Chester County Pennsylvania Biographies
ANDERSON, Isaac, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born at "Anderson Place," in Charlestown Township, near Valley Forge, Chester County, Pa., November 23, 1760; as a mere youth was the carrier of dispatches between the headquarters of the Revolutionary Army under General Washington at Valley Forge and the Congress then in session at York; served three terms of service in the Revolutionary War before attaining the age of eighteen and ultimately became an ensign in the Fifth Battalion of Chester County Militia; commissioned on May 24, 1779, as first lieutenant, Fifth Battalion, Sixth Company; justice of the peace in Charlestown Township for several years; member of the Pennsylvania house of representatives in 1801; elected as a Republican to the Eighth and Ninth Congresses (March 4, 1803-March 3, 1807); was not a candidate for renomination in 1806; engaged in agricultural pursuits and sawmilling; died at "Anderson Place," Charlestown Township, Pa., October 27, 1838; interment in the family burying ground near Valley Forge, Schuylkill Township, Chester County, Pa.
(Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present; contributed by A. Newell)
Transcribed by Nancy Piper
The amount of the inventory of the personal estate of the late Caleb Brinton, deceased, exceeded three hundred thousand dollars - 35,000 of which were deposited in the Bank of Chester County. - Village Rec. - Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) May 31, 1826
Caleb Brinton, son of Joseph and Mary (Peirce) Brinton was born September 22, 1727 and died April 6, 1826 at West Chester where he resided at that time. He married, first Letitia Yansewn.
Children:
100. i. George, b. 3 mo., 1758; d. 8-4-1846; m. (1), Elizabeth Yeatman; (2) Jane Pyle.
He was married, second, December 12, 1796, to Mary (Chandler?) Harvey. They were married by a magistrate for which they were disowned in 1797, but they were reinstated in 1807.
Caleb Brinton settled first in Thornbury and afterwards in Birmingham by the Brandywine. There he purchases a large plantation, the patentee of which was "Petre Dicks" His boundaries included the premises of Chadds, sometimes spelled "Chadzey", whose name was given to the ford where the highway crossed the Brandywine. The buildings on this plantation had been erected by the early settlers. During the Revolutionary War, they were in the very fire of the Battle of Brandywine and were targets for balls, permanently retaining traces of their force. The site and race of a mill are still traceable there. He owned the "Behive" which he left to his son George, who in turn, left it to his son Caleb.
He became one of the first in the Province and the very first in Chester County to lend money on interest, which practice he commenced in 1750 and continued until his death. His bonds and mortgages, spread over the county and his large tracts of land, together with his great age, made him a noted character. Whomever he met he asked, "Does thee owe me any interest?" One day while jogging along the road, he spied a copper cent in the dust. Being too old to dismount, he trotted to a neighboring field, brought a boy from his work to pick up the cent for him, put it into his pocket and rode away.
Caleb Brinton knew his grandfather, William the Younger, intimately and witnessed his will. From him, he knew about his great-grandfather, the Colonist, the circumstances of the emigration from the mother country and the trials and perils of the settlers. The Colonist had lived throughout the reign of Charles I, through the Civil Wars, the Commonwealth of Cromwell, the Restoration, the reign of Charles II and the early years of the reign of James II. Traditions of those momentous periods of English history came before him with much color and truth. In Caleb's youthful years, the Indians and also the cabins of the first settlers still existed in the neighborhood. Penn had died but a few years before. He witnessed the passing of the colony into a province, witnessed the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the formation of the Union, the War of 1812 and the growth of a few counties in Pennsylvania. He died at the age of ninety-nine years.
Abstract of Will of Caleb Brinton
Late of Birmingham, now of West Chester, of tolerable health:
To wife Mary, $3,000 in full (payment?) of an article of agreement of 28th of 11th Mo., 1796; also my riding chair and harness, saddle and bridle, one horse and one cow, feather bed, bedstread and bedding and $200 or the value thereof in furniture; also a room in dwelling which I purchased from her brother Thomas Chandler, - the farm partly in Birmingham, Chester County and partly in New Castle County, will keep for her horse, cow, etc, 15 bushels of wheat, 200 lbs of pork, 100 lbs of beef annually.
To step-son Albin Harvey the plantation above mentioned, containing 168 acres.
To my son George Brinton of Thornbury Township, Chester County who I had by my first wife Lettitia, the plantation whereon he resides, 100 acres; also another tract in Thornburg, Delaware County, which I had of my father next to lands of Thomas H. Brinton, Joseph Brinton, Esq., and others. - about 200 acres during life and then to his son Caleb.
To son George my plantation, tanyard and tract, partly in Birmingham and partly in Thornbury, Delaware Co., composed of several purchases, contiguous, bounded by lands of Joseph Brinton, Esq., Thomas H. Brinton and the Wilmington Road, 74 acres; Also messuage and land in Oxford, purchased of Cromwell Pearce, Sheriff, 70 acres: also the southerly half of my woodland in Westtown, purchased of Joseph Parker Norris, - the whole being about 63 acres. Also $10,666 2/3 in bonds and mortgages.
To grandson, George Brinton, son of George, messuages and land whereon I lately lived, composed of several purchases in Birmingham, Chester County and Delaware County, 360 acres, bounded by Brandywine Creek, lands of William Brinton, heirs of Edward Brinton, Eli Harvey, Joseph Davis and other, he delivering to my wife annually 15 bushels of wheat, 200 lbs of pork, and 100 lbs of beef during her widowhood.
To Joseph H. Brinton messuage and land in Thornbury whereon Lewis Williamson lives, comprising several purchases, 216 acres; also the log house in West Chester and lot on Wilmington Road, formerly of Sarah White; - in trust for use of grandson Thomas Brinton, son of George, during life, with remainder to his lawful issue if any.
To granddaughter Lettitia, daughter of George, the stone house in West Chester and lots of land thereto, in part occupied by myself, bounded by Gay, High and Chestnut Streets and lands of Joshua Weaver: also $2,666 2/3, bed, bedding, etc.
To grandson Caleb Brinton, son of George, the northern half of my woodland in Westtown; also $2,666 2/3.
To granddaughter Mary, daughter of George, $2,666 2/3, a bed, bolster and pillows.
To granddaughter, Ruth, daughter of George and to Sarah B. Peirce, daughter of Sarah and William Peirce, $1000 each.
To Joseph H. Brinton $1000 in trust for grandson, Thomas, to purchase stock and implements for the place above mentioned.
Residue to son George and grandsons George and Caleb and granddaughters, Letitia and Mary Brinton.
Executors, Joshua Weaver and step-son Albin Harvey.
Dated 10th Mo. 3d 1822: Probate April 11, 1826
Witnesses, Ziba Pyle, Townsend Haines.
[Source: A History of William Brinton and of His Descendants, Data Collected by Gilbert Cope, Media, Pennsylvania, 1925 Page 166-169 - Transcribed by Nancy Piper]
FUSSELL, Miss Susan, educator, army nurse and philanthropist, born in Kennett Square, Pa., 7th April, 1832, and died in Spiceland, Ind., in 1889. She taught school from her fifteenth year until April, 1862, when she undertook to conduct the Memphis army hospital, and accomplished a wonderful work in the eight months she was in charge. She served in other hospitals in Tennessee and in Indiana, and at the close of the war became interested in soldiers' orphans' homes. The great work of her life was conducting such an institution at Knightstown, and subsequently at Spiceland, Ind. Through her efforts the State legislature established at Knightstown a Home for Feeble Minded Children. Other homes of a similar character throughout this State are largely due to her influence.
(Source: American Women by Frances Elizabeth Willard, Mary Ashton Rice Livermore, Vol. 1, 1897. Transcribed by Marla Snow)