USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Lives of the eminent dead and biographical notices of prominent living citizens of Montgomery County, Pa. > Part 39
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414
SETH LUKENS.
SETH LUKENS.
One of the purest and most refined pleasures in this world is that of doing good .- Henry.
A heart that can feel for another's woe, And share its joys with a genial glow, With sympathies large enough to enfold All men as brothers, is better than gold .- Catholic Herald.
Before writing a notice of this well known citizen, we turn aside to give the origin and pedigree of the family, which is one of the oldest and most respectable in the county. The progenitor of all the name in this county was Jan (John) Lucken, who came from Holland to America with Penn's Qua- kers, and landed at Chester on the 3d of October, 1688. The family afterwards settled at Germantown with other Germans. This Jan Lucken, who must have been a man of means and cultivation, brought with him a large Dutch Bible, printed in Holland in 1598 by Peter Sebastien, which has ever since been preserved in the family, and is now in the possession of Abel Lukens, of North Wales. In this old volume and heir-loom Jan Lucken's descendants are recorded. He had seven sons and four daughters, as follows: Elizabeth, born July 28th, 1684; Elias, in 1686; William, in 1687; Sarah, in 1689; John, in 1691; Mary, in 1693; Peter, in 1696; Hannah, in 1698; Mat- thias, in 1700; Abraham, in 1703; and Joseph, in 1705. As will be perceived, the name, like multitudes of others, has been modified or Anglicised into Lukens.
The first settlers of this country, like the Hebrews of old, seem to have considered offspring their chief glory, as it really was. It is recorded of Mary Lucken, the mother of this large family, that she lived for thirty seven years after the birth of. her youngest child, dying in 1742, at about eighty-two years. of age. We trace the descent through Abraham, the next to the youngest son. About 1729 he bought one thousand acres of land in Towamencin township, on which he lived till the time of his death in Sixth-month, 1776. John Lukens, the second child of Abraham, was born on the 17th of Tenth- month, 1729, and when grown up bought one hundred acres of land of his father, living thereon till 1814. He sold it to-
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SETH LUKENS.
his son George, however, in 1805, who lived on it till 1849. This George married Esther Jeanes, a sister of William Jeanes, late of Whitemarsh township, on the 12th of Twelfth-month, 1805, and the children of that union are as follows: Abel, or North Wales, born in 1807, who was married to Naomi Jen- kins, now deceased; Edith, born in 1809, intermarried with William Lukens, a distant relative, and is now a widow; Mary, the widow of Samuel Rhoads, born in 1811; Seth, the subject of this notice, born on the 20th of Third-month, 1814; Sarah, the wife of C. Todd Jenkins; Hannah, the wife of Aram Drake; Eliam, living at Lyons, Iowa; Comly, the youngest, residing at Decatur, Illinois.
Seth Lukens is married to Mary, daughter of Dr. James Ha- mer, deceased, of Skippackville, and they have five children living, as follows: Fannie, intermarried with Edmund P. Zim- merman, who have two daughters; Esther, the second daugh- ter, is the wife of George W. Bockius, and they have two sons and a daughter; Annie M., David H. and Carrie A. complete the list. Three children, one son and two daughters, are de- ceased. The now widely scattered Lukens family have gen- erally been people of high moral excellence, some of them having been quite noted in our local history. One of them, John Lukens, of Horsham, a government surveyor late in colo- nial times, "was appointed by the philosophical society to as- sist Rittenhouse in observing the transit of Venus in 1769 and of Mercury in 1776." Isaiah Lukens, about the commence- ment of the present century, was a famous clockmaker, erect- ing the clock for the State House in Philadelphia, and that on Loller Academy. He died in 1846. A lady belonging to a collateral branch of the family, a granddaughter of Surveyor- General Lukens, founded the Sarah-Lukens-Keene Home at Bristol, Bucks county, leaving the "pavilion," with its furni- ture and several thousand dollars in trust, to maintain five or six aged gentlewomen who are widows or unmarried .*
Most of the Lukens family in their generations have been Friends, or in sympathy with the society. Seth Lukens and family, without wearing the distinctive garb of former times.
*Davis' "History of Bucks County," page 351.
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SETH LUKENS.
have been zealous members, but like Lucretia Mott, Isaac T. Hopper, and others of the branch adhering to the views of Elias Hicks, they have been more earnest in promoting morals than the distinctive theology of the church. Accordingly Seth Lukens has been noted for years as the fast friend of the slave, attending the first political anti-slavery convention ever held in Pennsylvania, at Harrisburg, on the 4th of June, 1851, at which there were but fifty-four delegates, who then and there resolved never to vote for any man who was not avowedly op- posed to the extension of slavery. Mr. Lukens came home, and during the years 1851, 1852 and 1853, cast the single Free Soil vote of Towamencin township, having ever since been con- sistent in his moral and political opposition to slavery .* About the same time also he took bold ground against the custom of drinking intoxicating liquors and the traffic in the same. He had early inherited a repugnance to alcoholic liquors, and never tasted the drug till his sixteenth year, after which, as others, he occasionally imbibed in moderation till 1852. Since then he has been an earnest and strenuous teetotaller.
He gives the following anecdote of his grandfather, which has descended by a tradition in the family, as related by his father, George Lukens: "In the summer of 1778, when I was not ten years old, I went to the field where my father was plow- ing, and I said to him, 'Mother cannot do her baking.' My father said, 'How can I help it?' 'Put that stuff away,' (the whiskey,) I replied, 'and she can do her work as well as other women.' " The little fellow's advice was followed as soon as his father came from the field, "for he rolled the barrel of whis- key out of the cellar," said the narrator, "and the liquor was emptied upon the sod. From that time till 1850 there was no liquor used on that farm."
Seth Lukens, in his declining years, testifies to the faithful- ness with which his father inculcated in his children the avoid- ance of both liquor and tobacco. Friend Lukens relates an- other anecdote of the progress of the temperance reform. As is known, during the yearly meeting of Friends, they send
*Mr. L. seems to have acted on the following precept: "There is as much wisdom in voting with a view to future results as there is in sowing seed or setting plants in the earth. The man who argues that no ballot should be cast except for candidates likely to be successful, simply sets himself up in opposition to all political progress."
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SETH LUKENS.
down inquiries to the monthly meeting, or address them to the committees present, as to the "clearness" of Friends towards certain scandalous sins and abuses among members. So when the question came up, "Are Friends careful not to encourage the use of intoxicating liquors?" a member arose and said: "Friends, I suppose there are not many in the house who know that they are considering the question of the use of alco- holic beverages over one or two hundred hogsheads of porter and ale?" This scene occurred about 1843, when it was quite customary to use the empty cellars of all kinds of churches to store liquor, and before christian people began to consider their responsibility for the evil. In the case above mentioned, one of the clerks acknowledged the truth of the implied charge, and promised that it should be at once removed. So Friends could at least say that their yearly meeting-house was "clear" of the evil.
Living on the line of the underground railroad, on which, be- fore the abolition of slavery, the "contented" bondmen used to travel to Canada, Mr. and Mrs. Lukens often entertained the fugitives and helped them on their way to freedom, not doubting for a moment but that they were thereby doing God service.
It is only necessary to add that for over twenty-five years at least, Mr. Lukens has labored in season and out of season to further the temperance reform. He has probably given more time and money to the cause during this period than any other person in Montgomery county. For many years he followed farming near Kulpsville, and attended the markets, but recently has retired on a lot in Gwynedd. Being radical, and in ad- vance of public sentiment on moral and political questions, he has held no public office in the gift of the people, except as a director of our oldest Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and a like post in the agricultural society.
418
GENERAL JOHN R. BROOKE.
MAJOR GENERAL JOHN R. BROOKE.
Homer spoke with judgment and knowledge when he represented valor as the only virtue which discovers a divine energy and those enthusiastic transports which raise a man above himself .- Plutarch's Life of Pyrrhus.
General John Rutter Brooke was born in Pottsgrove town- ship, Montgomery county, July 21st, 1838. His father, Major William Brooke, was a Captain of the American army in the war of 1812, and his mother a daughter of David Rutter, one of the early iron manufacturers in the State, residing near Potts- town.
We pause here to give a brief history of the origin of the Brooke family, which is one of the most reputable and influ- ential in eastern Pennsylvania, some branches of it having been large iron-masters for nearly a century. It is as follows: In the year 1692, John Brooke and Frances his wife, with two sons, James and Matthew, came to this country from York- shire, England. Before sailing the father had purchased of William Penn fifteen hundred acres of land, to be taken up anywhere between the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers where vacant plantations could be found. The parents died soon after landing, and the sons took up the tract in Limerick town- ship, now Montgomery county, where they settled.
One of these brothers, Matthew Brooke, had four sons, one of whom, named Matthew, was the father of Thomas Rees Brooke, whose son William married Miss Martha Rutter, of the locality, he residing on a fine farm that was part of the original purchase. These last named were the parents of Gen- eral John R. Brooke, and here he was born. Major William Brooke, as above stated, was a soldier in the second war with England, serving in a Reading company. He was always the owner of several farms, and lived a quiet, rural life till he died, which occurred October 7th, 1872, in his eighty-first year. His wife, the mother of General Brooke, died November 22d, 1878, in her seventy-fifth year. Edward and George Brooke, large iron manufacturers of Birdsboro, Berks county (one of them re- cently deceased), were cousins to General Brooke's father, and through them the foregoing genealogy of the Brooke family has been obtained.
419
GENERAL JOHN R. BROOKE.
General John R. Brooke's private history is that after receiv- ing a good common school training, he attended Mr. Bolmar's famous seminary, at West Chester, where he received a full English course. Very soon after completing his education, in his twenty-third year, the war of the rebellion broke out, and with all the enthusiasm and patriotism of youth he sprang to the rescue of the Union, as described further on. He has been twice married; first, on the 24th of December, 1863, to Miss Louisa H., daughter of Leonard F. Roberts, of Warwick, Ches- ter county. She died October 22d, 1867, leaving two sons, William and Louis Roberts. Since his transfer to the regular army, Mr. B. was married again on the 19th of September, 1877, to Miss Mary L., daughter of Hon. Onslow Stearns, of Con- cord, New Hampshire, ex-Governor of that State.
When President Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand volunteers, in April, 1861, Mr. Brooke at once recruited a company for the three months' service, first called the "Madi- son Guards." They rendezvoused at Harrisburg, and were attached to Colonel Hartranft's Fourth Regiment, Mr. B. being Captain of Company C, his commission bearing date April 20th, 1861. At the expiration of their term of enlistment Captain B. returned to Pennsylvania, was mustered out July 27th, 1861, and at once commenced to recruit a regiment for the three years' service. On the 17th of August, 1861, he was commis- sioned Colonel of the Fifty-Third Regiment Pennsylvania Vol- unteers, his corps being subsequently mustered into the United States service on the 7th of November following. On that day Colonel Brooke with his regiment arrived in Washington, and became a part of the Army of the Potomac. In the peninsular campaign, under General McClellan, Colonel B. was engaged in nearly all the battles of that famous advance and retreat.
During the march of the army towards Richmond, Colonel Brooke with his regiment was detailed on several important expeditions, in which he earned hearty encomiums from his superior officers. On Sunday, June Ist, 1862, his command participated in their first general engagement. The army had now been formed into divisions and corps, and General Sumner appointed to the command of one of the latter and General I.
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GENERAL JOHN R. BROOKE.
B. Richardson to a division, Brooke serving under General R. On the evening of May 31st heavy firing was heard in front, and at about four o'clock Richardson's division, which was lying about five miles from Fair Oaks, was ordered forward. They crossed the Chickahominy river on Sumner's famous "grape-vine bridge," and marched quickly forward, arriving on the field about dark. Early next morning Colonel Brooke's command became engaged with the enemy, and for more than four hours were under fire. At one time they were surrounded by six times their number, but fought their way out. Colonel B., while gallantly leading his regiment, had his horse shot under him. From the opening until the close of the engage- ment he, with his command, fought against terrible odds, hav- ing pitted against them some of the best troops in the Confed- eracy. After the battle Colonel B. was complimented person- ally by Generals Sumner, Richardson and French, and in his official report the latter says: "For some time the most des- perate efforts were made to break our lines. The Fifty-third Pennsylvania, led by the gallant Colonel Brooke, repulsed them again and again." In another place he adds: "Joining the Sixty-first New York, Colonel Brooke, of the Fifty-third Pennsylvania, instead of retiring to the second line, continued to charge the enemy." Again he says : "Upon the Fifty-second New York, Colonel Paul Frank, and the Fifty-third Pennsyl- vania, Colonel John R. Brooke, devolved the honor of holding that position of my line most seriously attacked under fearful odds, against the best troops of the enemy directed by their ablest commanders." In this battle of Fair Oaks, Colonel B.'s command lost ninety-seven killed, wounded and missing.
His regiment remained at Fair Oaks with the Army of the Potomac, doing picket and other duty, but were not engaged with the enemy again until June 26th, when they were ordered to the support of the Pennsylvania Reserves at Gaines' Mill, to reinforce General Fitz John Porter. Of this expedition a writer in the Irish-American says : "The timely arrival of these two brigades (French's and Meagher's), and the bold manner in which they checked the hot pursuit of the enemy, saved the
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GENERAL JOHN R. BROOKE.
right wing of the Army of the Potomac from being thrown into the Chickahominy river."
On the 27th of June Colonel Brooke received orders that Fair Oaks would be evacuated, and the whole Army of the Potomac fall back to the James river. At the same time his command, together with the Fifty-second New York, was de- tailed as part of the rear guard of the army. A writer in one of the newspapers of that day says :
"Brooke's command marched to the battery in the entrench- ments on their front, and took position. The retreat commenced. First, long train of wagons, loaded with stores. The heavy guns had all been removed previously. A little after dusk the last file of the last brigade passed out, and they-Pettit's Battery B, First New York Field Artillery-were left alone. Their soldier friends were miles in their rear, but at their post of duty they stood, few in num- bers, resolved to do or die. His command left Fair Oaks shortly after midnight, and came upon the main body of the army near what is called Allen's Farm, or Allendale. Brooke's regiment ad- vanced about half a mile beyond the main line of battle. A heavy artillery and musketry fire was kept up for some time, lasting from nine o'clock to half-past ten in the morning. Meanwhile the army was passing on, and in a short time they again took up their posi- tions as rear guard. Proceeding several miles they found the whole army in line of battle at Savage Station.
"French's brigade was formed along the edge of wood, and the command of Brooke's joined them. While waiting for the enemy to appear, a fearful battle was going on in their front. They lay quiet and undisturbed until about six o'clock, although they were continually under the fire of the enemy's artillery, when the army commenced moving. They now found that they were to have the post of honor again-rear guard. It was after midnight when Colo- nel Brooke's men left Savage Station. Quickly they went through black and ominous-looking woods and over muddy roads, not know- ing what moment the rebels would pour a murderous fire upon their little band. Day was just breaking when they came within sight of the Chickahominy river. After waiting an hour or more, Colonel Brooke was ordered to cut away and destroy the bridge, which was speedily done by the Fifty-third Regiment. The advance guard of the rebels soon after appeared on the hill opposite, and a sharp ar- tillery fight was commenced. Several members of his regiment were wounded and two killed. As it began to grow dark, General French was informed that the enemy were attempting to rebuild the bridge. Colonel Brooke was ordered to harass them and prevent their doing so at whatever cost. At about midnight they were with- drawn, and silently took up their position beside Martin's Battery. The artillery with this exception had all been taken away, and the whole army had retired. They started forward on their perilous
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GENERAL JOHN R. BROOKE.
march, and at about seven o'clock in the morning arrived in the general camp on the James river."
At the battle of Malvern Hill, fought the same day, Colonel Brooke's command was in the reserve, and did not become actively engaged. After this battle they retired to the James river and went into camp, nothing of interest transpiring. Colo- nel B. now commanded French's brigade during the time that General was in command of the division. His command left Harrison's Landing for Newport News when the Army of the Potomac retired from that place. Here they took transports for Alexandria, and were immediately marched to the front, participating in the second battle of Bull Run. From there he went on the Antietam campaign, and in that battle was in the thickest of the fight on the right, in command of a brigade. In his official report General McClellan particularly mentions Colonel Brooke and his brigade for the efficient services they rendered. Colonel B. remained with the Army of the Poto- mac, and while at Harper's Ferry was sent out on a reconnois- sance with a large command, finding the enemy at Charles- town, where he became engaged with them. Having accom- plished his object he returned to Harper's Ferry.
In the battle of Fredericksburg, Colonel Brooke's command lost heavily, going into the fight with sixteen officers and three hundred men, and coming out of it with six of the former and one hundred and thirteen of the latter, being part of the force sent to assault the enemy and drive them from Marye's Heights and from behind the famous stone wall. He remained with the army during the winter, and took part in Hooker's mud march, as also in the battle of Chancellorsville, which occurred early in May. Colonel Brooke had been assigned to the command of the Fourth Brigade, First Division, Second Army Corps, in April, 1863. Without enjoying the honor and rank he deserved and had won by desperate fighting as only a Colonel, he handled this brigade at Chancellorsville and on the march from in front of Fredericksburg to Gettysburg, where he arrived with the troops on the evening of July Ist. Early the next day his force was under arms, and in the afternoon he was ordered to move to the left of the line near Round Top, to assist in de- feating Longstreet in his attempt to capture that position. He
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GENERAL JOHN R. BROOKE.
led his brigade on a charge through that terrible fight in the wheat field, driving the enemy nearly a mile. In this fearful assault Colonel Brooke was wounded, but did not leave the field. His command was also engaged in the third day's bat- tle at Gettysburg.
After the battle he followed in the pursuit of Lee until he passed beyond the Rapidan. In the fall of 1863, while a large number of the Army of the Potomac were in New York on duty in suppressing the draft riots, Lce made an attempt on the right of Meade's line, which resulted in various combats and compelling Meade to retire to Cartersville to more thor- oughly secure Washington. In this movement Brooke was actively engaged in several engagements with the enemy. The manœuvering of the armies resulted in the occupation of the ground held by each before it commenced. Then followed the Mine Run campaign, in which his command took a promi- nent part. This military movement closed active operations in the field until the following spring, which found him still commanding the Fourth Brigade.
When General Grant reorganized the Army of the Potomac in April, 1864, Colonel Brooke, who for a year had com- manded the brigade above mentioned, was now with his force placed in the First Division of the Second Army Corps, under General Hancock. Colonel Brooke (or rather General Brooke, as it should have been) at once took an active part in the bat- tles of the Wilderness and Po River. On the 12th of May, at Spottsylvania Court House, his brigade was in the advance in Hancock's famous charge on the enemy. In this, the grand- est charge of the war, Brooke distinguished himself again for his bravery and skill. His command captured several pieces of artillery, and immediately turned the guns of the enemy upon them, doing good execution. An entire rebel division, with its commander, General Johnson, were taken prisoners. Speaking of this fight a correspondent in one of the daily pa- pers, writing under date of May 20th, says:
"It is understood, on good authority, that Colonel John R. Brooke, commanding the Fourth Brigade, and Colonel Nelson A. Miles, commanding the First Brigade, Barlow's division, will be appointed to the rank of Brigadier General. These promotions are
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GENERAL JOHN R. BROOKE.
the reward of a long series of gallant services culminating in the. brilliant assault of the rebel entrenchments on the 12th instant."
This brilliant affair the Government could not fail to recog- nize in the corps commander and his subordinates. Accord- ingly Colonel Brooke was made a Brigadier General, to date from this famous battle of May 12th, 1864. It was a promo- tion earned long before.
General Brooke remained in command of this brigade, and participated in all the battles and skirmishes in which the Second Corps was engaged. On the 3d of June, while lead- ing his brigade at Cold Harbor in a charge against the rebels, who were in a fortified position, he was struck in the side by a grape-shot and so severely wounded in two places that for some time his recovery was considered very doubtful, and which re- tired him from active service for a time.
While still suffering from the wound, however, he reported at Washington for duty, and was assigned as President of a general court martial sitting at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and af- terwards detailed at Washington, District of Columbia, to ex- amine officers for a veteran corps that General Hancock had been authorized to raise. After Brooke had received his com- mission of Major General, dated August Ist, 1864, and Han- cock had organized the Army of the Shenandoah, General B. " commanded the Second Division under him, being assigned to this position in March, 1865. The records of the War depart- ment will show many letters from his superiors, commending the services of General Brooke during the war of the rebellion. His eminent services, courage and fidelity are indicated by the following appointments and promotions in their order:
April 20th, 1861. Commissioned Captain of Company C, Fourth Regiment of volunteers, and was honorably mustered out at the end of the three months' service.
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