He was a sea captain, and died of fever [date unknown] at Martinique, West Indies. Two children: Herman Stout and Jane. Married second, John Hood, son of Hugh West, of Alexandria, Va. He born January 28, 1791; died April 8, 1817. Two children: Washington Hugh and Anna Maria. She died March 16, 1855; buried in Palmer Cemetery, Kensington, Philadelphia, Pa. Mrs. West though not prominent like her older sister in the family annals, yet had also quite an interesting personality. Early in life, and shortly after her marriage to Mr. West, who was a druggist, she began the study of Pharmacy under his direction, and later, for her proficiency and skill, received a "Certificate," the first given to a woman [the only one in her class] in the State of Pennsylvania. Her reliability as a druggist was such that in 1825, some years after her husband's death, she was the Official Apothecary for the District of Kensington. She was then the only druggist in the locality, the only female druggist in Philadelphia, and possibly in the United States. At the time of her death, in 1855, when long past three score years and ten, she still carried on the business in Kensington. 3. Anna Maria Stout Born in Greenwich village, New York City, July 15, 1789; married* John Vaughan,† of Kensington, Philadelphia, March 26, 1808. She died March 14, *Married by the Reverend Sylvester G. Hill, Pastor of the Kensington Methodist Episcopal Church, who was born July 26, 1784; died July 24, 1825; buried in the cemetery of St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal Church, Mt. Holly, N. J. + John Vaughan was of Welsh ancestry. The name, originally spelled Vychan, Vahan, means the little or younger one, and owes its present Anglicised form to the gradual changes that have taken place in its orthography through the many centuries of the family's existence. From their home in Wales, where there were Princes of the name long prior to the Norman Conquest of England, branches of the Vaughan family have been formed in the United Kingdom, as also in America; so that, at the present day, those of the name and blood can be numbered by thousands in both places. It is not known who was the immediate ancestor of John Vaughan, nor the time of his arrival in America. The first one of his family of whom we have knowledge is his grandfather, Griffith Vaughan, who married Elizabeth Norris, February 9, 1756; this marriage being recorded at the First German Reformed Church, Philadelphia, Pa. [Elizabeth Norris, a daughter of John and Sarah Norris who were English Friends, was born February 4, 1736. She was the younger sister of John Norris, the shipbuilder, who was born April 13, 1735.] Their son Thomas married Mary Bryan, July 21, 1778, as shown by the records of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Pa. Thomas Vaughan died February 12, 1842, aged 85; his wife, Mary, January 28, 1843, aged 84. Both are buried in Palmer Cemetery, Kensington, Philadelphia. They had ten children, viz.: Thomas, Griffith, John, William, Joseph, Catharine, Elizabeth, Susan, Rebecca, and Margaret. Their son John is the subject of this sketch. John Vaughan early in life learned the trade of a shipwright, serving his apprenticeship with his oldest brother, Thomas, of the ship-building firm of Vaughan and Bowers, the builders of the fast clipper ship "Rebecca Sims." He showed a natural aptitude for this occupation, for when a lad but twelve years of age, he made with his jackknife a good model of the ship "Southwark," which is still in existence. This model is 5 ft. long, 1 ft. wide, and 1 ft. in depth. He became established in business when a very young man, and through his ability, industry, and progressiveness, became one of the most noted ship-builders of his day. At the period of the war of 1812, a vessel which he was constructing at Millville, N. J., was burned upon the stocks by the British, and he was obliged to return to Philadelphia, with his wife and children. Mr. Vaughan first introduced into the shipyards of Philadelphia the use of Hackmatack, which was an important feature in constructing the knees of the wooden vessels of that period. [Hackmatack was the popular name for the very large and valuable American black Larch or Tamarack tree, of Indian origin, much prized for timber.] The introduction of this strong, tough wood into the construction of his vessels, in a measure, accounted for their staunchness and durability, and many of them were still in existence, within a few years. At his Shackamaxon Street yard (now the site of the Shackamaxon ferry and the Pennsylvania Railroad freight yard), John Vaughan built numerous vessels; they were of all classes, of which a few may be mentioned, viz.: the steamboats "Washington," "Atlantic," "Sun," "Zephyr," and "Robert Morris": the barques "Hareoka," "Minnesota," and "St. James;" the brig "Violet:" the schooners "Leader" and "Driver;" the steamships "John Sergeant," "Kensington," "Constitution," "Charleston," "Delaware," "Thomas Corbin," and "Philadelphia;" for the East India and China trade, the "Montezuma," ," "Algonquin," and "Pocahontas;" and for the Cope Line of packet service between Philadelphia and Liverpool, established by Thomas P. Cope, in 1821, the "Monongahela," "Susquehannah," "Shenandoah," "Saranac," "Wyoming," and "Thomas P. Cope"-the last named for the founder of the line. The steam-boat "Robert Morris" was first used for carrying passengers in what was then known as the French-town route to Baltimore, which was the principal avenue of communication between New York and the New England States, and the South. In this service the veteran steamer carried many of the most eminent statesmen of the country on their way to and from Washington. At the commencement of the Civil War, she was chartered by the United States Government, and was engaged in transporting troops on the Chesapeake Bay. This ancient boat was broken up at the I. P. Morris Company's establishment, Philadelphia, in June, 1877, after having passed the forty-seventh anniversary of her launching at the Shackamaxon Street wharf, May 1, 1830. The "Thomas P. Cope," commanded by Captain H. F. Miercken, in November, 1846, was struck by lightning when at sea, and lost; the passengers, after six days, being rescued by the Canadian ship, "Emigrant," were afterwards transferred to the ship "Washington Irving," bound for Boston, where they were landed. [In the twenties a ship of four hundred tons burden was considered a good-sized vessel; none of the ships owned by Stephen Girard were over 400 tons, and the first large ships that sailed from this port were those of the Cope Line. These clipper packets were built in the days when the best sailing ships in the world were 1855. He born October 31, 1786; died February 19, 1846. Both buried at North Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia. Eight children: Anna Maria, Jacob Keen, Mary Bryan, Emeline, Eliza, Louisa, Elizabeth, and Cornelia Burke. Children and Descendants of Elizabeth Byles First Child of Herman Stout and Ann Hall 1. William Ball Hamilton Born August 30, 1799; married Angeline De Witt Thompson, December 17, 1826. He died August 11, 1862. She born October 8, 1802; died April 11, 1882. One child: James Augustus. James Augustus Hamilton, born October 4, 1827; married Emma Longenecker, December 11, 1849. He died January 3, 1889. She born December 11, 1831; died November 25, 1902. One child: William David, born December 7, 1860; unmarried. 2. George James Hamilton Born February 17, 1802; married Mary Rulon. He died June 30, 1883. She born November 24, 1802; died September 7, 1879. Three children: Ann Elizabeth, Martha Cookman and Thomas Elston. Ann Elizabeth Hamilton, born 1825; married Joseph P. Cramer. She died August 24, 1866. He born 1818; died May 1, 1880. Two children: George Hamilton, born 1848, died December 26, 1889, unmarried; Joseph P., born 1850, died February 16, 1870, unmarried. launched from the American yards. What the Cunard Line of steamships now is to the various transatlantic lines, so was the Cope Line of Liverpool Packets to the Atlantic sailing fleets of the day.] In the days of Mr. Vaughan's career as a shipbuilder, the shipcarpenters worked from sunrise to sunset, and it was the custom of the shipping merchants to send to the yards hogsheads of "Jamaica or Barbadoes rum,' which was ladled out to the workmen in the form of grog, about ten o'clock in the morning. Mr. Vaughan was always deeply interested in the physical and moral welfare of his workmen, and seeing the evil effects of this pernicious habit upon his men, many of whom became addicted to inebriety, he, by moral suasion and an increase in their daily wages, almost entirely banished stimulants from his place of business. One of the vital questions of the day was the cause of Temperance, and the outcome of this procedure for the uplifting of his workmen was the organization of a Temperance Society, for their benefit, as well as for others in the locality. This was the first society of its kind in Kensington, and Mr. Vaughan became the first President. Another philanthropic work, in which he was the principal mover, to improve the condition of the worthy poor, was the founding of a Soup Society, which later became the nucleus of the present "Kensington Soup Society," which was incorporated in 1854. John Vaughan, being a man of affairs, in addition to an extensive acquaintance in the shipping and business circles of Philadelphia, enjoyed the friendship of some of her most prominent citizens, and among them were Horace Binney, the eminent lawyer; James F. Wood, who went into the Roman Catholic Church and became Archbishop of Philadelphia, and John Vaughan, Esq. The last named was an Englishman by birth, and was prominent in the social life of Philadelphia; he was Secretary of the American Philosophical Society for sixty years, one of the Corporators of the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society, and was British Consul at Philadelphia, where he died December 30, 1841, aged 86 years. The following letter is from him to Mr. John Vaughan: "Mr. John Vaughan [Notes. My dear Sir No subject has interested me so much for many years as that of Education, & The date on the original of this letter was torn off. Mr. Edmund Neville was an Englishman, and a graduate of Oxford University. Becoming dissipated he came to America, and whilst attending a Camp-Meeting near Pittsburg, Pa., became converted. Finally settling in Philadelphia, he opened a school for young ladies, and after a few years studied for the ministry, under the auspices of the Reverend George Boyd, D.D., Rector of St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, Northern Liberties. The Reverend Edmund Neville, D.D., became the first Rector of St. Philip's Protestant Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, a position he occupied for seven years.] John Vaughan, at the age of eighteen years, became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Kensington, familiarly known as the "Old Brick," and consistently and faithfully followed his religious profession until the end of his life. At the time of his decease, in 1846, he was President of the Board of Trustees of this church. Mr.Vaughan was a benevolent and public-spirited citizen, who, by an honorable life, won the love and esteem of the community in which he lived. Upon the Saturday previous to his burial, the shipping in the Port of Philadelphia displayed their flags at half-mast, as a testimonial of respect to his memory. |