USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume III > Part 37
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Battalion, 313th Infantry, and on June 25, 1919, received an honorable discharge. For his conduct at Montfaucon, Major Morris was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross of the United States army, and was subsequently awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm by Marshal Petain, of the French army. He was also created a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur of France and awarded the cross of that order.
Since his return, Mr. Morris has practiced his profession in Philadel- phia, and is now a member of the law firm of Barnes, Biddle & Morris. Politically he is a Republican. He is a director of the Chestnut Street Realty Company, and the S. S. White Dental Manufacturing Company, the Girard Trust Company, and the United Gas Improvement Company. His clubs are the Philadelphia, Racquet, Penn Athletic, Merion Cricket, University Barge, Whitemarsh Valley Hunt and Pickering Hunt. He was a member of Alpha Delta Phi, and the Scroll and Key Society of Yale University.
On February 19, 1917, Mr. Morris married, in Philadelphia, Julia Peabody Lewis, daughter of Francis Draper (see sketch following) and Mary Humphreys (Chandler) Lewis, of Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. Morris are the parents of two children: Effingham Buckley (3), born November 21, 1917; Julia Pemberton, born January 15, 1922. These children represent the sixth generation of the Morris family in continuous occupation of the old Morris house, No. 225 South Eighth street, Phila- delphia, where their parents live.
FRANCIS DRAPER LEWIS, of the old established firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, is one of those members of the Philadelphia bar who for nearly half a century have aided in the maintenance of its ancient prestige. Mr. Lewis is quietly influential in behalf of all that he deems conducive to the welfare of his home city, and is well known in his club circles and also in those of New York.
Joseph W. Lewis, a representative of a very old family of Eastern Massachusetts, and father of Francis Draper Lewis, was born June 7, 1823, in Boston, and graduated from the English High School of that city. In 1839 he came to Philadelphia, and for a number of years was a member of the firm of Lewis Brothers & Company, dry goods com- mission merchants. He belonged to the Union League, and in all ways proved himself a public-spirited citizen. He married Anne H. Kidder, . born July 27, 1825, in Boston, where her family has been resident for several generations. The death of Mr. Lewis occurred on March 10, 1908.
Francis Draper Lewis, son of Joseph W. and Anne H. (Kidder) Lewis, was born August 29, 1849, in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended the Episcopal Academy of Philadelphia. In 1865 he entered Amherst College, graduating in 1869 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He was fitted for his profession at the Harvard Law School, receiving from that institution in 1871 the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In 1872 he was admitted to the bar, and immediately began the general practice of law in the office of John C. Bullitt. In 1873 Mr. Lewis, in association with Charles E. Morgan, founded the firm of Morgan & Lewis. After
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remaining unchanged for twenty-four years, in 1897 the name became Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Mr. Lewis now being the senior partner.
The principles of the Republican party are those to which Mr. Lewis accords the support of his influence and vote. His clubs are the Univer- sity, Philadelphia Cricket, and Sunnybrook Golf, and the University Club of New York, and he also belongs to the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Martin-in-the- Fields at Chestnut Hill.
Mr. Lewis married, April 28, 1887, in Philadelphia, Mary Humphreys Chandler, daughter of Charles W. and Julia A (Peabody) Chandler, and they are the parents of the following children : 1. Mary C., born August II, 1888. 2. Joseph W., born August 20, 1889; graduate of Sheffield Scien- tific School, Yale University, class of 1911, and Pennsylvania University Law School, class of 1914. 3. Julia Peabody, born September 26, 1890; married Effingham B. Morris, Jr. (see preceding sketch). 4. Charles C., born December 28, 1891, now deceased. 5. Anne, born March 22, 1893; married Dr. Francis C. Grant, of Philadelphia, and they are the parents of three sons, Francis C., John B. and Joseph Lewis. 6. Francis D., born September 14, 1895, now deceased. 7. Winslow, born May 30, 1904.
CLIFTON SWENK HUNSICKER-Son of an eminent member of the Montgomery county bar, Clifton S. Hunsicker inherited profes- sional tastes, but embraced journalism, a new departure in the family. From youth until the present (1923) Mr. Hunsicker has devoted himself to newspaper work, and through a severe course of training in many capacities on the metropolitan and county papers, came to the editor's chair. He is now secretary of The Register Printing Company of Norris- town, Pennsylvania, of which he is one of the founders and a member of the editorial staff of "The Evening Register" of Norristown, a revival of a newspaper founded in 1800, which had a successful career for over a century but suspended publication in its one hundred and fifteenth year.
The Hunsicker family of which he is a member in the sixth American generation was founded in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, by Val- entine Hunsicker, who came from Canton Zurich, Switzerland, in 1717, and settled in Skippack township, Montgomery county, where he bought a farm of two hundred and twenty-five acres, and there died, March 30, 1771.
Jacob Reiff Hunsicker, a lineal descendant of the founder, and father of Clifton S. Hunsicker, was born in Lower Salford township, Montgom- ery county, Pennsylvania, April 18, 1836. He spent his youth on the farm, and was educated at Freeland Seminary, Collegeville, and at Wash- ington Hall, in Trappe. Beginning at the age of seventeen years, he taught school at Greenville, various other places in Montgomery county, and elsewhere. In April, 1858, he began the study of law with Charles Hunsicker, and in May, 1861, was admitted to the Montgomery county bar. He located in Norristown and became one of the strong men of the Montgomery county bar. He married Susan Rebecca Swenk, and they were the parents of Clifton Swenk Hunsicker, of further mention.
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Clifton Swenk Hunsicker was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, October 5, 1872, and there yet resides, a veteran journalist. He was educated in the public schools of Norristown, finishing with high school graduation, after which he began his newspaper work. He gained his early experience and training on Philadelphia newspapers, later being on New York City and Bayonne, New Jersey, papers. In 1889 he returned to Norristown and formed an association with the Norristown "Times," which association existed for twenty-three years. During that period he served as reporter, city editor, telegraph editor, and feature writer; for fifteen years was a member of the board of directors, and traveled extensively in Europe, Northern Africa and the Near East. During his foreign tours he wrote a number of travel articles for various American publications that were well received.
On January 1, 1923, the "Times" was sold to R. B. Strassburger and merged with the Norristown "Herald," Mr. Hunsicker retiring. He then, with others, organized the Register Printing Company, of which he is secretary, that company beginning later the publication of "The Eve- ning Register" under a Pennsylvania charter. This was the rebirth of the journal which suspended publication in 1915, previously mentioned.
While subject to the second selection draft, Mr. Hunsicker was officially exempted in consideration of the valuable civilian service he was rendering as deputy food administrator and chief of the newspaper division of the United States Food Administration during the World War period, 1917-18. For six weeks during the illness of his chief, Henry K. Boyer, he acted as food administrator of Montgomery county. He is a member of the Press League of Bucks and Montgomery counties, also an ex-president of same, and for ten years has been chairman of the executive committee. He is a member of the Pennsylvania State Editorial Association ; the National Editorial Association ; Montgomery County Historical Society ; and of Trinity Lutheran Church of Norris- town, which he served as vestryman for twelve years. His last public work of importance is in connection with the present "History of Mont- gomery County," now in course of preparation, of which he is editor- in-chief.
Clifton S. Hunsicker married (first) March 1, 1896, at Reading, Penn- sylvania, Maie Hurst, daughter of George and Marie Hurst, and to them three children were born: 1. Susan M., born July 29, 1897, an honor graduate of the Philadelphia School of Design, and for merit awarded the Wediner European Scholarship. 2. Andora E., born April 3, 1900. 3. J. de Masson, born March 19, 1915. Mr. Hunsicker married (second) at Norristown, January 5, 1921, Kathryn Xavier Donovan, daughter of Patrick and Mary Donovan. Mrs. Kathryn X. (Donovan) Hunsicker is a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church.
ABRAM TRIMBLE EASTWICK-Prominent among the successful business men of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, who are efficiently filling the positions of chief executives of important concerns, is Abram
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Trimble Eastwick, president of the James Lees & Sons Company, of Norristown, engaged in the manufacture of worsteds and woolen goods. Mr. Eastwick comes of a family which for several generations has been identified with large business interests, and which has been closely associated with the development of the eastern section of the State of Pennsylvania since the beginning of its history.
(I) John Eastwick, great-great-grandfather of Abram T. Eastwick, was a tanner of Newtown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in which place he was born. He served in the Revolutionary War, enlisting in Captain Nathaniel Vansent's company, 5th Pennsylvania Battalion, Continental Forces, commanded by Colonel Robert Magaw, and remaining in the service until November 16, 1776, when he was captured at Fort Wash- ington, New York, and held until sent home on parole, January 1, 1777, after which time he was not again called into service. He held the rank of sergeant at the time of his capture by the enemy. He married, October 4, 1771, Sarah Smith, and their children were: Letitia, who married John Wright; Thomas, of further mention; Stephen, married Elizabeth Cale; Mary, who married, April 21, 1791, Abram Vickers; Rachel, who married William Burnett; William Smith, unmarried ; Han- nah, married Nicholas Grubb; and John, who died in infancy. John Eastwick, the father, died February 17, 1837, near Wilmington, Delaware.
(II) Thomas Eastwick, son of John and Sarah (Smith) Eastwick, was born August 30, 1775, and served in the War of 1812, his discharge papers being dated 1817. He died in November, 1816, while on furlough during the War of 1812. He married, June 19, 1797, at Abington, Penn- sylvania, Margaret McCalla, daughter of Robert and Ruth (Morrey) McCalla. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Eastwick were the parents of the following children: Thomas (2); Sarah; Mary; Eliza, who married Samuel Cowperthwait; William Smith, married Hannah Simons; Rox- ana, died in early infancy ; and Andrew McCalla, of further mention.
(III) Andrew McCalla Eastwick, son of Thomas and Margaret (McCalla) Eastwick, was born September 14, 1810, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended the public schools until his twelfth year. He then learned the machinist's trade, and while working through the day he attended night school. At the age of twenty-one he became a partner in the business of his employer, Philip Garrett, a locomotive builder of Philadelphia, under the firm name of Garrett & Eastwick, and in 1835 the late Joseph Harrison was made foreman of the shops. Upon the retirement of Mr. Garrett in 1837, Joseph Harrison became a member of the firm, the style of which was changed to Eastwick & Harrison, and three years later, in 1840, the excellence of the locomotives built by the firm attracted the attention of the Russian Government, which firm later, in 1844, with Thomas Winans, of Baltimore, entered into a three-million dollar contract with the Russian Government through the agency of Major George Whistler, the father of the noted artist, James Whistler, to build the locomotives and rolling stock for the St. Peters- burg & Moscow railway. Mr. Eastwick went to Russia, and superin-
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tended the fulfillment of the contract so successfully that other contracts followed, but when the terms of the first had been fully met, Mr. East- wick returned to Philadelphia and retired from active business, severing his connection with the firm (1849). He was made president of the City Bank of Philadelphia, and took an active interest in local public affairs, serving, after the consolidation of the city, as a member of the Common Council from the Twenty-second Ward. Politically he gave his support first to the Whig party and later to the Republican party, and his religious affiliation was with St. James' Protestant Episcopal Church, of King- sessing, which he served as vestryman. To his talents and abilities as a business man Andrew McCalla Eastwick added the genius of the inventor. The world is indebted to him for what is known as the "equalizing beam," which is used on all locomotives of the present time. In 1850 Mr. Eastwick purchased of the descendants of the well known botanist, John Bartram, the estate on the banks of the Schuylkill river, later known as Bartram Hall, to which he removed his family in 1851, and where he continued to reside to the time of his death. After his death the city of Philadelphia purchased for a city park a portion of the Bartram place, including the old Bartram house and gardens and a few acres surrounding them. The two large iron lions now in front of Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park were cast in the locomotive works at Alexandrovski, three miles from St. Petersburg (Petrograd), and were brought from Russia by Mr. Eastwick, and presented to the city by Mrs. Eastwick after the death of her husband.
Andrew McCalla Eastwick married, April 12, 1832, in Philadelphia, Lydia Ann James, of Colonial ancestry, daughter of John and Maria T. (Quicksall) James, and they were the parents of fourteen children : Edward Peers; Joseph Harrison, of further mention; Charles James ; Philip Garrett; Margaret; Maria James; Julia, died young; William, born at Alexandrovski; George Whistler, died young ; Lydia Anne ; Mary Emma; Katherine; Andrew McC., Jr .; and Thomas Winans.
(IV) Joseph Harrison Eastwick, son of Andrew McCalla and Lydia Ann (James) Eastwick, was born December I, 1834, and received his early education in the schools of his native district in Philadelphia. He then specialized in chemistry, and after graduating from college in Phila- delphia, studied in Goettinger College, in Germany, and in schools in France, while his father, Andrew McCalla Eastwick, was in Russia building the railroad from Moscow to St. Petersburg (Petrograd) for the Russian Government. He later became one of the chemists in the service of the city of Philadelphia. He was interested in art, painted, traveled abroad and was a friend of James Whistler, the celebrated artist. He married, at West Chester, Pennsylvania, October 13, 1858, Katherine Trimble, daughter of William and Sarah (Vickers) Trimble, the former an educator in charge of a large girls' school near Downing- ton, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Harrison Eastwick became the parents of eight children : Joseph, died young ; William Trimble, unmar- ried ; Margaret Lydia; Abram Trimble, of further mention; Joseph
-
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Harrison, Jr .; Charles James; Andrew, died young; and Sarah, died young.
(V) Abram Trimble Eastwick, son of Joseph Harrison and Kath- erine (Trimble) Eastwick, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 14, 1865, and received his early education in the public schools of his native city. In the "university class" of the high school, he won a scholarship in the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1886 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He then was engaged in post-graduate study in that institution for a year, in the chemical department, which course he completed in 1887, receiving the degree of Chemical Engineer. His first position was that of chemist in the employ of the Franklin Sugar Refining Company, which connec- tion he retained for a year, and then for another year was associated with the Coahuila Mining Company of Mexico, in the same capacity. From 1889 to 1892 he was chemist for the McHose Iron Company, at Norristown, Pennsylvania, and then for two years was in charge of the chemical laboratory of the Carbon Steel Company of Pittsburgh. Upon the death of James Lees, his father-in-law, in 1894, he assumed the directorship of the woolen manufacturing business, operated under the name of James Lees & Sons Company, with mills at Bridgeport, Pennsyl- vania, and at the time of the incorporation of the concern in 1895 was elected treasurer of the corporation. That official position he continued to hold until the retirement of Charles F. Williams, January 1, 1921, at which time he was elected to succeed the latter as president. Under his wise and able management, the business of James Lees & Sons Company has steadily increased, and it now requires a force of more than 1,500 employees to handle its work.
Since 1905, Mr. Eastwick has been a member of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Norristown, Pennsylvania. Along with his business responsibilities and activities he has found time for public service. From 1903 to 1913 he served as school director for Norristown, and he has always been ready to do all in his power for the advancement of the public welfare. Politically he gives his support to the principles and the candidates of the Republican party. During the World War he took an active part in all the loan drives, war chest drives and Red Cross drives, and was an important factor in helping to carry the com- munity "over the top." Mr. Eastwick is a member of the Montgomery County Manufacturers' Association, and of the National Association of Manufacturers, and is well known in club circles, being a member of the Plymouth Country Club, the Norristown Club, the Union League of Philadelphia, and the Rotary Club, being president of the latter (1923). His religious affiliation is with the First Presbyterian Church of Norris- town, which he serves as a member of the board of trustees.
On October 18, 1892, at Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, Abram Trimble Eastwick married Alice Lees, daughter of Joseph and Maria L. (Hinkle) Lees, deceased, founder and former owner of the plant located at Bridge- port, Pennsylvania, of which Mr. Eastwick is now president (see Lees
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line). Mr. and Mrs. Eastwick are the parents of two children : Katherine, who married Spencer Lock Jones; and Joseph Lees Eastwick, a sketch of whom will be found on following pages.
(The Lees Line).
James Lees, grandfather of James Lees, of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, and ancestor of the branch of the Lees family to which Mrs. Alice T. (Lees) Eastwick belongs, was a native of Yorkshire, England, where his ancestors had lived for many years and where he was the first to introduce the carding of wool by machinery. He died at Gross Croft about 1797, survived by his wife, Anna, who died in 1811, at the age of eighty-eight. Among the children of James and Anna Lees was George, of further mention.
George Lees, son of James and Anna Lees, was born at Thornley, Yorkshire, England, in 1772, and died in 1839. He was a manufacturer of broadcloth. He married Hannah Winterbottom, daughter of Robert Winterbottom, and they were the parents of five children: Alice, who married Johnson Street, and resided in England; James, of further men- tion ; Mary Ann, who died in early life unmarried; Eliza, who married Robert Blackburn; and Maria, who married William Fielding.
James Lees, son of George and Hannah (Winterbottom) Lees, was born January 23, 1803, at Saddleworth, West Riding of Yorkshire, Eng- land, and died in 1887. He received a practical education in the local schools and was associated with his father in the manufacture of broad- cloth from the time he was ten years of age, working his way from one branch to another until he had mastered all the details of the industry. He came to the United States in 1842, and six years later, October 20, 1848, became a naturalized citizen. He settled in Philadelphia, where he was employed in the mills until 1846, in which year he engaged in business for himself, the record of this enterprise to follow.
In politics Mr. Lees was first a Whig and later a Republican, and served as a director of the almshouse from the Twenty-first Ward of Philadelphia, and also as a director of the schools from the same ward. He was a member of St. George's Society, and from 1853 to the close of his life was an elder of the Barren Hill Lutheran Church. James Lees married, June 2, 1823, at Saddleworth Church, Betty Seville, and they were the parents of six children: George S., born August 25, 1824, died August 3, 1853, unmarried; Joseph, died in infancy; Joseph, of further mention ; Mary Ann, died in infancy before her parents came to the United States ; John S., born August 8, 1840, died October 12, 1916; and Maria Seville, who married William C. Mackie, now deceased.
Joseph Lees, son of James and Betty (Seville) Lees, was born in Saddleworth, Yorkshire, England, June 19, 1830, and died March 27, 1894. He came to this country with his parents while he was still a child, settling in Philadelphia. He received his early education in the public schools of England, Philadelphia and Norristown, and then became a student in Treemount Seminary, in Norristown. When school-days were
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over, he became associated with his father, James Lees, and that con- nection was maintained throughout his active career, as a member of the firm in charge of the production end of the business. He married, in 1855, Maria Louisa Hinkle, daughter of Peter and Susan (Bechtel) Hinkle, and they are the parents of seven children: George S .; James, who died in infancy ; Susan B., who resides with her mother in Norris- town ; Mary A., who married Charles F. Williams, now deceased ; James (2), died in infancy; Elizabeth S. (Lizzie S.), who married Howard Alexander, now deceased; and Alice, who married Abram T. Eastwick (see Eastwick V).
James Lees & Sons Company, of Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, having become widely known the world over through its products, it is with great interest that the pages of this history open to receive and preserve the record of the growth of this great organization whose seat of activity is located in Montgomery county.
In 1849 the partnership of James Lees and Joseph Schofield was formed for the purpose of the manufacture of carpet yarns. The enter- prise, which was located at Robinson's Mill, on Mill Creek, was started in a small way under the firm name of Schofield & Lees, the equipment comprising one mule spinning frame, three condenser cards, and twelve hands. At the end of two years, 1851, Messrs. Lees and Schofield rented the Daniel Nippes Mill, on the same stream, and thus continued for two more years, or until the time when the latter withdrew from the concern, Mr. Lees continuing the manufacture of carpet yarn under the firm name of James Lees & Company, but with a location at Manayunk. Here he remained for about three months, when he admitted his son Joseph into partnership and sought headquarters in Derringer's Mill, Mill creek. The concern which was now known as James Lees & Son continued under that name until 1864, when it was again changed, this time to James Lees & Sons, upon the admission into the firm of John S. Lees.
Derringer's Mill continued to be the scene of the company's activities until February 17, 1864, when the plant was destroyed by fire, necessi- tating a removal to Robinson's Mill, at Bridgeport, which was built in 1852. After repairing the building and installing new machinery the organization began the manufacture of carpet yarn in their new location. This is the early history, in brief, of an enterprise which has since met with unbounded prosperity, and gives employment to more people than any other of its kind in that section.
James Lees died in 1887, and on March 27, 1894, his son, Joseph Lees, a native of Yorkshire, England, passed away, at the age of sixty-four years. In 1895 the business was incorporated under the name of James Lees & Sons Company, with the following personnel: Charles F. Wil- liams, president ; Wilfred L. Stauffer, vice-president ; Abram T. Eastwick, treasurer and secretary. In 1921 the following officers were elected and are still in office: Abram T. Eastwick, president ; Wilfred L. Stauffer, vice-president ; J. H. Halford, second vice-president; J. L. Eastwick, treasurer ; J. Ambler Williams, secretary; W. H. Finn, employment
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