USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume III > Part 26
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larger premises at No. 154 South Broad street. Six months later he opened an additional billiard parlor at the Hotel Normandie in Philadel- phia. In 1913 he gave up his Broad street place, owing to the fact that the cares of management left him too little time to carry on his profes- sional engagements, for by this time he had risen to the first rank among players, and his services were in great demand as a referee and as a coach. In addition he had many private matches to play. He concen- trated his attention upon his parlor at the Normandie Hotel after 1913, and held the ownership of it until 1920, when he sold out, and in partner- ship with Thomas Marsh acquired his present place at Norristown. The parlor that Mr. Fink now owns in partnership with Mr. Marsh was for- merly the property of the Louis Korn Company and has long been known to commercial travelers and other business men who visit Norris- town regularly. It is located at No. 59 Main street, in the heart of the city, and is equipped with nine of the finest tables in the State. At an expense of over $6,000, Mr. Fink and Mr. Marsh have installed a soda fountain and light lunch service on the premises and the place now has the air of a private club where a man may read his newspaper, enjoy a luncheon in congenial society, and play as many games of pool or billiards as his time will permit. During the past two years this new and improved kind of billiard parlor has met with great success at Norris- town, where the need of recreation of the kind it affords is not less than that of other communities filled with hard working men and boys, who find their chief enjoyment in games that require a good eye and a steady hand. This success has encouraged Mr. Fink and Mr. Marsh to repeat their experiment at Allentown, Pennsylvania, and they have lately opened a billiard parlor equipped with nineteen tables and six bowling alleys in that city.
Mr. Fink's ability as a player has kept pace with his business success. Although he has never had a life of absolute ease and freedom in which to develop his game, he has given a good account of himself in every tournament in which he has taken part. He played in the international tournament held at Chicago, Illinois, in 1915 to decide the world's cham- pionship, and ranked twelfth among the winners, thus establishing himself as one of the first dozen of the world's great players. He played again in the world's championship tournament held at Philadelphia in 1917 and ranked as seventh in the list, thus moving up several places towards the top. In 1914 he won the championship of Pennsylvania, an honor he still holds. In 1916 he entered the lists in the Tri-State games and won the championship of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In 1918 he won the Eastern Pool Championship, defeating at that time the present world's champion, Ralph Greenleaf. To the quickness and delicacy of his hand and eye are added an instantaneous power of deci- sion, and to a novice at billiards it is something of a revelation to see Mr. Fink chalk his own cue and begin to play. Highly respected as one of the ablest exponents of the game in America, one who, by practice and example, has always endeavored to keep the game in the higher realms of sportsmanship and above all to encourage the playing of it in
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places which would otherwise be almost entirely devoid of indoor recrea- tional facilities, Mr. Fink is greatly in demand as a referee. At Philadel- phia, in October, 1922, he acted as official referee in the championship game between Ralph Greenleaf and Benjamin Allen, one of the highest honors that can come to a man in the world of billiards.
In politics Mr. Fink is a Republican. He is a shareholder in the Norris Building and Loan Association ; the St. Edmund's Building and Loan Association of Philadelphia; and the South 60th Street Building and Loan Association of Philadelphia. He belongs to only one fraternal organization, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in which he is a member of the Norristown lodge. In religious faith he is a member of the Lutheran church and is an active worker in the congregation of the church of that faith at Reading.
On December 25, 1900, Mr. Fink married, at Philadelphia, Isabella Morton Poinsett, daughter of William and Mary (Mckenzie) Poinsett. Mrs. Fink's father, who was born at Wilmington, Delaware, in the year 1848, was engaged in business as a printer at Philadelphia until his retire- ment a year or so ago. Her mother was born in 1858 and comes from a Scotch family which settled at Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. Poinsett were the parents of eight children: Clara, who is now the wife of Ephraim Carter and lives at Pitman, New Jersey; Thomas, who is a resident of Westmont, New Jersey ; Hallie, who married Thomas Aberger and lives at Westmont, New Jersey ; Isabella M., who is Mrs. Fink; Wil- liam, Jr., who is engaged in business at Philadelphia ; Rae, who married Edward Raymond and lives in Brooklyn, New York; Louella, who is the wife of Mr. Kleingentzer; and George, who was the first American soldier to fall at Vera Cruz, and was buried at Philadelphia with full military honors as an American who gave his life for his country and his flag. Mr. and Mrs. Fink have three children: 1. Esther, who was born October 10, 1901 ; she married, in 1919, Frederick Carr, a veteran of the World War, who served overseas with the 28th Division. Mr. and Mrs. Carr have one son, Frederick, Jr., who was born August 15, 1921. 2. Ethel, who was born December 26, 1903. 3. Morris, Jr., who was born December 14, 1912.
HAMILTON H. GILKYSON, JR .- In business, civic, financial and social affairs in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and vicinity Hamilton H. Gilkyson, Jr., occupies an important position. He has been identified with the fire insurance business throughout practically his entire career. In addition to his responsibilities as chairman of the executive committee of the board of directors of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Chester county, the largest Mutual Fire Insurance Company in the State of Pennsylvania, he is also on the board of directors of the Farmers' and Mechanics' National Bank of Phoenixville, and one of the directors of the Phoenixville Publishing Company, publishers of the Phoenixville daily papers. He is also closely identified with two other fire insurance companies, being secretary and treasurer of one and a member of the board of directors of another.
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Mr. Gilkyson has always been interested in outdoor sports; he is one of the founders of the Phoenixville Country Club, and has served as secretary of the club since its inception. He is also a member of the Pickering Hunt Club.
Mr. Gilkyson's home is in Mont Clare. The old Colonial house in which he resides was the home of his wife, Phoebe Hunter, daughter of Charles Field and Grace (Thompson) Hunter, to whom he was married in 1912. The house was built in 1843 by Mrs. Gilkyson's great-grand- father, Joseph Whitaker, at the time of his retirement from the firm of Reeves & Whitaker, now the Phoenix Iron Company, of Phoenixville. The house was named "Mont Clare" at the suggestion of Bayard Taylor, and the village derives its name from this source. Six generations of this family have lived here successively. Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker, one-time governor of Pennsylvania, spent his boyhood life here, and Mrs. Gilkyson's uncle, Hon. J. Whitaker Thompson, now a judge of the United States Court in Philadelphia, was born here and here lived until Mr. and Mrs. Gilkyson took the property upon his removal to Phila- delphia in 1916.
Mr. and Mrs. Gilkyson are the parents of three children: Grace Whit- aker, who was born November 23, 1913; Hamilton Henry, 3rd, who was born June 17, 1916; and a daughter, Neal, who was born February 17, 1920. Mrs. Gilkyson has achieved recognition in the literary field, her poems and stories having appeared in Scribner's, McClure's and other American magazines.
Hamilton H. Gilkyson, Jr., is a descendant of Colonial stock on both the paternal and maternal sides. His father, Colonel H. H. Gilky- son, has been a leading member of the Chester county bar since 1870. He was a national delegate to the famous Chicago convention when Roosevelt was nominated for the presidency. As a trial lawyer, orator and editorial writer he has a brilliant reputation.
The Gilkyson family settled in Bucks county, where the original James Gilkyson, of Scotch-Irish descent, served as first lieutenant during the Revolutionary War. His oldest son, Elias Gilkyson, great-grand- father of Hamilton H. Gilkyson, Jr., was prothonotary of Bucks county and filled a number of positions of trust. Elias Gilkyson married Eliza- beth (Betsy) Wynkoop, of a distinguished Dutch family founded in America in 1639. Elizabeth Wynkoop's grandfather, Gerardus Wynkoop, was a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly from 1774 to 1794, and served several years as Speaker of the House.
James Gilkyson was the oldest son of Elias and Elizabeth (Betsy) (Wynkoop) Gilkyson, and grandfather of Hamilton H. Gilkyson, Jr. He was district attorney for Bucks county, and in 1862 was commissioned colonel of the 17th Pennsylvania Regiment. He married Anna E. Henry, a daughter of William Hamilton Henry, and his wife, Elizabeth (Neal) Henry, a celebrated beauty, as evidenced by her portrait painted by Sully. Her home before her marriage was the old Colonial residence of "Loudoun," in Germantown, which was built by her uncle, Thomas
Mont-35
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Armat, in 1801. William Hamilton Henry was a son of Hugh Henry, of Philadelphia, and was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1799 with the degree of Master of Arts.
Colonel H. H. Gilkyson, father of Hamilton Henry Gilkyson, Jr., married in 1880, Nellie Trego, daughter of Thomas W. Trego, of Doyles- town, Pennsylvania. The Trego family are descendants of Peter Trego, a native of France, who settled in Pennsylvania about the year 1685. On the maternal side, Nellie (Trego) Gilkyson is descended from Captain Richard Betts, who came to America in 1684 and located at Newtown, Long Island, where he was one of the most prominent of the English colony, a member of the New York Assembly in 1665, high sheriff from 1668 to 1681, and a judge of the High Court of Assizes. Through her maternal grandmother, Margaret (Head) Baker, Mrs. Gilkyson is a descendant of Henry Baker, the first English settler at the point where Washington crossed the Delaware to attack the Hessians at Trenton, New Jersey, Christmas night, 1776, long known as Baker's Ferry. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly, and a justice of the Bucks county courts for many years. Through this connection she is a descend- ant of John Head; William Hudson, mayor of Philadelphia in 1725; Samuel Richardson, member of the Colonial Assembly from 1691 to 1709, and others prominently identified with the early Colonial history of Philadelphia.
Hamilton H. Gilkyson, Jr., was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, November 4, 1882. He is a graduate of George School-a preparatory school at Newtown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania-and attended Swarth- more College for two years. He has one brother, T. Walter Gilkyson, an attorney of Philadelphia, who is also well known as a contributor to the "Atlantic Monthly" and other magazines. Mr. Gilkyson's only sister, Anna, married Ralph J. Baker, a member of the firm of Hause, Evans & Baker, prominent attorneys of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
During the World War Mr. Gilkyson was publicity manager for all of the Liberty Loan drives for the Phoenixville district, and chairman of the Victory Loan Committee. He was also chairman for the sale of war saving stamps, one of the three members of the Military Intelligence Bureau for the Phoenixville district, and a member of the Advisory Draft Board for Chester and Montgomery counties, and a member of the board of directors of the Phoenixville Chapter of the American Red Cross. He was also one of the organizers and a member of the Home Guard in Phoenixville.
GENERAL ARTHUR ST. CLAIR-When General Arthur St. Clair was turned out of house and home because he was unable to meet the debts contracted while governor of the Territory of the West, on behalf of the government, which were never paid, he and his family moved to a tract of land which his son, Daniel, owned on Chestnut Ridge, six miles west of Ligonier, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. Though the house was little more than a log cabin, it was on the State road leading
Ary 16 lairy.
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to the West, and here he entertained travelers that he might thus support his family. Broken by the storms of more than three score years and ten, saddened by the memories of the past, denied by ingratitude that which was justly due him from his State and Nation, he quietly awaited and there answered the last roll call.
Arthur St. Clair, son of William and Margaret (Balfour) St. Clair, was born at Thurso Castle, in Scotland, March 23, 1734, and died at his home on Chestnut Ridge, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, August 31, 1818. His family was of Norman origin, and became one of the most famous in English history. He was highly educated, intending to prac- tice medicine, but about that time war broke out betwen England and France, and he came to America with Admiral Boscawen's fleet, with an ensign's commission dated May 13, 1757. He was in the army com- manded by General Jeffrey Amherst, in the division commanded by General James Wolfe. He was commissioned lieutenant April 17, 1759, and was with the army when, under cover of darkness, it silently floated down the St. Lawrence and landed under the shadowy heights of Abra- ham, since known as Wolfe's Cove. He was with them, too, when they clambered up the hitherto impossible heights, and was near the brave young English general when he received his death wound, in the moment of victory.
After the capture of Quebec St. Clair remained in the garrison for a few months, then with a part of his regiment, the Sixtieth Royal Ameri- can, he was sent to Boston, Massachusetts. While stationed there he married, in Trinity Church, May 15, 1760, Phoebe Bayard, born in 1733, daughter of Balthazar and Mary (Bowdoin) Bayard, her mother a half- sister of Governor James Bowdoin of Massachusetts. His wife brought her soldier-husband both fortune and social standing and henceforth shared in his triumphs and his reverses.
In 1767 St. Clair was placed in command of Fort Ligonier, in Western Pennsylvania, and from that time until his death he was a citizen of Westmoreland county, first in a military capacity and later as agent of the Penns. In 1771-1772 and 1773 he worked for and succeeded in the formation of Westmoreland county, which then included Pittsburg, and was the first prothonotary and clerk of courts of the new county. He acquired large tracts of land near old Fort Ligonier, upon which he located with his family. As the leading military man of that section he was in charge of all the forces employed in the Indian Wars. He rendered valuable service and gained high standing with the tribes and with the government.
He entered the Colonial army with a colonel's commission and fought in Canada; commanded at Three Rivers, and for his service was com- missioned brigadier-general. He was with Washington in the retreat across New Jersey ; was with him at Trenton, and played a very impor- tant part in winning that battle. He served with honor all through the Revolution, and that Washington trusted him is shown by the fact that he placed him in command at West Point, after Arnold turned traitor.
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He was a member of the jury that tried and convicted Major André, and was one of the bravest soldiers and wisest statesmen of the Revolu- tionary period.
After independence was gained General St. Clair was made a member of the executive council of the State of Pennsylvania and elected to Congress. In 1787 he was elected president of Congress, then he highest office in the government, an office abolished by the Constitution, which substituted that of president of the United States.
Under the celebrated "ordinance of 1787" he was appointed governor of the Northwestern Territory, a territory now populated by over twenty millions of people and comprising the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Western Pennsylvania. He erected and named counties, appointed officers and judges, built forts, founded and named towns, and to the town around the fort on the Ohio he gave the name of Cincinnati. It was said of him at Ohio's Centennial of Statehood: "Our grandest glory arises from the fact that we have faithfully kept, during these one hundred years, all the precepts of the best law ever formed for the government of mankind-the great ordinance of 1787; in the making of which General St. Clair took an active part."
In 1791 he was asked to do the impossible, in conquering, with 1,400 men, an infuriated horde of savage red men. He was ill at the time with a fever and was carried on a litter, but preserved his coolness in the midst of the peril and disaster, and when obliged to retreat he was among the last to leave the field. This battle caused great controversy at the time, but no intelligent student of history can censure General St. Clair for the defeat, for he was not beaten through any lack of general- ship or personal bravery. When he returned from Ohio he settled again in Ligonier Valley and near his residence built Hermitage Furnace, where, for a time, he made pig iron. He rebuilt a flouring mill but he had contracted debts in negotiating treaties with the Indians and in waging war, that he could not collect from the government, and he gave up everything to his creditors. He owed less than $11,000, and although the general's property was valued at $50,000, it only brought enough to pay his debts.
He then returned to his son Daniel's home on Chestnut Ridge, and there on the mountains he lived and died, the personal friend and com- panion of Washington, Greene, Steuben, Lafayette, Hamilton, Franklin, Wayne, Gates and Schuyler, and in no small degree did he share their glory. He was buried in a plot given by the citizens of Greensburg in their local cemetery where, nineteen days later his accomplished wife, Phoebe (Bayard) St. Clair, was laid by his side. In 1832 a plain monu- ment of sandstone was erected over his grave by the Masonic fraternity, bearing this inscription : "The earthly remains of Major-General Arthur St. Clair are deposited beneath this humble monument, which is erected to supply the place of a nobler one, due from his country." The old monument, disintegrating under the influence of the weather, an exact duplicate was made of granite, and the St. Clair lot was surrounded by
Julia ( Edey ] Sinclair
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a granite coping, the expense all borne by the Masonic fraternity. On the evening of August 15, 1913, the new monument was dedicated, but neither the government of the State of Pennsylvania, nor of the United States, have had any share in honoring this soldier, statesman and citi- zen, although the State did appropriate a sum of money to build a monu- ment, but the measure was vetoed by Governor Pennypacker on the ground of economy.
Daniel St. Clair, son of General Arthur and Phoebe (Bayard) St. Clair, was a farmer and owned the homestead on Chestnut Ridge, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where his father and mother died. He married Rachel Sherman, and they were the parents of James St. Clair, or Sinclair, as he spelled the name, of whom further.
James (St. Clair) Sinclair was born at the homestead at Hartranft Station, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer of the homestead all his life and a man of influence in his community. He was a Republican in politics after the formation of that party, and served as a member of the school board and of Town Council. In religious faith he was a member of the Reformed church.
James (St. Clair) Sinclair married, at Hartranft Station, Pennsyl- vania, Julia Edey, born in the West Indies, daughter of Richard L. A. and Julia (Stewart) Edey, her father a plantation owner in the Barba- does, West Indies. Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair were the parents of two daugh- ters : I. Rachel S., who married James S. Miller, and resides at Sumney- town, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. 2. Julia.
DR. CHARLES Q. HILLEGASS, founder, owner and publisher of "Town and Country," a weekly newspaper published in Pennsburg, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, is one of the prominent business men of the county who, after twelve years of successful professional experience as a dentist, is making a success in more than one field of business activity.
Born in Upper Hanover township, Pennsylvania, June 29, 1870, son of Dr. John G. and Catherine (Ziegler) Hillegass, the former a physician and noted surgeon, Dr. Hillegass was the eighth child in a family of ten : Eugene Z., Ida Z., Katie O., Ella M., John P., Mary L., Jesse Z., Charles Q., the subject of this sketch; Howard C., who was formerly city editor of the New York "Herald ;" and Calvin M.
Charles Q. Hillegass received his academic education in the Perkiomen School at Pennsburg, and then entered the Philadelphia Dental College, from which he was graduated in 1889 with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. Upon the completion of his college course he engaged in the practice of dentistry at Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, and for twelve years continued to successfully follow that profession, building up a large and important clientele. At the end of that time he entered the publishing business, having already, in 1898, established the weekly newspaper known as "Town and Country." That editorial and publish- ing venture has been a notable success, and at the present time (1923)
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is housed in one of the most modern buildings in the county and has a circulation of about 3,500. In addition to his responsibilities as editor, owner, and publisher of the "Town and Country," Dr. Hillegass also operates a paper mill in Pennsburg. This was established in 1904, and in 1918 was moved into the new factory erected to meet its special requirements. It is most efficiently and successfully managed, and is one of the important manufactories of Pennsburg. He was a member of the organization board of directors of the Collegeville National Bank, and is interested in financial operations. Dr. Hillegass has always taken a deep interest in the welfare of the community in which he has lived and worked, and no project well planned for the advancement of the interests of Pennsburg or of the county has found him indifferent or unwilling to give substantial support.
Politically he votes independently, considering the personal character of the candidate for public office as well as his fitness for the discharge of the duties of that office as more important than his partisan affiliation. Fraternally he is a member of Pennsburg Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows ; of Perkiomen Lodge, No. 595, Free and Accepted Masons, of East Greenville, Pennsylvania ; and of Lodge No. 130, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Allentown, Pennsylvania. Both Dr. Hille- gass and his family are members of the new Gossenhoppen church at East Greenville.
On September 8, 1891, at Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, Charles Q. Hille- gass married Ella Siegfried, daughter of William D. and Ellen (Hoch) Siegfried, and they are the parents of one son, Foster Calvin (q. v.).
FOSTER CALVIN HILLEGASS, editor of the weekly newspaper, "Town and Country," founded by his father, Dr. Charles Q. Hillegass, has been identified with that publication since the completion of his edu- cation, and since 1914 has filled his present position, that of editor, most satisfactorily.
Mr. Hillegass was born in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, September 10, 1892, and after receiving his preparatory education in the public schools of his native district and Perkiomen School, entered Franklin and Mar- shall College, where his formal training was completed. Immediately upon the completion of his education he became associated with the weekly publication which his father owned and managed, and that con- nection he has maintained to the present time, rising through various promotions to the position of editor, which he has held for the past eight years. That he is equal to the responsibilities of that position is evidenced by the fact that the circulation of the paper has continued to increase and its popularity has grown steadily. The fact that the owner of this weekly sheet is also owner of a paper mill which he operates himself was a distinct advantage during the war-time shortage, and this part of the business activities of father and son is also a distinctly suc- cessful and prosperous one. Mr. Hillegass is the owner of a half interest
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