Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Pennsylvania, renowned as the birthplace of American democracy, is a city steeped in history and rich in cultural heritage. Founded by William Penn in 1682 as part of the Pennsylvania Colony, Philadelphia played a central role in the early history of the United States. It was here that the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 and the U.S. Constitution was drafted in 1787, within the walls of Independence Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Philadelphia served as the nation’s capital from 1790 to 1800 before the government relocated to Washington, D.C. Located in Philadelphia County, the only county in the state with the same boundaries as its city, Philadelphia is Pennsylvania’s largest city and the sixth-most populous in the U.S. Geographically, it is situated at the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, providing a strategic location that has contributed to its historical prominence as a port and commercial center.

Biography of Andrew C. Jobes

Andrew C. Jobes. Though vice president of the First National Bank of Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Jobes still had his home in Kansas and had been a resident of the state for thirty-two years. Throughout that time he had been an active factor in banking, and made his reputation which preceded him to the metropolitan district of Kansas City at Wichita, where he assisted in building up one of the largest and strongest banks of Southern Kansas. Like many men who have gained prominence in the financial world Mr. Jobes was born in a home of comparative poverty, and was … Read more

Biography of John Birch McClain

JOHN BIRCH McCLAIN. – This pioneer, whose record extends to the memorable year of 1843, was born January 31, 1820, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the son of John and Mary Swallow McClane. At the age of twenty-two, he left Philadelphia for Texas with the purpose of assisting General Sam Houston to gain the independence of Texas. The ship, however, upon which he took passage, sailing from Delaware Bay in a storm, was delayed thirty days; and, upon his arrival in New Orleans, the young man found that Houston had withdrawn his proclamation of war against Mexico, and that he … Read more

Biography of John P. Williamson

JOHN P. WILLIAMSON. – This active business man and capitalist of Union county, Oregon, was born in Philadelphia in 1851, and spent the years of his infancy upon a farm. At the age of four he came with his parents to Iowa, three years later to Missouri, and in 1862 crossed the plains to the Grande Ronde valley. He recalls many interesting scenes and incidents of that journey, – among others how his elder sister, in following the well-known maxim of the traveler of the early day, to wit, “Get out and walk,” was chased through a cut-off by two … Read more

Slave Narrative of Page Harris

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Page Harris Location: Camp Parole, Maryland Place of Birth: Charles County MD Date of Birth: 1858 Place of Residence: Campe Parole, A. A. C. Co., MD Reference: Personal interview with Page Harris at his home, Camp Parole, A.A.C. Co., Md. “I was born in 1858 about 3 miles west of Chicamuxen near the Potomac River in Charles County on the farm of Burton Stafford, better known as Blood Hound Manor. This name was applied because Mr. Stafford raised and trained blood hounds to track runaway slaves and to sell to slaveholders of Maryland, Virginia and other … Read more

Biography of David Lister

DAVID LISTER. – David Lister of Tacoma, Washington, belongs to that class of men who have done so much for the material prosperity of our country by being the first to go into new places and build up new industries. He was born in England in 1821, and came to New York in 1847. He worked for steamboat companies in that city until 1854, when he went to Philadelphia and connected himself with the Delaware Canal Company, where he remained ten years. He then went to Pestico, Wisconsin, a town located among the pineries on Green Bay. In that place … Read more

Record of the Smith family descended from John Smith

This book contains the history of the descendants of John Smith, born in Ireland in 1686, died in Uwchlan, Chester County, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1765; and his wife, Susanna, born in Ireland in 1691, died in Uwchlan, Chester County, Pennsylvania, December 24, 1767.

Biographical Sketch of Ellis Jones Chesbro

Chesbro, Ellis Jones; dentist; born, Cleveland, Dec. 25, 1868; son of George W. and Miss Boyce Chesbro; educated, Willoughby High School, Allegheny College, A. B.; University of Pennsylvania, D. D. S.; married, Washington, D. C., May 9, 1906, Eugenna C. Davis; one son; member Northern Ohio Dental Ass’n and Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.

Biography of Alexander E. Mayhew

The rewards of purity in public life are many, but one of the most important and apparent is continuance in public life. This is true everywhere, and of course it is true in Idaho, where the fact is emphasized and illustrated by the career of Judge Mayhew of Wallace, Shoshone County, Idaho. At least he lives at Wallace, but he is a man of the west and for the west, and his influence is active and far-reaching. Alexander E. Mayhew, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Conklin) Mayhew, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 31, 1830. His father, a native of … Read more

Slave Narrative of James Wiggins

Person Interviewed: James Wiggins Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Anne Arundel County MD Date of Birth: 1850-1851 Place of Residence: 625 Barre St. Reference: Personal interview with James Wiggins, ex-slave, at his home, 625 Barre St. “I was born in Anne Arundel County, on a farm near West River about 1850 or 1851, I do not know which. I do not know my father or mother. Peter Brooks, one of the oldest colored men in the county, told me that my father’s name was Wiggins. He said that he was one of the Revells’ slaves. He acquired my father … Read more

Biography of J. B. Congle

J.B. CONGLE. – Mr. Congle was one of the men of wealth who contributed largely to the early growth and prosperity of our state, and especially of Portland. He was born December 9, 1817, in Chester county, Pennsylvania. In the year 1832 he went to Philadelphia to learn the harness and saddlery trade, and in the spring of 1838 removed to Virginia, thence to Missouri, and in the year 1841 was at Lafayette, Indiana, where he resided ten years thereafter. On May 21, 1844, he was married to Miss Ellen H. Gray, of the place last named. He came as … Read more

Biography of James A. Wendell

To the subject of this sketch more than to any other person, perhaps, is due the fact that the finest plant in the United States for the manufacture of table oil cloth is now located in Rock Island. During a long career as traveling salesman for an eastern manufacturer he was impressed with the advantages of the upper Mississippi valley as a site for a factory, and it was the soundness of his reasoning which impressed the officers of the Standard Oil Cloth Company and led to the location of the present factory on the Father of Waters at Rock … Read more

Biography of Fred C. Childs

Fred C. Childs, now superintendent of the Cudahy Refining Company at Coffeyville, is an oil refiner of almost world wide experience. He has been connected with that industry since youth, and has spent a number of years in the Kansas field. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 10, 1867, a son of Caleb O. and Sarah A. (Langdon) Childs. His Childs ancestors came from England to Rhode Island in colonial times. His great-grandfather John Cole Childs was a Revolutionary soldier and an extensive land owner in Rhode Island. His grandfather, Thomas Cole Childs, was born in Rhode Island in … Read more

Biography of John Harris

John Harris, immigrant ancestor, was of Scotch-Irish descent, it is said, but was born in Yorkshire, England. He came to this country as early as 1682 and engaged in trade with the Indians at the suggestion of his friend, Edward Shippen. In January, 1705, he received a license from the colonial government allowing him to locate on the Susquehanna river and erect such buildings as are necessary for his trade and to enclose such quantities of land as he shall think fit. During one of his expeditions as a licensed Indian trader he beheld the beauties and advantages of Paxtang. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Dr. A.H. Parkes

Dr. A. H. Parkes, whose birth occurred on the farm where he now resides, in Moore County, October 11, 1936, is one of seven surviving children, born to the union of Martin L. and Susan (Smith) Parkes. The father was a native of North Carolina, born in 1793, and came to this county about 1818. He was an officer in the war of 1812, and was magistrate in Lincoln County for several years. He was a tiller of the soil, and died December, 12, 1845. The mother was born August, 8, 1803, in Virginia, and came to this county in … Read more

Biography of Alfred Joel Nims

ALFRED JOEL NIMS, D. D. S. The most active and useful membership in his community that Dr. Nims has held as a dental practitioner for the long period of forty-five years, has always justified the honors of the bestowal of place and preferment upon him by his fellow-townsmen at Turners Falls. His life has spoken in no uncertain terms through the practice of his profession, in which he has never failed as an exponent of the results of the most advanced thinking in dental science; while in his civic and social relationships Dr. Nims on a number of occasions has … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Charles E. Pool

Pool, Charles E.; coal operator; born, Irwin, Pa., July 8, 1881; educated, public schools; married, Philadelphia, Feb. 18, 1911; business career, real estate, Allegheny City, Pa., 1890-1902, W. Y. Bygate Co.; vice pres. one year; 1903, owned and operated coal mine at Gorman. Md., on the West Va. Central; 1904, organized The Continental Fuel Co.; 1906, owned and operated Quaker Valley mine, Rogers, O.; 1908, owned and operated Shamrock mines, Moro, Pa.; sold to Pittsburg Cambria Co.; same year, took over Russell Hill at Delroy, O.; 1910, operated mine at Clements, W. Va.; 1912, organized Claybrook Coal Mining Co.; Banner … Read more

Biography of John H. Thornton

Mr. John H. Thornton, veteran of the Civil War and for many years employed in the Government service at Rock Island Arsenal, was born in Ireland June 24, 1847, and died at his home in Moline July 9, 1903. He was the son of Patrick and Mary Thornton and came to America with his parents while an infant, aged nine months. The mother died in Rochester, New York, after which the father removed to Philadelphia, from which city, at the age of sixteen, young Thornton enlisted, July 26, 1862, in Company Fifty-three, Twenty-Ninth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, Third Infrntry. His Company … Read more

Biography of Edwin C. Baxter

EDWIN C. BAXTER THE subject of our sketch, Dr. Edwin C. Baxter, is of A New England ancestry, born at Kenduskeag, ME., February 1, 1845. He is a son of Dr. Hiram C. Baxter, of Kenduskeag, a prominent physician, who, for nearly sixty years, has devoted himself to the practice of his profession. His grandfather, Dr. Elihu Baxter, also an eminent physician of Maine, was born in Norwich, VT., in 1781. He practiced his profession over sixty years, a considerable portion of the time in the city of Portland, where his character as a citizen and skill as a physician … Read more

Biography of Joseph Rosenblum

JOSEPH ROSENBLUM is one of the most extensive onion operators in the United States, a man who has established the onion market, who has brought order to certain commercial conditions, and who has brought success not only to himself but to the scores of producers who are most vitally concerned. He is a power to be reckoned with in American commercial and financial circles, and has achieved this high position solely through his own ability, probity and perseverance. The State of Massachusetts, looking to her men of agricultural industries for the most favorable reports that she is accustomed to pass … Read more

Biography of R. C. Holderness

Dr. R. C. Holderness was born in the state of North Carolina in the year 1827. In the year 1850 he graduated in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, and subsequently moved to the state of Arkansas, Calhoun County, where he began the successful practice he has always enjoyed. In the year 1863 he migrated to Hopkins County, where he has lived since in the enjoyment of a lucrative practice. The doctor married Miss Virginia Thomas, an old Carolina lady, in the state of Arkansas. They both came from the same county in North Carolina and migrated to the same … Read more