History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 59

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 59

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800

HISTORY OF LANCASTER COUNTY.

Martha, born Sept. 12, 1806, married James Barnes July 26, 1827, and died Oct. 5, 1853; the sixth child was John McSparran, born July 15, 1808, of whom we furnish a sketch ; the seventh, Elenor Jean, born Feb. 15, 1810, whom James Barnes married after the death of his first wife, Eliza. Elenor died Sept. 22, 1874. The eighth, Rachel Neel, born Feb. 4, 1812, . 1850 ; Edwin Pusey, April 26, 1851 ; Samnel Cheyney, died Aug. 28, 1819; the ninth, Margaret, born Dec. 8, 1813, who married William Steele; she died May 27, 1866. The tenth, Samuel, was born Nov. 20, 1815, and accidentally shot by his brother James, Feb. 18, 1837. Next, the eleventh child was born, our subject, Fleming MeSparran, Sept. 12, 1817. The next birth was that of twins again, Thomas Neel and William, born Nov. 20, 1820.

Thomas married Lydiann Pusey, sister of the wife Emma married David Weidley, Oct. 2, 1876, to whom one child was born-Elizabeth MeSparran-to following. of Fleming. William married Alice, daughter of James Caldwell, Esq., who lived but a short time ' live only from May 17, 1879, to the 27th of August after her marriage. William married again, his second wife being Marcilena Willianison. Joseph was the fourteenth child, born June 26, 1823, and died July 24, 1834. Rachel, the fifteenth and last child, was born March 7, 1827.

Fleming was ten years old when his father died, and James Penny, who was appointed his guardian, apprenticed him when he reached the age of sixteen to William Eves, of Chester County, Pa., for two and a half years, to learn " the art, trade, and mysteries of tanning." After serving his apprenticeship, he worked on the farm at home for his brother, James, for some time. About the year 1838 he went to Illinois, where he was engaged in agriculture for a year. The following year he spent boating on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. Returning to Lancaster County, traveling from Pitts- burgh on horseback, he, with Amen Stubbs, April 4, 1840, entered the business of lumber dealer on the Susquehanna, at Barnes' saw-mill, now known as Benton Station, on the Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad, under the firm-name of Stubbs & MeSpar- ran, in which business he continued two years, when, suffering from bad health, he sold out the busi- ness to James Barnes, For the year 1842 he was tax collector for his district. The following April he returned to the Inmber business at the same place, with his brother, Thomas, as partner, where he remained until March 15, 1845, when he pur- chased the store property at Fairfield, where he spent the remainder of his life. While in the lumber busi- ness, he and Joseph Woodward were contractors for rebuilding the public road around Mitchell's Rock, near Benton. The road had been washed away previously by the ice and high water, but the new contractor's were triumphant, and built a road that has borne the floods and battering of ice for years, and still remains an example of honest workmanship thoroughly done,-thoroughness being a character- istic of Mr. MeSparran, and one secret of his success.

Dec. 30, 1846, he married his estimable wife, Mary

E. Pusey, daughter of Mahlon Pusey, Puseyville, Lancaster Co., and opened his store at Fairfield the following spring. A large family was born to them, the first being a daughter, born Oct. 3, 1847, whom they named Emma Housekeeper; next came James Mahlon, Dec. 23, 1848; Lydia Ellen, Jan. 21,

Oct. 28, 1852; Mary Alice, Nov. 27, 1854; Ida Eliz- abeth, April 9, 1856; William Fleming, Dec. 13, 1857 ; Marion, Sept. 19, 1859 ; Edgar Lyons, June 18, 1861 ; Isabel King, June 16, 1863; Margaret Steele, May 15, 1866; and Anna Pusey, May 4, 1867. Edwin died Ang. 14, 1867 ; Mary, May 16, 1855; Margaret, Sept. 10, 1866; and Anna, March 28, 1871, and Death never touched a fairer blossom or a brighter promise !

James MI. married Laura H. Wentz, Dec. 24, 1879, and settled on his farm near his old home. Two children have been born to them,-Guy Fleming and John Walter.

Samuel C. married Floretta C. Cain, Dec. 29, 1880, and they have named their one chikl Elmer Cheyney. They also have purchased a farm and settled almost within sight of the roof-tree "at home." The home- place, store and farm, is owned by three of the un- married children, -Lydia, Ida, and William F.,-who conduct successfully the business so well established by their parents, the other three unmarried children making their home with them.

Fleming MeSparran is another example of the suc- cess of the Scotch-Irish tact and energy, exercised with temperance and forethought and guided by honesty. Certainly it is the surest evidence of no- bility in a man when those with whom he is thrown into social and business contact increase their respect for him day by day, and grow warmer in friendship as life's sun goes down the western sky. In these days of mammon-worship it is a pleasure to find a man who, though his financial success be very de- cided, and that success made possible only by the genius of self-denial and hard work, who sees in every man a brother, though he be on the lowest round of the social ladder, where circumstances of birth, edu- cation, and life have almost chained him ; the man who never fails to see in such a one "a man for a' that" is a benediction on his community. ITis kind- ness of heart and human sympathies win him friends wherever he has acquaintances, who, when they fol- low his body to the grave as their last mark of respect, feel that they have lost more than he. Such a man was the subject of this sketch. Contracting a severe cold while performing an act of charity, in the spring of 1876, he died March 20th of that year, and was buried at Chestnut Level, whither his beloved wife fol- lowed him soon after, falling beneath a fatal stroke of paralysis at the death-bed of a nephew, March 4, 1879.

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WILLIAM MARSIL.

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DRUMORE TOWNSHIP.

JOJIN MOSPARRAN.

Of the MeSparran family, which is one of the rep- ·resentative families of the southern part of Lancaster Couoty, James McSparran (grandfather of our sub- ject) is the first of whom anything definite is known at this time. He was, as the Dame indicates, of Irish extraction. He settled, some time in the latter part of the eighteenth century, in what is now Fulton township, in Lancaster County, on the farm now owned by the heirs of his grandson, who was also named James. At his death his farm passed into the possession of his son James, the rest of the family going in different directions. The last named, James, married Eleanor Neel, by whom he had fifteen chil- dren, viz .: James, Isabel, Thomas, Gresall, Eliza, John, Eleanor, Rachel, Fleming, William, Thomas N., Samuel, Joseph, Margaret, and Rachel. John, of whom this sketch is written, was born on the home farm July 15, 1808, and grew to manhood there, receiving only a common school education. Arrived at his majority, he and his brother James bought of their father's heirs the home-farm at its appraised valuation. They owned and worked it together four years, when John sold his interest to his brother James. In 1832, Mr. McSparran bought in Drumore township the farm he now resides upon. It was then what was called commons and was con- sidered almost worthless, but now, after more than half a century, it ranks among the fine farms of Lan- caster County, the result of good management. In 1840, with three others, Mr. MeSparran established the store in Fairfield now known as the MeSparran store. Ife continued one of the firm until 1847, when he sold his interest to his brother Fleming. Mr. MeSparran has now retired from active business, his sun, James G., having assumed the management of affairs. In his religious belief he is a Presbyterian, . as were his ancestors before him; in polities a Dem- ocrat of the old school, and in his younger days an active worker in the party. For twelve years in suc- cession he was a school director, and has held other township offices. For many years he seldom missed a county convention, and has at different times at- tended as delegate the State conventions of his party. At present he does not take any active part in politics, but his place is ably filled by his son James, who is one of the active and prominent young politicians who are doing so much to restore the party to power.

1877. To them were born David C., April 7, 1854, died September 17th, same year ; Eleanor I., born Aug. 26, 1854, and died Oct. 15, 1855. James G. MeSpartan married Miss Sarah M. Collins, and they have had four children, as follows: Isabella M., Thomas C. (deceased), Chella Grace, John A., and James O.

WILLIAM MARSHI.

William Marsh was born in Sadsbury township. When he was quite a young man he began the manu- facture of scythes, which he continued until 1840, when he purchased a farm in Bart township, where he lived eight years. In 1850 he removed to Dru- more township, and lived there until his death, which occurred in 1872. In 1829 he married Alace, daugh- ter of John Watson, of " Unicorn." Their children, ten in number, are Tamor, Sarah, Alace, Mary, Rachel R., W. Harry, James R., Enos, Margaret M., and Minnie. Tamor, the eldest daughter, married B. W. Fox. They have three children, namely, Joseph, Alace, and Mary. Sarah married Hierony- mus Eckman. Their children are Alace, Harry, and Sadie. Alace married Marcelona Goar. They have no children. Mary married Joshua Eckman. Their chil- Jren are Jacob, Isaac, Margaret, and Mary. Rachel married Dr. B. A. Boyce, -no children. W. Ilarry married Jennie Alexander. Their children are John M., Lela M., and William E. James R. married Miss E. E. Eekman. Their children are Alace, Mannie, and Bertha. Enos W. married Miss. M. E. Smedley. They have two children, Clarence W. and Emmor E. Margaret M. married John Adams. Their children are Mary and James. Anna M. married O. C. Guiney. They have one child, Mable.

Mr. Marsh was a man who was always respected for his honor, his deeds of kindness, and many virtues that render one worthy of imitation and remembrance.

Enos, Harry, and James (his sons) have been in the mercantile business for more than twenty years, and their deportment and business qualifications re- fleet credit upon their name.

JOHN NEAL RUSSELL.

The descendants of John Neal Russell feel a par- He (James) has been school director several years, | donable pride in his record as one of the most pro- and has ably filled other township offices. He has gressive agriculturists of his time. been a delegate to both county and State conventions,

Ile was born in Brandywine IIundred, New Castle and in 1879 was one of the Democratie Presidential ; Co., Del., July 3, 1804, and died in Drumore town- electors for his native State. John MeSparran has been twice married ; his first wife was Miss Isabella McCullough, who was born in 1816. Their children were Nancy E., born May 1, 1841, died Dee. 8, 1852; James G., born Dec. 19, 1843 Mrs. McSparran died Aug. 23, 1845. For his second wife he married Eliza Collins, who was born Aug. 8, 1812, and died Feb. 2, ship, Lancaster Co., Pa., Dec. 23, 1876. His grand- father, Paul Russell, or Roussel, as it was formerly spelled, emigrated to this country from one of the Rhenish provinees of Germany about the middle of the last century, and settled on the west bank of the Delaware, where his son John, father of John N., I was born Dee. 12, 1765."

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HISTORY OF LANCASTER COUNTY.

In 1802, John Russell was united in marriage to Ann Neal, a daughter of John Neal, a noted educator in his day, and a man of broad culture and of fine literary tastes. Of this union John Neal Russell was the only child. His father being a busy, energetic farmer, had but little time to devote to the educa- tion of his son. His mother, however, who was a woman of rare force of character, with a liberal edu- eation, devoted much time and attention to his youth- ful training. At an early age he was sent to a board- ing-school at Chester, Pa., conducted by his relatives, John and Samuel Gummere, where he remained sev- eral years, and during which time he received a sub- stantial education.

If at the threshold of his life's work his inelinations seemed to lure him into the field of literature, a de- cided taste tor which he inherited, other influences and considerations were impelling him elsewhere. The care, responsibility, and toil of breaking up and reclaiming a worn-out farm of four hundred acres confronted him. The situation seemed to admit of . but one solution. He was to be a farmer.

This decision once reached, he entered upon his work, as he did in everything, with a stern purpose and unswerving resolution. The books that now most interested him were those that treated of agri- culture. He educated himself anew. What he read at night he put in practice through the day.

Much of the farm in Dunmore was at this time under water ; that is to say, there were several streams running nearly its whole length, and the valleys of these were nothing more than stagnant swamps. The observant farmer saw in these the future garden-spots of the larm. To reclaim these waste places was the work of long years, but it was successfully accom- plished. When it is known that thorough draining apart, and that these ditches when dug have to be carefully laid with side and top stones and then filled in with smaller stones, and top-dressed, it will be comprehended what a careful system of underdrain- ing means. Fifty dollars an aere is the estimated cost of such thorough underdraining.

requires ditches to be sunk not more than fifteen feet . colored race. His house became kuown as one of the

In speaking of this work in after-years, Mr. Rus- sell said it had paid him better than any other work he had ever done on the farm ; and no one who walks over that rich green sward now can well doubt it. Mr. Russell was also a pioneer in other branches of agriculture. Ile was one of the first in his section to use lime as a manure. Firmly convinced of its elli- The cause of temperance had no more stanch friend anywhere than it had in John N. Russell. To the unfortunate victim to drink he was ever ready to extend the warmest sympathy, and scarcely any sae- rifice was deemed too great where there was the caey, he embarked in it boldly and extensively when ; others doubted and hesitated. That the end fully justified the means was obvious enough when, a few years afterwards, the fruits of the farm had been in- creased many fold, the uplands and valleys had been . remotest chance of reelaiming the fallen. Against clad in a robe of verdure, and the debt created in the the rum traffic he never ceased to wage the most determined warfare. face of the doubting wiseacres to pay for the fertilizer wiped out.

Ilis was eminently an experimental farm. There

was no system that did not receive at his hands a fair trial. If it failed there was an end of it. If it suc- ceeded he not only adopted it, but freely gave the benefit of his experience to others, and urged a trial by them. Every improvement in agricultural -ma- chinery found its way to his farm, and generally re- mained there if it possessed any advantage over the old appliance.

.In the manner of his farming Mr. Russell was serupulously painstaking ; so much so, indeed, that the profit in dollars and cents was not unfrequently caten up in time and labor. He held religiously to the maxim that "whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well."

Thus, after a time, his farm came to be known as one of the model farms of Lancaster County ; so fer- tile were its fields and pastures, so well kept, so com- plete in all its appointments; and thus, too, was the farm itself the workman's reward in his declining years.

Mr. Russell was one of the first in his neighborhood to espouse the anti-slavery cause. His inherent love of liberty, and hatred of oppression in every form, would no doubt have made him an abolitionist under almost any circumstance ; but finding himself placed as he was directly in the highway leading from slavery to freedom, and only a few miles from the slave bor- der, his convictions concerning the subject of slavery were necessarily intensified.

In several instances slaves were captured in his immediate neighborhood and remanded into bondage. In one instance an escaped fugitive slave woman living in his father's family was stealthily caught, tied, and carried away in broad daylight. Occur- rences such as these seem to have established a strong bond of sympathy between him and the unfortunate principal stations on the underground railroad. Not unfrequentiy as many as twenty fugitives at a time were rested and fed upon his premises, and afterwards conveyed away in wagons.

From 1840 to 1856 Mr. Russell felt justified in de- clining to participate in State or national politics, deeming the machinery of government as being at that period operated directly in the interest of sla- very, and therefore unworthy of his support. From 1856 forward he was an ardent and earnest supporter of the principles and measures of the Republican party.

Among the strongest traits of Mr. Russell's char- acter were his strict integrity, his high regard for

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John S. Rufeel

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DRUMORE TOWNSHIP.

truth, and his fearless fidelity to duty, as he under- shares. Raising potatoes at twenty-five cents per stood it, under all circumstances. To the long exer- | bushel, and working for forty cents a day, seemed a cise of qualities such as these was no doubt in a great measure due the calm and peaceful close of his life. slow way of getting a start, but for Mr. Brown there was no other way, and he persevered, and by such slow means obtained the foundation for the nice for- tune he now enjoys. After his father's death be and his brother David bought of the heirs the home-farm, which they owned and operated until 1858, when he

In 1830, Mr. Russell was united in marriage to Amelia Kirk, daughter of Elisha Kirk, of Notting- ham, Cecil Co., Md. She survived him but a short time, having died March 12, 1877. He left to survive him children as follows: Slater B., justice of the ' bought David's share. Under his management it has peace and conveyancer, West Chester, Pa .; Annie become one of the fine farms for which Lancaster County is noted, though at one time it would not raise grain enough to supply the family wants. Mr. Brown also owns another farm, both of which, with the help of his sons, he most successfully manages. N., intermarried with George H. Kirk, superintend- ent of the Whitney Car-Wheel Works, Philadelphia ; Mary, intermarried with Jacob T. Whitson, farmer, Fulton township, Lancaster Co., Pa .; Rachel H., intermarried with William M. Ilayes, a member of the Chester County bar, West Chester, Pa. ; George Il., stock-grower, Utica, Montana ; and Hannah, in- termarried with Elwood Smedley, farmer, Fulton township, Lancaster Co., l'a.

LEA P. BROWN.

Some time prior to the Revolutionary war three brothers by the name of Brown emigrated from Ire- land to America, and settled, it is thought, in Chester County, Pa., where David Brown, the first of the de- scendants of whom anything definite is known, was born on the 18th day of December, 1755. Of his children, James Brown, the father of our subject, was born in Chester County, Pa., Jan. 25, 1792. David Brown married Diana Allen, who was born March 8, 1757. Their children were Allen, David, John, Sarah, James, Mercer, William, Jane, and George. In 1798, David emigrated with his family to Drumore town- ship, in Lancaster Co., and bought four hundred acres of land, part of which is now owned by Wil- liam A. Brown and Robert Evans, on which he died April 21, 1843., His wife passed away May 22, 1848. James Brown, who was born in Chester County, as above set forth, grew to manhood on the Drumore Sea of Brown farm, and married Ann D. Pusey, who was born in Drumore, Jan. 30, 1796. The Puseys are an old Lan- caster family, and came originally from England. In the days gone by the Browns were Whigs, as was Lea P., until the organization of the Republican party, since when he has been a sturdy supporter of its principles. He has been a school director several years, and has held other township offices. In December, 1842, he married. Miss Malinda Patterson, daughter of Samuel and Mary Patterson. She died childless, Dec. 27, 1848. On the 14th day of September, 1855, Mr. Brown was again married, his choice being Miss Elizabeth Philena, daughter of Thomas and Hannah W. (Pusey) Patterson. She was born in Little Brit- ain township, Lancaster Co., Pa., Oct. 16, 1828. The l'attersons are an old and prominent family of Lan- On the death of his father ( David Brown), he received by will the farm of one hundred and fifty-seven acres, now owned and resided upon by Lea P. Brown. James carried ou farming, as had his ancestors before him. He was a Quaker, as was his wife by birth- right. Ile died Nov. 10, 1852, Mrs. Brown Nov. 4, 1853. ITis children were John, born Feb. 3, 1816; Lea P., Sept. 28, 1817; Sammel P., June 3, 1819; James A., Feb. 19, 1821; Mary D., Dec. 1, 1825; Emily, Jan. 11, 1827 ; and David, Nov. 15, 1828, Of these all are living but Samuel, Allen, and Emily. On the home-farm Lea P. grew to manhood, obtain- ing such education as could be acquired by a few | caster County. His great-grandfather, James Patter- months' attendance at the district schools of his time. Arrived at his majority, he started in life on his own account by working part of his father's farm on son, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1708. ile married a widow lady, whose maiden name was Mary Hamilton. It is not known when he came to

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HISTORY OF LANCASTER COUNTY.

Little Britain, where he died in 1792. His son, It was not until 1717 that pioneers found their way into Earl township. This honor belongs to Hans Graaf, a Swiss refugee, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1696, and after remaining for some years in the vicinity of Philadelphia first located in the Pequea Valley. While in pursuit of his strayed horses he found his way into what is familiarly known as Groff's Thal, within the limits of West Earl township. Pleased with the country, he had his wife, children, and chattels conveyed thither, and located on the stream now called Groff's Run, where he soon after took up land.2 Thomas Patterson, was born in 1795, and died Ang. 25, 1828. Thomas married Mary Tannyhill, and re- sided on the farm his father had owned, where their children Rebecca, Elizabeth, Samuel, Nathan, Mary, ; Margaret, Thomas, James, and Jane were born. Of these, Thomas, the father of Miss Brown, was born Feb. 13, 1790, and died July 30, 1857. He married Hannah W. Pnsey, Feb. 11, 1820. She was born Jan. 9, 1804, and died Jan. 26, 1848. To them were born ! seven children, namely, Ashmore, John L., Thomas M., Maria M., Elizabeth P., James H., and Samuel E., all of whom are living but two. Of the Patter- This Hans Graaf was a man of more than ordinary force of character; he was the principal person in the new settlement that sprung up around him, even to the time of his death, in 1746; his name frequently occurs son family, one was Gen. Thomas Patterson, who led a force to the assistance of Gen. Hull during the siege of Detroit in the war of 1812, but did not arrive in time to prevent its surrender to the British. The ' in the colonial records; he was one of the persons general was also a member of Congress, as was his brother John, who represented a district in Ohio, and was for many years an associate judge in Belmont County in the last-named State. To Mr. and Mrs. Lea P. Brown have been born three sons, viz., James H., born Aug. 9, 1854, died April 19, 1855; Thomas W., born Sept. 26, 1856, married Nov. 28, 1882, to Miss Georgie A. Paxson ; and James E., born July 8, 1865.

named to lay out the " King's High Road," from Lan- easter to Philadelphia, in 1733. Along with many others he was naturalized on Oct. 14, 1729, in the third year of the reign of George HI. He had already built a mill prior to 1729, and when in that year the township was organized the citizens honored both themselves and him in giving his name, Graaf, in its English equivalent, Earl, to the new district. The foundation stones of the cabin he built in 1718 are yet to be seen on the old Groff place.

As early as 1734 the springs along the northern and southern slopes of the Welsh Mountains and along Mill Creek had owners; the Martys and Ellmakers were among these. In 1724 another settlement was begun, and again by Swiss and Palatines, in " Weber's Thal," now " Weaverland," and within the present limits of East Earl. Among them were the familiar names of Weber, Gnth or Good, Martin, Schneder, Miller, Zimmerman, and others. These were chiefly Men- nonites, to which creed many of the people of that region still remain attached. Their nearest neighbors were a colony of Welsh, who located in Chester County in 1722, but had extended their settlement as far westward as where Churchtown now stands. The Morgans, Edwards, Jenkinses, Davises, Joneses, and Evanses were among those pioneers.

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History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 59

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