History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 117

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Evans, Samuel, 1823-1908, joint author
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1320

USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 117

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Arms. First, Heneage ; second, Walker.

Crest. A demi-heraldie tiger, salient, per pale in- dented A. R. and S. A. armed and langued, G. U. named and tuffed.

Motto. Walk in the way of God.

Seat. Compton Basset ; Wilts.

The family were members of the Established Church, one.

and their motto would infer that they were a pious i the same occupation for a term of over twenty-seven

Lewis Walker, one of the descendants, became a follower of George Fox, who was at this period estab- Fishing the Quaker or Friends Society, and thereby was di-owned by his kinsmen and ancestry, and in He owns the mansion, residence, and farm occu- pied by his grandfather, Asahel Walker the first, Asahel Walker the second, and Asahel Walker the every manner separated from them in social, secular, and religions interests, and deprived of all govern- ment honors heretofore inherited or possessed ; or, in , third successively, the ancient stone mansion thereon the language of a follower of George Fox, "he laid down these honors conferred by government."

He left his mother-country about 1684, settling at or near Valley Forge, Chester Co., purchasing from William Penn (his particular friend and companion and co-worker in establishing the doctrines of the Society of Friends or Quakers) one thousand acres of land, continuing to pursue his original occupation, that of husbandry, in a style much like his ancestors of England.

Asahel Walker, Esq. (2d), son of Asahel Walker (Ist), was born 2d mo. 7, 1788, in Sad-bury township. He was a man of marked intellect and energy, and set the same example of superior husbandry to his neigh- bors as his English ancestry ; was justice of the peace for many years. He married Sarah Coates, the dangh- ter of Samuel and --- Coates, of Chester Valley, near Coatesville, a family of English descent. She had brothers Warrick, Samuel, Levi, Joseph, George, and Richard. Samuel and Levi were recommended min- isters of the Society of Friends. Joseph, a medical

doctor, practiced his profession at Downingtown,

Asahel Walker (2d), died 12th mo. 5, 1856. Sarah Walker. his wife, died 5th mo. 5, 1869, in her seventy- eighth year of age.

They had'children as follows :

Anna, married to William P. Cooper, 1838. Susanna, married to Moses Pownall, 1938.

Susanna (widow , married to Pusey Barnard, 1860. Phebe, married to William P. Cooper, 1848.

Sarah, married to S. D. Linvill, 1849.

Samuel, married to Sarah L. Haines, 1855. Asahiel (3d), not married.

Joseph C., married Lucy II. Ellmaker, 1856. Mary Alice, married to Alfred Ellmaker, 1858.

Margaretta, married Frank J. Pennock, 1859.

Joseph C. Walker, E-q., son of Asahel Walker, Esq. (the second), was born in Sadsbury township, Lancaster Co., April 4, 1832, spending the days of his boyhood until his majority with his parents, be- coming thoroughly schooled in the science of agri- culture. At that period, 1853, he embarked in the mercantile pursuit with Mesars. Baker and Hopkins at Gap, Pa. (Mr. Baker being at the time super- intendent of the old Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad). In 1855 he removed to Christiana, Pa., remained until 1857, then returning to the Gap, en- tered into the general transportation, grain, coal, and lumber business, where he is has been engaged in years. He has during this period served in the posi- tions of postmaster, revenue collector, justice of the peace, etc., and is now president of the Gap National Bank.

being a house of historie record in the time of the Revolutionary war.

He married Lucy Hiester Ellmaker, daughter of Enfield Esaias and Sarah ( Watson ) Ellmaker, of Earl township, March 13, 1856, they being a family of German ancestry. She was the great-granddaugli- ter of Leonard and Margaret ( Hornberger) Ellma- ker, who migrated from Nulenburg, Germany, in the year 1726, landed in Philadelphia, and settled in Earl township in the same year, Margaret Horn- berger was a graduate in medicine, and practiced her profession after coming to this country.

Joseph C. and Lucy II. Walker have children as follows: E. Enfield, Sallie Watson, Susan Pusey, Joseph Coates, and James Chester. Joseph Coates died Jan. 21, 1878, in his twelfth year.

Mr. Walker, being of Quaker parentage, was raised under that faith, but afterwards became allied with the Presbyterian Church ; is of the old Anti- Slavery. Whig type in politics, leaving the party of his ancestry, the Democratic, at as early a date as

Isaac Malker.

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SALISBURY TOWNSHIP.

the campaign of Governor Ritner (1838), and well remembers being derided by some of his Republican associates as late as 1854 for his anti-slavery doc- trines.

In the year 1880 he associated with him his son, E. Enfield Walker, trading as Joseph C. Walker & Son, they being the oldest house in their line of business on the Pennsylvania Railroad between Harrisburg and Philadelphia.

ISAAC WALKER.

Isaac Walker was born in Sadsbury town-bip, Lan- caster Co., Pa., Jan. 27, 1808. He is the son of Isaac and Deborah (Dickinson) Walker, the grandson of Asnhel and Anna ( Moore) Walker, the great-grand- | son of Isaac and Sarah (Jerman) Walker, and the great-great-grandson of Lewis and Mary ( Morris) Walker. The English ancestry is given in the bio- . graphical sketch of Joseph C. Walker.

Lewis came originally from the border of Scotland, but directly from Wales. He settled first at Phila- delphia, and afterward at Valley Forge, where he purchased from Penn one thousand acres of land. Ile erected the first stone residence (still standing, though enlarged) at Valley Forge, and gave the ground for a Friends' meeting-house and cemetery. The house was used by Gen. Washington for his quarters, and the meeting-house for a hospital in the Revolution. The traet is still owned by his descend- ants, all of whom have been Friends.

In the female line Mr. Walker is descended from the Moores, the Newlins, and the Dickinsons. James Moore came from the county of Antrim, in Ireland, in 1723, and was the progenitor of the Moores in Sadsbury. His daughter Anna was the grandmother of Isaac.

Nicholas Newlin emigrated from Ireland about 1683, and settled in Delaware County. His great- great-granddaughter, Mary Newlin, married Gains Dickinson. They were the parents of Isaac's mother.

Gains Dickinson was the son of Joseph Dickinson, who came to America from Ireland, though he was said to be originally from England. Ile settled on Pequea Creek, in Salisbury township, and his sons, Gains and Joseph, inherited his estate. Deborah Dickinson, the daughter of Gains, was the mother of Isaac Walker. The celebrated Anna Dickinson, of Philadelphia, was the great-granddaughter of Gains. Isaac was reared on the homestead of his ancestors, in Sadsbury, on which his father had erected a school. house, in which he taught a school during portions of several years. In this house Isaac received the rudi- ments of an education which was afterwards im- proved at the Friends' Grammar School in old Sads- bury. In accordance with the earnest solicitation and advice of his mother he learned the trade of a tanner and currier, and in 1830 he purchased a tan- nery in Sadsbury, where during a number of years he

carried on the manufacture of leather in connection with the mercantile business. Hle erected a number of new buildings, and founded the village of Smyrna, in Sadsbury. In the winter of 1839, under the ad- ministration of Governor Porter, he was appointed to the charge of the difficult Gap Division of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. in which posi- tion he continued during five years, after which he was for three years engaged in mercantile business at Smyrna. In October, 1847, he purchased the man- sion farm of his ancestors, near Gap, and during more than thirty years he was engaged in agricultural pur- suits. In 1872 he purchased a square of ground in Gap, including the " Penn Spring" and the "Shaw- nee Garden," the home of his mother's ancestor, and he has since endeavored to assist in building up the village of Gap. He now (1883; is engaged in the business of general merchandise on the place which he purchased eleven years since.

Mr. Walker was married Nov. 2, 1831, to Eliza Ann, daughter of Abner and Mary ( Kinsey) Brooke, of Sadsbury. She was of the highly respectable fami- lies of Brooke, in Montgomery, and Kinsey, in Bucks County, that were among the very early settlers in those counties. The eleven children of Isaac and Eliza Ann Walker, only six of whom are living, were bori as follows :

Anna Maria, 3d of 8th month, 1832; Mary Louisa, 20 of 6th month, 1835; Isaac Buchauan, 7th of 2d month, 1838; Eliza Josephine, 26th of 6th month, 1839; Mercy Brooke, 10th of Ist month, 1842; James Madison, Ist of 5th month, 1843; Esther Jane, 22d of 12th month, 1845; Sarah Francis, 13th of 7th month, 1849; Abner Brooke and Deborah Dickinson (twins), 25th of 7th month, 1852; Isaac Lewis, 14th of 4th month, 1854. Of these, Isaac Buchanan, Mercy Brooke, Abner Brooke, and Deborah Dickinson died in infancy. Eliza Josephine married Isaac Dil- ler, of Sadsbury, and died 7th month, 1873, leaving three children, Anna Louisa, Isaac Walker, and Daniel Coleman Diller.

Anna Maria is unmarried.

Mary Louisa took an active part on the side of the Southern Confederacy in the late civil war. She crossed the lines in 1860, and was at once appointed chief matron of the Howard Hospital, at Richmond. To procure medical supplies she volunteered to run the blockade, and did so from Wilmington, N. C., though chased by a man-of-war. She visited the West Indies, Halifax, Quebec, and Montreal. At the latter place she was detained till the St. Lawrence was frozen over, and she was compelled to transport her supplies on sleds through Lower Canada and New Brunswick, a distance of five hundred miles, to Hali- fax. Thence she sailed, in January, 1865, and ran the blockade at Galveston, Texas. Though closely pursued by gunboats, she took her cargo one hundred and ninety miles up the Brazos River to Port Sulli- van, in Milam County. The war had then closed,

Fingida; S. Humede,

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SALISBURY TOWNSHIP.

Winfield Scott Kennedy was born in Salisbury township, Lancaster Co., Pa., Sept. 13, 1815. Ile

ISAAC LIVINGSTON.

Isaac Livingston was born in Salisbury township, spent his childhood at the home on the farm. When . Langaster Co., Pa., in 1812, the seventh in a family of nine children of William and Jane ( Allison ) Liv- ingston, . His grandfather, William Livingston, emi- grated with his family, consisting of wife and four sons, to wit: William, John, Isaiah, and James, from Ireland in 1766, and settled in Lancaster County. John lived with his brother William in Salisbury until his death, and was buried in the Salisbury James moved to the West.

twelve years of age be entered the Moscow Academy, Chester County, then under the charge of the Revs. James and Francis Latta. In 1830 he entered Jef- ferson College, where he remained during the junior year, at the end of which time he was obliged to leave on account of failing eyesight. In 1831 and 1832 he was clerk in the hardware-store of Logan & Kennedy, the next three years worked for his father on the . burial-ground. He was never married. Isaiah and farm, and in 1836 commenced farming for himself. He married, May 4, 1837, Mary M., daughter of

William Livingston, father of Isaac, was twelve Matthias and Rebecca Slaymaker, who was born in years of age when the family came to this country. Williamstown, April, 1816. From 1836 to 1849 he He married Jane, daughter of James and Margaret Allison. After his marriage he carried on a farm in Paradise township, and next rented the farm belong- ing to James Boyd, in Salisbury township, now owned and occupied by the widow of John New- hauser, where he remained six years, He then rented another farm of James Boyd, now owned by Henry Eby, and lived upon it until 1832. In the latter year be purchased of James Boyd the farm in Salisbury township now owned by his son Isaac. Here he lived until the time of his death, which oc- curred March 19, 1836. His wife died June 9, 1838. lived in the house below the "Rising Sun Hotel," now owned by Samuel Kauffman. During the latter of these years he dealt largely in cattle, making fre- quent trips to Kentucky and Ohio, and sometimes re- turning East with droves of a thousand head and upward. From 1851 to 1856 he engaged in merchan- dising at Bellevue (now part of the Gap) in company with his brother Sylvester. In 1857 he went to Pitts- burgh, where he became interested with his brother Robert in carrying on the Pearl Flouring-Mill, at that time one of the largest in the country, with capacity of from seven hundred to one thousand bar- rels per day. This partnership continued until 1870, when the mill was burned. During the most of the time he made his headquarters at Cincinnati in the purchase of wheat. Ilis wite died in 1843. He mar- ried again, Dec. 5, 1866, Esther J., daughter of James and Rebecca Dickinson, who was born in Salisbury township, Sept. 22, 1821.

As early as 1846 he became interested in the Penn Cotton-Mill of Pittsburgh, and still retains his inter- est in that factory, first under the name of Kennedy, Childs & Co., now Penn Cotton-Mill Company. From 1870 to 1873 he spent at home on the farm. In the latter year he became a partner in the Black Diamond Steel-Works (Park, Brother & Co.), one of the largest establishments of its kind in the country, and still retains his interest therein. In 1864 he purchased the Fassett farm and mansion, situated near Cane's post-office, on the Old Road, in Salisbury township, which he has made his home ever since. Mr. Ken- nedy has always taken an active part in politics, being identified with the Anti-Mason and Republi- can parties, but has always been too busy with the management of his own affairs to accept of public office. Though not a member, he is a supporter of and attendant upon the Presbyterian Church. He is a director in the Gap National Bank. His wife died April 28, 1880. Ile had two children by his first wife, viz .: William Maxwell, born July 19, 1838, died at Mackinaw, Mich., in 1864; John Matthias, born March 26, 1840, married Florence Graddy, of Versailles, Ky. Five children,-Willie Maxwell, Jessie Graddy, Winfield Scott, Thomas G., and John M.

To William and Jane Livingston were born chil- dren, as follows : John, James, Elizabeth, William, Thomas, Henry, Margaret, Anna, Isaac, and Jane. All were married except Thomas, Henry, Anna, and Jane. Anna died in infancy. John died in Salis- bury in' 1863. He left ten children, nine of whom are living. Judge John B. Livingston, of Lancaster, was one of his sons. James died in 1874; he had eight children, five of whom are living. Elizabeth, wife of Samuel L. Hoar, moved to Quincy, Il., and died there. She had four children, only one of whom is ·living. William died in 1840, leaving four chil- dren, two of whom are living. Margaret, wife of Dr. James Purcell, moved to New Orleans, where her husband died. She died at the homestead in 1872, aged sixty-seven. Jane died at the homestead in 1838, aged eighteen. Thomas and Henry owned, in common with their brother Isaac, the homestead farm, and assisted in carrying it on to the time of their death. Thomas died in 1863, aged sixty-three ; Henry, Oct. 30, 1882, aged seventy-eight. Isaac Liv- ingston has spent his whole life on a farm. His edu- cation was limited to an attendance upon the com- mon school.

No farmers in Salisbury township, a township noted for its good farmers, were more successful or thoronghi than the ".Livingston boys," a term by which they were familiarly designated. To the original home- stead tract, consisting of a hundred acres, the three brothers added by purchase the Adam Hoar farm adjoining, one hundred and forty-one acres, another tract of one hundred and four acres, twelve acre, in Bethania, and five acres of timber land, in all three

1060

HISTORY OF LANCASTER COUNTY.

hundred and sixty-two acres. Upon the death of his brothers without heir- Isaac became the sole owner. He married, Dec. 22, 1853, Mary E., daughter of Wil- liam and Anna Linvill. Mrs. Livingston was born in Salisbury. Her family was among the early set- tlers of the township.

The children of Isaac and Mary E. Livingston are as follows: Harriet E., born Feb. 18. 1857, wife of Dr. C. I. Reese, dentist, living at Atglen, Chester Co., Pa .; Thomas Henry, born March 24, 1861; Isaac Newton, born Aug. 13, 1862; and Sarah Ann, born March 4, 1869, the three latter living at home.

Christiana, wife of Thomas Griffith, a retired mer- chant at Honey Brook, Chester Co. ; Rebecca, wife of In politics Mr. Livingston has been identified with the Whig and Republican parties. Though not a member of any religions society, his predilections are William McConnell, retired farmer of the same place ; Mary, deceased; Hannah, deceased; Sarah, owning and occupying the Shippen homestead ; towards the Friends, a sect of which his parents were : Eliza, wife of Michael Montgomery, farmer in New members.

An event worthy of recording in the life of Mr. Livingston was a trip on horseback, in company with Jacob HI. Linvill, Christian Umble, and John Hurst, in 1837, upon which occasion they visited, with others, the cities of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Columbus. The trip was a memorable one in their lives, but they saw nothing in their journeyings sufficiently attractive to wean them from their homes in the " Garden of Pennsylvania."

ISAAC S. MeCAMANT.

Isaac S. MeCamant was born in the township of Salisbury, Lancaster Co., Pa., Oct. 1, 1815. His great-grandfather, Alexander McCamant, emigrated from Scotland in the early part of the seventeenth century, landing at Philadelphia, where he remained for some time.

In 1733 he purchased of John, Thomas, and Rich- ard Penn, a tract of land of about four hundred acres in the township of Salisbury, the letters patent for which are still held by his descendants. He had. married before leaving Scotland Mary Black, of a pious Scotch family. Ile died November, 1748. He and his wife are buried at Pequea Church. They had four sons and two daughters, viz. : William, married Mary Simpson; Mary, wife of a Mr. Brown; Alexander and Captain James, unmarried ; Elizabeth, married James McCauley. Her grandson, John McCauley, left a legacy to the Pequea Church of ten thousand dollars, and five thousand dollars for a library ; Isaac, youngest child, and grandfather to Isaac S., married Rebecca Smith, May 27, 1779. Ile was born and spent his life at the homestead. He was a man of good education for the times, and was often called upon to transact the legal business among his neigh- bors. The children of Isaac and Rebecca MeCamant were : Mary, wife of David Jenkins; Isaac, married Elizabeth Jenkin- ; Alexander, Jedediah, and James, not married ; Sarah, wife of Samuel Bunn ; and Elihu, who married Mary Shaner. He was born at the home- stead June 12, 1788, and died March 20, 1854, aged sixty-six. His wife died Aug. 27, 1840, aged forty-six.

After his marriage a division of the homestead tract was made, and the large mansion and other farm buildings (a representation of which appears on an- other "page of this volume) were built upon the por- tion assigned to him, and here he lived until 1848, when, upon the marriage of his son, Isaac S., he pur- chased the Dr. Shippens property, where he lived until his death.

To Elihu and Mary MeCamant were born one son and six daughters, as follows :

London, Chester Co. ; and Isaac S., their second child and only son. He received his primary education under a private tutor at home, and his academie and preparatory at Moscow Academy, under the manage- ment of the Rev. Latta. He entered the junior year at Jefferson College, and completed in due time the full college course, but on account of failing health was obliged to leave before receiving his diploma. His ill-health followed him seven years after leaving college. After regaining his health he carried on merchandising at Mount Pleasant for five years. Ile then sold out and settled on the home farm, which had been given him by his father. He married, May 11, 1848, Mary A. daughter of James and Lydia MePherson, who was born in Upper Marion township, Montgomery Co., Oct. 12, 1825. Her family is among the oldest and most prominent in Montgomery County. Mrs. MeCamant was a grad- uate of Phelps Female Academy, Rahway, N. J. Mr. McCamant carried on the home farm until 1868, and thereafter engaged extensively in stock dealing in connection with other business. Hle carried on also the lime business. In later years he became in- terested in the store at Compassville, Chester Co., which is still carried on by his only son. In politics he was a stanch Republican, but too much occupied with his own business affairs either to seek for or to desire public office. From the time he was ten years old he was a member of the Presbyterian Church, for most of his life of the Pequea Church, and was one of its most liberal supporters. The poor always found in Mr. MeCamant a friend. In his own family he was the devoted husband and affectionate parent. Four years prior to his death he practically retired from his business, devoting much of his time to as- sisting his son at the store in Compassville. He died at his home, of typhoid pneumonia, after an illness of only five days, April 10, 1883.

The children of Isaac S. and Mary A. MeCamant are Manie, wife of Davis Menough, merchant at Ox- ford, Chester Co .; Lydia, wife of Thomas J. Gibson, farmer in Cochransville, Chester Co. ; James M., mer- chant at Compassville; Lidie, living at home; and

& SAPamant

John Linvill

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SALISBURY TOWNSHIP.

Sallie, wife of Dr. L. W. Reading, of Hatboro', Montgomery Co., Pa. They had one child, Gladdys, born July 26, 1882, died Nov. 15, 1882.

JOHN LINVILL.

John Linvill was born in Salisbury township, Lan- caster Co., P'a., Ang. 28, 1794, the fifth in a family of twelve children of William and Elizabeth ( Hoar) Linvill. The tradition in the family is that the first settlers of the name in this country emigrated from England about the year 1680.

William Linvill, grandfather of John, by trade a shoemaker, married Mary Donaldson, Jan. 17, 1753, and lived near Philadelphia, in a place then called Darby. Their children were Frances, Margaret, James, Thomas, William, Arthur, Edward, and Eliz- abeth. William Linvill, the grandfather, died April 25, 1786. Ilis wife died Ang. 6, 1801. Both are buried in the Friends' burying-ground at the old Sadsbury meeting-house.

Soon after the close of the war of 1812 he pur- chased a large tract of land in Western Virginia, and held it for a number of years, visiting the region on horseback a number of times. Upon one of these occasions he was accompanied by his son, John Lin- vill, the latter with a view, if pleased, of settling upon it, but he was not sufficiently attracted by either the people or county to induce him to remain there. He subsequently purchased a tract of land in Colum- bia County, near Catawissa, which was held in the family after his death.

William Linvill, father of John, was born in Darby, Dee. 2, 1763. When a boy he accompanied his unele, William Donaldson, who was an officer in the army of the Revolution, as a fifer. He first came to Salis- bury, and spent a winter there with a relative while " cal powers remarkably well preserved. To Mr. and Mrs. Linvill were born children, as follows: Sylves- ter D., born June 7, 1823; farmer; residing in London Grove township, Chester Co., Pa .; married Sarah Walker; nine children, six living.

the army was in winter-quarters at Valley Forge. By trade he was a carpenter, and followed that call- ing for many years. After the war he moved to Sal- isbury township, where, Dec. 7, 1786, he married Eliz- abeth, daughter of Benjamin and Prudence Hoar, who were among the earliest residents of Salisbury town- ship. Mrs. Linvill was born March 16, 1768. He subsequently moved to Paradise township, where he built a tannery, and carried it on up to the time of his death, which occurred April 15, 1833. His wife died Ang. 7, 1843. Both are buried in Sadsbury Friends' burying-ground. Their children were Ben- jamin, Mary, William, Arthur, John, Joshua, Lydia, Eliza, Solomoo, Sarah, Thomas II., and Joseph. All were married and raised families except Lydia, Sarah, and Joseph. Lydia and Joseph died in infancy. All the children (1883) are deceased. "Benjamin, the eld-

est son, represented his district for one term in the Legislature of Pennsylvania.

John Linvill spent his whole life in the neighbor- hood of his birthplace. A common school education was supplemented by attendance at a select school at New Garden, Chester Co., Pa., under Enoch Lewis as principal. He learned the carpenter's trade of his brother Benjamin, and followed it about eight years. He married Feb. 15, 1821, Margaret, daughter of Jos- eph and Margaret (Linvill) Hoar. Mrs. Linvill was born Sept. 27, 1795.

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History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 117

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Evans, Samuel, 1823-1908, joint author Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1320

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Evans, Samuel, 1823-1908, joint author
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1320