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 Capt. John Harper

Capt. John Harper was a native of Philadelphia; and followed the sea for many years after he was grown. In 1750 he settled in Alexandria, Va., where he died in his 87th year. He was married twice, and had twenty-nine children, eighteen sons and eleven daughters. Charles, the youngest son by his first wife, married Lucy Smither, who was of Scotch descent, and by her he had two children. He was married the second time to a Miss January, by whom he had nine children. The second son of his last wife, whose name was Charles B., was born in … Read more

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

Biography of Thomas Newman

In the veins of this gentleman flowed sturdy English blood, for in Dorchester, England, he first saw the light of day. In his boyhood he was brought to this country by his father, John Newman, and with him settled in Philadelphia, Pa., where the latter followed the calling of a mechanic, and eventually died. Thomas Newman attained manhood in the East and then embarked in the battle of life as a railroad engineer, but in 1858 or’59 turned his attention to newspaper work in Kansas, and through its pages advocated the cause of Abolition. After a short time he moved … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Walter C. Blaine

Walter C. Blaine was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, in the class of 189$. He commenced the practice at Murdock, where he remained until October, 1898, when he formed a partnership with Dr. William E. Rice, of Tuscola. Dr. Blaine is a native of Champaign, Illinois, and was born June 1 866. He graduated from the Champaign high school, and after four years attendance was graduated from the University of Illinois, at Champaign, on certificate. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, member of the Woodmen, and a member of the Douglas County Medical Society.

Biographical Sketch of G. Louis Meade

Meade, G. Louis; treas. The Tell Co. and vice pres. Cleveland Salt Co.; born, Camden, N. J., Jan. 8, 1870; son of William T. and Maria N. Stetser Meade; educated, public schools, Camden, N. J.; married, Camden, N. J., June 10, 1897, Emma Sommers Iszard; one son, Parker W. Meade, born March 19, 1898; in jobbing business in salt in Philadelphia from 1892 to 1899; went into salt combine in 1898; from 1898 to 1901, worked in confidential capacity with trust in New York; 1902, sec’y Cleveland Salt Co., 1909, treas. and vice pres.; member Chamber of Commerce, and Athletic … Read more

Slave Narrative of Rev. Silas Jackson

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Rev. Silas Jackson Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Virginia Date of Birth: 1846 or 47 Place of Residence: 1630 N. Gilmor St., Baltimore, Maryland Age: (about) 90 Reference: Personal interview with Rev. Silas Jackson, ex-slave, at his home, 1630 N. Gilmor St., Baltimore. “I was born at or near Ashbie’s Gap in Virginia, either in the year of 1846 or 47. I do not know which, but I will say I am 90 years of age. My father’s name was Sling and mother’s Sarah Louis. They were purchased by my master from a slave trader … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Frank Noville

Noville, Frank; dentist; born, Cleveland, May 6, 1869; son of William and Carried Bohnard Noville; educated, public schools of Cleveland, and graduate of Philadelphia Dental College, 1890; married, Philadelphia, Sept. 27, 1893, Mathilda E. Wocher; member Eanettsonian Society of Philadelphia, and Northern Ohio Dental Society. Recreation: Automobiling.

Biographical Sketch of William A. Wiseman

William A. Wiseman, a well known physician of Camargo, where he has been in successful practice for several years, was born at Waterloo, Lawrence County, Ohio, January 1, 1853, and is a son of Abner and Martha J. (Irwin) Wiseman. His father was a native of Virginia and his mother of Ohio. Isaac Wiseman’s grandfather was also born in Virginia and his maternal grandfather, George Irwin, was born in Virginia. Dr. Wiseman was reared in his native County, where he attended the public schools and subsequently, in 1878, became a student at DePauw University, where he pursued a regular college … Read more

Biography of William Schwartz

William Schwartz was one of the pioneers of Eastern Kansas. Many of his activities identified him with Miami County and the City of Paola, though in later years his interests were widely extended. Throughout his career the traits of industry and enterprise are strongly pronounced. He was born in Nassau, Germany, May 4, 1838, and there obtained his early education. He was one of a family of seven children, two sons and five daughters. When he was eighteen years of age, in 1856, William Schwartz set out for the land of promise, crossed the ocean and landed in Philadelphia. He … Read more

Emilie Schaumburg, Mrs. Hughes-Hallett

Emilie Schaumburg

Every Philadelphia girl who has hoped to be a belle during this last quarter of the century, and even many who have been without social aspirations, have been brought up on traditions of Emilie Schaumburg. Yet so eminent was the place she held in the old city whose standard of belleship had been fixed far back in the colonial days of America, that no one has ever succeeded her. Accustomed through long generations to women of wit, beauty, and a certain unapproachable taste in matters of personal adornment, Philadelphia has developed a critical instinct which is not easily satisfied “The … 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

Biographical Sketch of Harry Brinton Jones

Jones, Harry Brinton; florist; born, West Chester, Pa., Sept. 13, 1872; son of William, Jr., and Mary B. Painter Jones; educated, West Chester Friends High School and Pierce Business College, Philadelphia, Pa.; 1890-1893, apprentice to Robert Craig & Co., Philadelphia; 1894-1898, mgr. The Penroch Floral Co., Wilmington, Del.; for four months, floral artist to J. Lewis Lousie, Washington, D. C.; asst. mgr. the J. M. Gasser Co., from Oct. 9, 1899, to July 1, 1909; since then sec’y and treas. The Jones & Russel Co.; member Biglow Lodge, F. A. M., and Rotary Club; member Society of Friends; fond of … Read more

Biography of T. J. March, Sr.

T. J. March, Sr., dealer in furniture, Charleston; was born in Baltimore, Md., March 22, 1807; he is the only son of John and Eliza March; losing his father in early childhood, he was very early in life thrown upon his own resources; at the age of 8 years, he was placed in a tailor shop, where he was put to ripping up old clothes, after which he worked successively for a tobacconist in stripping tobacco, in a chair-factory, learning to bottom chairs, and in a sieve-factory. In his 15th year, he began learning the house-joiner’s trade, and on becoming … Read more

The Turner Family Magazine

The Turner family magazine

In 1916 and 1917, William Montgomery Clemens edited a series of pamphlets called the Turner Family Magazine. It was meant to be a genealogical, historical and biographical magazine about the Turner family across the United States. That series of magazines was later published in 1920 as a complete bound volume. This is what this book is.

Baxendale Family of Brockton, Massachusetts

thos a baxendale

Thomas Albert Baxendale, late of Brockton, was for a number of years successfully and prominently identified with industrial interests as a manufacturer of box toes for men’s boots and shoes. He won distinction in business circles as the founder of that branch of the shoe business in which he made his chief success – the manufacture of box toes – and was a substantial and respected citizen of the city in which his success was achieved. Mr. Baxendale was of English birth and parentage, born Feb. 29, 1840, in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, youngest child of the late Robert and Hannah (Dawson) Baxendale.

Biographical Sketch of R. B. F. Watrons

R. B. F. Watrons. – No man in Redlands is more worthy of mention in a work of this kind than is B. F. Watrons, M. D. He came to Redlands with $350, with which he bought a team and went to work. He had previously contracted for ten acres of land for $1,000, and had paid $250 down. He began improving it the second year and put up a $400 house. He afterward bought ten acres more for $1,500 and borrowed money for the first payment. In five years he had bought and paid for thirty-one acres in Redlands … Read more

Blacker, Mary E. – Obituary

Mary E. Blacker died November 19, 1920, at the home of her son Robert, in South union, at the age of 91 years. The funeral took place from the residence Sunday November 21, 1920 at 2 p.m. She was laid to rest by her husband, who preceded her to the Great Beyond 9 years ago. Mary Elizabeth Duignan was born in Ireland in 1829. She came to this country at the age of nineteen years, settling in Philadelphia, where she spent three years with friends. She then left for San Francisco to join a brother who was living there. She … Read more

Biography of John Quincy Smith

John Quincy Smith. The career of J. Quincy Smith, of Fredonia, had been an expression of well directed and diversified industry and in its development had invaded various fields of human activity, in each of which J. Q. Smith had won a full measure of material success and satisfying reputation. He had had experience in both professional and business labors, and while he is now retired from the activities of life, having approached the Psalmist’s three-score-and-ten years, is still an influence for good in his community and a citizen whose help and support continue to be factors for the development … Read more

Biography of Hugh Beverly Roney

HUGH BEVERLY RONEY, M. D., a progressive and successful physician of Pittsfield, whose preparations for his profession were made in leading educational institutions and whose success well appraises his ability, is interested in local and general progress, and in his profession he has attained an enviable position. He is a son of Gifford and Victoria (Lott) Roney, the father now deceased, the mother a resident of Pittsfield. Hugh Beverly Roney was born at Colborne, Canada, January 20, 1886. He received his early education in the public schools of his birthplace and spent two years in the high schools of Newburgh, … Read more