is a firm Republican, and did much, by liberal contributions and otherwise, to assist the Union cause during the war of the Rebellion. In 1822 he became a member of the Masonic fraternity, an order in which he has always been an active worker, and in which he has at- tained high rank, having taken the 32d degree ; he served as treasurer of Phoenix Lodge, No. 75, for thirty-three years, and has held the same office in the chapter since the year 1861.

He was married in 1825 to Elizabeth Custer, a native of Evansburg, Montgomery Co., Pa., where she was born in the year 1805. Of the nine children born of this union

seven are now living, viz. : Lavina C., wife of J. B. Mor- gan, cashier of the First National Bank of Phoenixville ; Engelbert F., formerly engaged in merchandising and farm- ing, but now employing two teams in hauling ; Addison S., merchant; Angie C., wife of Dr. Levi Oberholtzer; Ne- hemiah C., studied medicine but not now practicing ; John A., a farmer; and Eliza, wife of Horace Lloyd, teller in the First National Bank of Phoenixville. All of his chil- dren are residing in Phoenixville or its immediate vicinity, the farm of his son John being in Montgomery County, about two miles distant.

Mrs. Vanderslice was baptized Oct. 9, 1834, since which date she has been an earnest and faithful member of the Baptist Church of Phoenixville.

Mr. Vanderslice has held many positions of lionor and trust in the community in which he has so long resided, having been several times elected a member of the town council, serving for three years as a director of the First National Bank of West Chester, as a member of the school board of Phoenixville for several years, beside holding other offices of prominence, in all of which his sterling qualities and marked ability have been conspicuously dis- played. He was one of the originators of the Phoenixville Bank. He sold the ground upon which the water-works are located, and was influential in promoting that enterprise. He was also the owner of the ground on which the Masonic Hall was subsequently erected, in the construction of which he was greatly interested. In 1865 he was one of the cor- porators of the Morris Cemetery, and one of the three per- sons who sold the land (21 acres) which constitutes this beautiful burial-place. He has also frequently acted as ex- ecutor, administrator, and guardian, performing these trusts with scrupulous fidelity. In 1855 he purchased an exten- sive tract of land in the West, comprising 1800 acres, which he subsequently sold, realizing a handsome profit. Although but one of many large business transactions in which he has been engaged, this one bears witness to his skill and judgment. At the time of his marriage he pos- sessed scarcely a dollar, but now, as the result of his fore- sight, energy, and enterprise, he ranks among the wealthier citizens of the county.

He is in many respects a remarkable man. Considering his age-eighty years-his mental faculties are remarkably active and vigorous, while his physical appearance indicates a man of much younger age. His countenance is pleasant and agreeable, his manners courteous and affable, indicating that benevolence which has been one of his characteristics. Since Oct. 9, 1834, he has been a consistent member of the Baptist Church of Phoenixville.

Mr. Vanderslice has been an extensive traveler. He has had several strokes of paralysis, the first occurring about eleven years since; the second attack came near having a fatal termination, but after doctoring for three years with some of the best physicians of New York and Philadelphia without apparent benefit, he began to travel for his health. On May 15, 1851, he left Philadelphia in the steamer " City of Glasgow" for Liverpool, England .* He had a fine pas-

* The steamer " City of Glasgow" returned to Philadelphia, took on over three hundred passengers, and started for Liverpool, but was lost at sea with all on board.

752

HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

sage of eighteen days' duration ; after spending four days in Liverpool, he started for London, stopping at all the prominent intermediate towns; he remained in the great metropolis ten days, visiting the World's Fair, then went to Paris, from thenee he traveled over nearly all Continen- tal Europe, visiting its cities, watering-places, and other points of attraction. This trip was but the beginning of his journeyings. He spent one winter in Cuba, was in London and Paris five times, at Rome three times, in Egypt twice, and at Jerusalem ; he visited San Francisco and South America; he has also been in every State of the Union and in four of the Territories. His last trip was one " around the world"; he went across the continent to San Francisco,-it being his second visit to that place,- erossed the Pacific Ocean to Yokohama, in Japan, pro- ceeded thence to Hong-Kong, Singapore, Bombay, and Calcutta ; crossed the Indian Ocean to Aden, traversed the Red Sea to its head, passing through the Suez Canal, visit- ing Cairo, Alexandria, Brindisi, Naples, Pompeii, Vesuvius, Rome, the Mont Cenis tunnel, Geneva, Paris, London, and Liverpool, whose port he left April 29, 1875, arriving home the 11th of May following.

Mrs. Vanderslice is still living, at the advanced age of seventy-five years, and in the full possession of her facul- ties. This worthy couple have a pleasant home in Pho- nixville, where, surrounded by their children, they are en- joying that ease and comfort which their lives of eare, industry, and frugality have so well entitled them to enjoy.

VAN LEER, DR. BERNHARDUS, the centenarian, was the son of the Hon. John George and Mary Von Loehr, the original ancestors of the Vanleer family in Pennsylva- nia, who emigrated from Germany to this country about the year 1697. Dr. Van Leer was born about the year 1686, in or near Isenburg, in Rhenish Prussia, and came hither with his parents when but eleven years of age.

The family settled, soon after their arrival in Penn- sylvania, in Marple township, Chester (now Delaware) Co., where the father died in 1748, leaving a wife, Rebecca. Bernhard remained a few years with his father, assisting him on the farm, and then returned to Germany to prose- cute his studies. Such was the usage in those days, when colleges and universities were almost unknown in our eoun- try, though Germany then, as well as now, was renowned for her universities. That young Van Leer availed himself, with ardor and success, of the opportunities thus afforded him is manifest from the volumes which he left behind him -both manuscript and printed-in the Latin, French, and German, as well as English, languages. Under these favor- able eireumstanees he appears to have prosecuted his classi- eal and professional studies through the protracted period of seven years. He then returned to his adopted country and to his parental home, where he entered upon the prac- tiee of his profession as a physician. Shortly after engag- ing in professional life he was united in marriage, Feb. 25, 1734, with Mary Branson, the daughter of William Brao- son, a wealthy merchant of Philadelphia. The practice of Dr. Van Leer was conducted principally in his office. This was partly owing to the difficulties then existing in passing from one part of the country to another. Roads, except be- tween some main points, were few, and most of them were

but the pathways of the Indians through the forest. Streams were to be forded, and the location of the farmer's elearing to be guessed at. All these difficulties were en- hanced by the sparseness of the population, rendering the distance to be traversed from settlement to settlement very considerable. His reputation has come down to us as that of a practitioner whose skill was tested widely and long, and who possessed in an eminent degree the confidence of those who resorted to him. But the duties of a medical man can never be performed to their fullest extent in the office. The physician must qualify himself for his duties at the bedside of the diseased, and ean only discharge his respon- sibilities by personal visitation and searching inquiries in the sick-room. There was one feature, however, in Dr. Van Leer's practice in reference to himself that is worthy of special regard. He was through life a striking example of temperance, not only in the use of vinous and spirituous liquors, but also in diet generally. He abstained entirely from the use of all intoxicating liquors.

His daughter stated that her father in his hundredth year rode with her on horseback to his farm in Chester Valley, a distance of thirty miles, in one day, and returned on the following day without complaining of fatigue.

This vigor of constitution he retained to his one hun- dred and second year, when he received some injuries which eaused his death, Jan. 26, 1790, having attained to the patriarchal age of one hundred and four years. His remains repose in the cemetery at Middletown, Delaware Co. Upen his tomb is this inseription :

" Here Lieth the body of Bernhard Vanleer, M.D., Physissian in Physick, Who departed this Life January the 26th, 1790, Agcd 104 years. Friends weep not for me, | For all your tears are vain ; | Pre- pare to meet the Lord, | That we may meet again."

By his first wife, Mary Branson, Dr. Van Leer had George, b. 1735, d. April 22, 1807, m. Elizabeth Roberts ; Thomas, d, 1754; Branson ; William, d. 1764, unmarried ; Benjamin, and Samuel. He married a second wife, Chris- tiana -- , who died May 29, 1815, aged 88 years, 7 months. By her he had several other children, to one of whom, Mary, wife of Moses Moore, he devised the Blue Ball tavern and 180 acres of land in Tredyffrin. To his son Bernhard he gave the homestead. The latter was born Sept. 21, 1770, and died Feb. 9, 1814.

Samuel Van Leer, one of the older sons, became the owner of the site of the old Reading Furnace (see p. 347), in what is now Warwick township. His wife was Hannah, daughter of Isaae and Elizabeth Wayne, and sister of Gen. Anthony Wayne.

ISAAO WAYNE VAN LEER, son of Isaac W. Van Leer, Esq., long the public-spirited presiding officer of the Chester County Agricultural Society, and a grandnephew of the famous Gen. Wayne (known in Revolutionary times by the sobriquet of " Mad Anthony"), was born in the township of West Nantmeal, Chester Co., June 15, 1846. This extraor- dinary precocious and noble youth was a lineal descendant of Dr. Bernhard Van Leer, also inherited some of the Wayne blood of our ancient bailiwiek, and we therefore need not be surprised to learn that in the days of a vile pro-slavery rebellion and national peril the generous, loyal, and high-spirited boy became a prompt and gallant soldier

BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL.

753

of the republic. In the autumn of 1861 Isaao left his home without his father's knowledge of the movement, and went to Harrisburg, where he offered to enlist ; and subsequently attached himself to Company B, Capt. Potts, of the 53d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, in Sumner's division. Being apprehensive that his extreme youth might be ob- jected to, he at first tried to pass himself off as a lad of eighteen, though only in his sixteenth year ; and to prevent a discovery of his whereabouts he resorted to the romantic expedient of temporarily assuming a fictitious name. His father, aware of the military proclivities of the youth, and anxious to get him home again, requested Capt. Potts (a relative of the family) to keep a lookout for Isaac. The captain endeavored to persuade him to return to his father's house, but he replied, " I cannot go home : I feel it to be my duty to go to the war." Finding him determined, the captain was then requested to take charge of the lad in case he persevered, and thus it was arranged to keep him in the company.

While they were at Camp Curtin Isaac was taken ill with typhoid fever. His accomplished and devoted sister went to Harrisburg, and nursed him until he was able to be removed, when she took him home with her to Phila- delphia, and before he was able to carry his gun he insisted on returning to camp. He told his sister that he had re- peatedly asked his father for permission to enter the ser- vice, but had always received a denial, and now he was determined to go. When his sister was about to part with him after nursing him through the fever, she said to him, as she passed her hand lovingly over his fair and smooth young brow, " Dear brother, if the rebels should put a bullet through this pretty head how it would spoil it." He replied, " Not more than any other man's,-and somebody's must be spoiled."

At the battle of the Seven Pines, or Fair Oaks, Sum- ner's division was conspicuously engaged. The 53d Penn- sylvania Volunteers were in the action all day. Capt. Eicholtz, who was then in command of Company B (in place of Capt. Potts, resigned on account of illness), says that in the midst of the fight some unauthorized person, in an adjacent regiment, gave the order to retreat. Company B, of the 53d Pennsylvania, being next them, also com- menced falling back ; but Capt. Eicholtz, perceiving that the order was a mistake, stepped out, and ordered his com- pany to advance. ' Young Van Leer was one of the first to spring forward, and when the captain saw him, towards night, he says the youth was fighting with the utmost cool- ness and bravery, and above all others his voice could be heard ringing out, shrill and clear, "Steady, boys ! steady !" while working like a veteran.

Isaac was first severely wounded in the ankle, and fell, being unable to stand. When his company at length fell back he lay midway between his regiment and the enemy, wondering, as he stated, into whose hands he should fall. After loading and firing a number of times while prostrate - on the ground, he received a shot in the head, and then lay unconscious, with the battle raging over him. Some- how he was also badly wounded in the side and arm by a bayonet-thrust, which he could never account for. He lay nearly two days on the battle-field before his comrades had

an opportunity to remove him, and all that time without any nourishment except water. The muscles of his face became so paralyzed that he was unable to open his mouth. Capt. Eicholtz, although his own right hand was much shattered, paid every possible attention to his young friend, who was afterwards taken to Fortress Monroe, where he was nine days before the ball was extracted. Isaac was next taken to New York, whither his indefatigable sister went, and faithfully nursed him until he sank under the wounds he had received, which sad event occurred on the 19th of June, 1862, when he had just completed his six- teenth year.

As an evidence of the unfaltering spirit with which this juvenile patriot engaged in the cause of his country, it may be mentioned that when near his end his sister inquired if he regretted the part he had taken in the eventful struggle. He responded, " Not for a moment ! in such a cause, he would do just the same thing again. Otherwise," added he, " what would become of our country?"

VAUGHAN, REV. JOSHUA, was born in the year 1749, near the Yellow Springs, in Chester County. His parents were John and Ruth Vaughan, of Welsh extraction. In early life he learned the trade of a blacksmith, and followed the business near the old " Red Lion," in his native county. He married Jane Taggert, a native of Ireland. He was a man of vigorous, independent mind ; read much, and gained the regard and confidence of his fellow-citizens. During an important and perilous period of the Revolutionary con- test, Joshua Vaughan was deputy sheriff of the county, and custodian of the prison at Chester, a situation in which he evinced signal firmness and courage. While in office he attended the ministry of the Rev. Philip Hughes, a Bap- tist, who often preached in Chester. He was converted under the preaching of Mr. Hughes, and was baptized by him in 1780. While going to the water with Mr. Hughes, some one inquired his destination, when Joshua replied, " We are Philip and the jailer." He became at that time a member of the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia. In 1787 he became a member of the church at Brandywine, when he was dismissed from the First Church to that of Brandywine. Finding that he possessed ability, the church desired him to exercise his gifts as a preacher, and in De- cember, 1789, he was regularly ordained. As the Baptist churches were then small and unable to support their min- isters, it was not unusual for these to engage in some active pursuit. So with Mr. Vaughan. When his office of deputy sheriff terminated he purchased a farm, on which he re- sided ; and while he thus provided for his own household, he employed his energies in preaching the gospel. For sev- eral years he preached once a month for the Bethesda Church, and a strong mutual attachment existed between him and that congregation. In summer-time the assem- blages were often so large that he was obliged to leave the meeting-house and resort to an adjacent grove. He was a great preacher in his way, both doctrinal and practical, and his labors were greatly blessed. He was a fearless man. Of numerous characteristic personal anecdotes the follow- ing may be noted : In Mr. Vaughan's day baptism was often much ridiculed, and at the water there was sometimes much disturbance. On one occasion a couple of men of

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

"the baser sort" took offense because he had baptized a friend of theirs, and they swore that the next time Mr. Vaughan baptized in the Brandywine they would put him under its waters. Mr. Vaughan heard of the threat, and at the next baptism preached a powerful sermon, hoping it would do good, but he only saw on the bank around him a crowd of enraged men, who were evidently leagued with his enemies. As he closed he said he knew what had been threatened, and who were the leaders of the mob that meant to molest him. Quickly throwing off his coat and baring his stalwart arm, he stood out before them ; with his broad chest distended, and his countenance fixed on them, with a significant gesture said he was ready for the attack, but warned them, if they did not fear God, to fear him, for he was determined to hurl the first man that dared to inter- rupt him to the ground and plunge him into the stream, and grind him under his heel upon its rough rocky bottom. Recollecting many of his feats of strength and daring among hardened outlaws while deputy sheriff and keeper of the prison, these sons of Belial hesitated, then urged one another to the assault, but soon retired, each charging the other with cowardice, when the faithful servant of the Cross, calm and serene, proceeded to baptize the candidate. Joshua Vaughan was constitutionally courageous and self-possessed. His manners were remarkably courteous and polite. He died Aug. 30, 1808, aged fifty-nine years, and was buried in the graveyard adjoining his church.

Dr. JOHN VAUGHAN, son of the Rev. Joshua Vaughan, was born in the township of Uwchlan, Chester Co , Pa., June 25, 1775. While young he manifested good abilities, and was regarded as a youth of fine promise. The limited cir- cumstances of the family imposed the necessity of a plain, common education, though during a residence at Chester, while his father was deputy sheriff of the county, he made some progress in classical studies, and ultimately became a polished English scholar. His restricted means, to his last- ing regret, debarred him from the privilege of attaining to the medical honors of the university ; but his talents, in- dustry, and laudable ambition conducted him in due season to the first rank of his noble profession. He studied medi- cine with Dr. William Currie, of Philadelphia; and when he felt himself prepared for its duties, commenced practice at the village of Christiana Bridge, in New Castle Co., Del.

Shortly after this his inquiring mind was led to the con- sideration of the then recent discoveries of Galvani, Volta, etc., and his speculations resulted in an ingenious essay, cn- titled " Observations on Animal Electricity, in explanation of the metallic operation of Dr. Perkins," which essay, in a printed pamphlet, was dedicated to the American Philo- sophical Society, and was commended by his venerable friend, Dr. James Tilton.

The skill and address of Dr. Vaughan soon acquired for him an enviable position in the community, and we next learn that in March, 1797, he obtained the hand of a charm- ing and accomplished daughter of Joel Lewis, Esq., of Christiana. In about two years after that happy event (viz., in April, 1799) his improving prospects induced him to remove to the borough (now city) of Wilmington, where he speedily became one of the most successful and popular physicians that ever adorned and blessed that beautiful town.

Dr. Vaughan was not only a good practical physician, but his aspiring disposition and bright intellect led him to take part in the discussion of the important professional topics of his day. The periodicals of that time, and especially the pages of that able journal, the New York Medical Re- pository, bear ample testimony to his talents as a writer and medical philosopher. He gratified and instructed his fel- low-citizens by popular lectures on chemistry and natural philosophy ; he became connected with various learned and scientific societies, and enjoyed the acquaintance and corre- spondence of such men as Jefferson, Dickinson, Rodney, Bayard, Logan, Rush, Mitchell, Miller, etc. When, in 1802, Wilmington was visited by that fearful epidemic known as the yellow fever, Dr. Vaughan was the only physician of the place who bravely stood his ground and ministered to the medical necessities of a panic-stricken population. The public papers of that day contain the following just and touching obituary :

" DIED, on Wednesday evening last [viz., March 25, 1807], of a nervous fever, Doctor John Vaughan.

" The tears of the poor and friendless bedew his memory, for his bosom was the seat of humanity and feeling; kindness beamed in his countenance, and active benevolence warmed his heart. As a physician and chemist, Dr. Vaughan was justly eminent; though - snatched off in the summer of life, he had traveled far in the walks of science." [In the latter years of his life he became a licensed preacher in the Baptist Church, and the obituary adds :] " The doc- trines of the blessed Son of Mary he firmly believed, and we have reason to hope that he is now enjoying the glorious rewards which helong to the departed Christian."

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History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 197

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