Biographical Directory of the Founders of the Kensington Soup Society (Scroll down for the various biographies)
What follows here are short biographies of the earliest known members of the original Board of Managers for the Kensington Soup Society. The biographies are of those men that were listed as the incorporators of the Kensington Soup Society on April 18th, 1853, thus the founders. The Incorporators List represents the earliest known list of the Board of Managers for the Kensington Soup Society.
By researching the archives of the Soup Society, printed genealogies of various Kensington families, the U.S. Federal Census, Philadelphia City Directories and old newspapers, two other men were found who were not listed as incorporators but were said by reliable sources to have been involved in the organization and/or foundation of the Kensington Soup Society. These two “unofficial founders” are Morris G. Condon and John Vaughan.
If you read the biographies of the founders, you will notice a fairly consistent theme. They were men of business and deep faith. They were the men who helped to build Kensington, establishing many of her original industries, institutions and churches. The average age of the incorporators of the Kensington Soup Society in 1853 was 44 years old. Naturally, in a place like 19th Century Kensington, the dominant occupations of the Soup Society founders were in the old maritime trades. There were 6 shipbuilders or ship carpenters, 3 wharf builders, 3 lumbermen, and 1 mastmaker. There were also a fair amount of merchants and manufacturers involved in the founding of the Soup Society; reflecting the community’s new or recent diversification in response to the Industrial Revolution. This group numbered 8 and had made their fortunes in new coal, iron, and dry goods ventures, amongst other commodities. As with any civic organization, good financial skills were a necessity and the Soup Society had 2 bankers on the list of incorporators. Rounding out the original Board of Managers there were a druggist, a grocer, a carpenter and a tailor. While these last four men would seem to have unimportant occupations, they were members of leading Kensington families.
The religion of the founders of the Soup Society was predominately Methodist, although there were a number of Presbyterians as well as other denominations. Eleven of the original twenty-five incorporators of the Kensington Soup Society also served as Trustees for Kensington M. E. “Old Brick” Church.
Approximately half of the incorporators of the Soup Society are buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery.
An acknowledgement should be made to Rich Remer who readily agreed to edit this manuscript. Any faults are my own.
Table 1: Comparison of the Soup Society founders’ ages, occupations, and religions.
Name of Year of Age at Occupation
Founder Birth Incorporation
R.S. Allen* 1819 34 Salesman
T. Birely* 1818 35 Shipbuilder
J. Bennett* 1816 37 Grocer
J. Clouds*** 1806 47 Combmaker/Alderman
M. Condon**** 1817 -- Iron/Rag/Paper Business
G. S. Cox 1807 46 Shipwright/Shipjoiner
J.P. Creamer* 1818 35 Banker
Matthias Creamer* 1787 63 Ship Carpenter
W. Cramp*** 1807 46 Shipbuilder
J.P. Donaldson 1801 52 Mastmaker
D. Duncan* 1814 39 Coal Merchant
A.P. Eyre 1810 43 Wharf Builder
F. Eyre * 1807 46 Wharf Builder
J. Eyre 1801 52 Wharf Builder
E. Garrison 1793 60 WharfBlder/Lumbermen
E.W. Gorgas**** 1814 39 Lumbermen
G.J. Hamilton* 1801 52 Banker
J. Jones*** 1808 45 Carpenter/Builder
J. Lippincott* 1813 40 Tailor
R. R. Pearce 1824 29 Dry Goods Merchant
T.D. Stites* 1824 29 Merchant/Real Estate
G. Stockham 1808 45 Lumbermen
J. Tees* 1789 64 Shipbuilder
G.W. Vaughan** 1813 40 Druggist
J.K. Vaughan* 1812 41 Shipbuilder
J. Vaughan* 1786 -- Shipbuilder
A. Zane* 1811 42 Merchant
* Methodist
** Episcopalian
*** Presbyterian
**** Baptist?
Richard S. Allen (1818-1861)
Richard S. Allen was found as one of the original incorporators of 18 April 1853. He was also listed as one of the Board of Managers in the 1854 printing of the Constitution & By-Laws of the Society. These early years appear to be his only involvement with the Soup Society.
While listed as an officer in 1854 (and as an incorporator in the 1912 reprint of the 1853 incorporators), he was not found in the 1850 Census. However, we do find him in the 1860 Census, living on the 200 block of Richmond Street, next door to Oakley Cowdrick, who eventually became the first Visitor for the Soup Society in 1879. Allen’s other next-door neighbor was Andrew Hetzell, the father of future Kensington councilman, Isaac D. Hetzell.
The 1860 Census lists Richard S. Allen as born in New Jersey about 1818. He worked as a salesman. He was married to a woman named Caroline, who was also born in New Jersey. She worked at a trimmings store, perhaps a family business with her husband. The couple had four children in 1860. The oldest child, Rachel, was 15 and born in Pennsylvania, so presumably the couple, both born in New Jersey, moved to the Philadelphia area sometime before 1845.
In the 1861 Philadelphia City Directory, Richard S. Allen is found to be living at 920 N. 10th Street and by the 28th of December 1861 he was dead of typhoid fever. His obituary states that he died at Poolesville and that he was a member of the 106th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers. It would appear that Allen died while serving in the Civil War, at Poolesville, Maryland, during the Peninsular Campaign, where the 106th Regiment saw action after being merged with Baker’s Brigade and doing duty on the Upper Potomac. Allen enlisted on August 28th and was in Company B of the 106th Regiment. He died four months later. His death certificate states he was working as a hospital steward.
The January 7th, 1861 Philadelphia Inquirer article on the elections of the Kensington Soup Society shows a Joseph S. Allen as one of the managers in 1861. This same Joseph S. Allen is listed on the Board of Managers on the annual report of 1873-74. This could be a relative of Richard S. Allen, who took Richard’s place on the Board after Richard died in the Civil War. In the 1861 directory there is a Joseph S. Allen, trader, at 512 Richmond, only a short distance from where Richard S. Allen was located in 1860 on the 200 block of Richmond Street. This same Joseph S. Allen is listed at 452 Richmond Street on the Soup Society’s annual report of 1873-74.
Looking further backward in time, the 1850 Census has a Joseph S. Allen in enumerated in Kensington’s 4th Ward. He was born about 1830, in Pennsylvania, and was listed without an occupation. He lived with his presumed parents, William (44) & Elizabeth Allen (38). Also in the house is Rachal (18), Rebecca (16), George (14), Jacob (12), Thomas (6), Elizabeth (4), Catharine (6/12), Elizabeth Catin (6), Caroline Tomelson (30), and May Tomelson (4). Everyone was born in Pennsylvania. William Allen had real estate value at $1000.00.
Could Richard S. Allen have arrived in Kensington after the 1850 Census? It would seem odd if he did and became quickly involved in a new organization like the Soup Society’s Board of Managers, particularly when they were mostly old Kensington families, with many of the families intermarried. It’s possible that Richard S. Allen was in some way related to this other family of Joseph S. Allen, or ever that a clerical error is involved and Joseph S. and Richard S. Allen are one in the same; it remains unresolved.
Joseph Bennett (1816-1900)
Joseph Bennett is listed as one of the incorporators of 18 April 1853, as well as on the Board of Managers list in the 1854 printing of the Constitution & By-Laws. He is not found to be involved later with the Soup Society.
Joseph Bennett was born about 1816. The 1840 Census has Joseph Bennett listed in Kensington’s 4th Ward. In the 1850 Census, he is a grocer (again in Kensington’s 4th Ward). His wife Catherine V. Creamer was born about 1818 in Pennsylvania. She had $4000 in real estate. In the house was the couple’s nephew, eight year-old, named Joseph B. Tees.
In David W. Gauer’s book, Vaughan Shipwright’s of Kensington, the author states that Joseph Bennett married Catharine V. Creamer (b.abt.1818-d. 30 Nov. 1900). Catherine was the daughter of Matthias Creamer (b.1788-d. bef. 1860), a shipbuilder, and Margaret Vaughan (b.1798-d.aft.1880). Margaret Vaughan was the eighth child (fourth daughter) of Thomas Vaughan, a Kensington’s Revolutionary War militiaman. Margaret’s brother was John Vaughan, another founding member of the Kensington Soup Society. Margaret’s two nephews, George W. Vaughan and Jacob Keen Vaughan, were also two of the incorporating Board of Manager members in the Soup Society.
Joseph Bennett and his wife had no children. They lived at 921 Marlborough and by the 1880 Census were living at 452 E. Girard Avenue, a home where they both lived until he died in 1900. In 1880, Joseph Bennett was still listed as a grocer; in the Bennett house was their nephew, Joseph B. Tees (38 years), a shoe dealer married to a woman named Hester P. (35 years). Together, Joseph and Hester had two children, Kate B. (15 years) & Eva (6 years). Hester was born in New Jersey, everyone else in Pennsylvania.
Joseph Bennett was a partner in a grocery enterprise with his nephew Joseph B. Tees (b.1842), the son of Peter Tees and Mary Creamer (b.1821). Jacob Tees, a relative to Peter Tees, was also one of the early Kensington Soup Society incorporators.
In 1893, Catharine Creamer Bennett was the oldest living member of the Kensington M.E. “Old Brick” Church (having joined in the year 1831). Catherine’s husband, Joseph Bennett joined the church in 1832 and had been a continuously active member since that date. He was initially accepted as a teacher in the Sunday School and 61 years later was still the leader of a weekly Bible Class. He served as Superintendent of the School for 24 years (1860-1884) and then voluntarily retired so that a younger man might take over. He was elected a Trustee of the Church in 1847 and served without interruption through 1893. He also served as a Class Leader with fellow Soup Society founding board member George J. Hamilton in 1855. For several years, Bennett was President of the Board of Directors of the church, and was still serving as trustee in 1893.
Joseph Bennett died on September 6th, 1900. His obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer requested the Trenton, NJ papers to copy. The obituary also stated that members of the Neptune Lodge, No. 354, International Order of Odd Fellows were invited. A few months later, on the 30th of November, his wife Catharine also died. The couple was interred at Hanover Vault.
Theodore Birely (1818-1864)
Theodore Birely was listed as one of the incorporators of 18 April 1853, as well as on the listed Board of Managers on the 1854 printing of the Constitution & By-Laws. Birely was not listed on the 30 December 1859 Annual Contributors Meeting election results, but the January 7th, 1861 Philadelphia Inquirer article for that year’s election results listed a Jacob Birely, his brother. His involvement with the Kensington Soup Society appears to have been limited to the early founding years.
Theodore Birely was born on 11 May 1818. He was the son of John Birely (c1797-1867), a 3rd Lieutenant in the War of 1812, and Mary Beidermann (c1800-1881). Theodore married Sarah Ann Loper on 17 June 1838, presumably at First Presbyterian Church of Kensington, since the minister for the wedding ceremony was the Rev. George Chandler of the First Presbyterian Church in Kensington. Sarah was born about 1819 in Pennsylvania. Theodore and his wife had nine children: Mary (Maupay), Amanda (Swallow), Emma, Theodore, Sarah, Richard Loper, John, Joseph S., and George.
While Theodore Birely probably married at First Presbyterian Church in Kensington, he was actually a member of the Kensington Methodist Episcopal “Old Brick” Church. He was a trustee for his church from 1840 to 1852. It’s possible that First Presbyterian in Kensington was his wife’s church.
Birely served on the Philadelphia Relief Committee that was set up to collect funds for the victims of Yellow Fever in Virginia.
In the Census of 1840, Birely is in Kensington’s 4th Ward, and in 1850 (due to boundary changes among the wards) he is found located in Kensington’s 5th Ward. He was a shipbuilder (primarily steam ships) and was brought up in the business by his family, who were well established in the industry.
In 1850, the census record states that Theodore had real estate of $10,000. Jane Miller (17), possibly a domestic, or perhaps a relative, also lived with the family in 1850. Everyone in the house was born in Pennsylvania.
In 1850, Theodore was enumerated in the Census next to his brother Jacob Birely. Jacob, after Theodore resigned from the Soup Society Board of Managers, joined the Board of Managers for the Soup Society in 1861. Jacob was born 16 June 1822 in Pennsylvania, and was also listed as a shipbuilder, with $4,000 in real estate. Jacob lived with his wife Elizabeth (25) and their two children Charles (4) and Lewis (9/12). A woman named Susan Adams is presumably related to Jacob’s wife whose maiden name was Adams. Also in Jacob’s household is the minister at that time for Kensington M.E. “Old Brick” Church, the Rev. Alfred Cookman (24). Everyone in Jacob’s house was born in Pennsylvania. Jacob married a second time to Elizabeth Haslen. He died 27 November 1895 and is buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.
In the Philadelphia City Directory of 1861, Theodore was listed as a shipbuilder, at 426 Richmond Street; his brother, Jacob Birely, also a shipbuilder, lived next door at 428 Richmond.
Theodore Birely died on 19 April 1864 at Moorestown, New Jersey, at the age of 46. He was a member of Harmony Lodge, No. 52, A.Y.M., Penn Lodge, No. 26, International Order of Odd Fellows, and the William Penn Benevolent Society. His funeral was held at his father John Birely’s residence at 313 Richmond Street. He was originally buried in Odd Fellows Cemetery but was later removed, along with three of his sons, to Laurel Hill Cemetery in 1867, where his wife, father, brother, and brother-in-law had purchased a family plot.
John Clouds (1807-1896)
John Clouds was listed as one of the incorporators of the Kensington Soup Society on 18 April 1853. He was not listed in the printed Constitution & By-Laws of 1854, nor was he listed at the 30 December 1859 election meeting, or the 7 January 1861 Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper article. Thus, his involvement with the Soup Society appears to have been in its earliest years up until the Society was incorporated.
John Clouds was born about 1807, probably in Kensington. He appears in the Philadelphia City Directory for 1840 as a combmaker, living at Marlborough near Prince, (current day Girard Avenue). There were Cloud or Clouds families in the Kensington area as early as 1816, when a Jacob Cloud appeared in the directory as a laborer living on Shackamaxon Street. Later in the directories, there is a Jacob Clouds living next to our John Clouds family on Marlborough Street, so they may have been related (perhaps his father or brother), John Clouds named one of his sons Jacob, so the name was used within the family.
By 1844, the same year that the Kensington Soup Society was founded, John Clouds was listed in the directories as an alderman, or what we would call today, a councilman. In that period (between 1820 and 1854) Kensington was a self-governing district and Clouds was one of its councilmen, a popular man of his era.
Clouds married Elizabeth Kirpatrick on 9 November 1828, at First Presbyterian Church of Kensington. Kirpatrick and Clouds families were old members of First Presbyterian; Elizabeth had joined the church on 24 June 1826, only a couple of years after John Clouds. The 1850 Census shows Clouds and his wife Elizabeth had at least eight children: Ann (b. 1830), John (b. 1832), George (b. 1834), Francis (b.1837), Mary (b. 1840), David (b. 1842), Robert (B. 1844), and Jacob (b. 1847). This 1850 Census lists John Clouds as being an alderman. He, his wife, and all of his children were born in Pennsylvania.
Clouds lived to be 89 years old and saw many changes to his beloved First Presbyterian Church in his lifetime. He was specified as being on the "rolls of members" of First Presbyterian on September 22nd, 1823, only nine years after the church had been founded and during a time in the early 1820's when the church membership was expanding rapidly. He lived through the pastorship of the famed Rev. George Chandler (1815 to 1860). He was active in the church during the tenure of the Rev. William Eva in the 1860's, and into the service of the Rev. Harvey Beale, which extended through the end of the Nineteenth Century.
John Clouds involvement in First Presbyterian Church of Kensington was substantial. He was a pewholder, an elder, served on the Board of Trustees of the church, was a one time superintendent of the Sunday School and served on the Building Committee for the new church, among other activities. While involved with the Sabbath School, he and Mary F. Clouds (which was probably his daughter, or daughter-in-law) acted as teachers for the female class of the Sunday School. His activity in the establishment of the Sunday School was significant as he served on the Recruitment Committee for adults as well as for children, and also served as its vice-president, then president in its formative years. Along with William Cramp, Jacob Peters, and William Seddinger, Clouds was part of the committee that was elected to rewrite the constitution of the church in the mid-1820s. He was truly one of the builders of this church.
It was John Clouds who, while first supervising the Sunday School met the young William T. Eva, a student at that time. Eva would eventually become the Rev. William T. Eva, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Kensington after the Rev. Chandler died. There had been several ministers that preached there after Chandler died, but none were retained permanently. John Clouds went to Newark, to hear Rev. Eva preach, and afterwards invited him to preach before the congregation. In November 1860, Rev. Eva was installed as the pastor of the church. The church was very pleased with Eva, as the congregation grew by 266 members within three-and-a-half years, until Eva left with a fifth of the membership to form another church at Frankford Avenue & Berks Street, the old Bethesda Presbyterian Church.
John Clouds was also involved with the Choral Society. He was known to have an "intense interest" in music. The Choral Society was more then just voices; it also had three violins, three bass violins, cornet, flute and other wind instruments. There were many Saturday nights when the old galleries of the church were filled with people from all over the city.
Clouds continued to be listed as an alderman through the years up to 1860. Whether he actually served all those years is unknown at the moment; he may have simply kept the title. He was listed variously in the directories at different addresses, all on Marlborough Street. The various addresses would all seemingly be the same home, but the numbering differed due to the addressing system being changed. His address started out as Marlborough and Prince, and then became Marlborough and Franklin, then it was 103 Marlborough, then by 1860 it became 1125 Marlborough Street permanently. Prince and Franklin Street is today's Girard Avenue.
On the 1880 Federal Census, John Clouds was listed as a gentleman. He was at this time also a widow, his wife having died 25 years previously. The Census indicates that John Clouds father was born in England while his mother was born in Pennsylvania. His father must have been an immigrant as John was born in Pennsylvania.
Clouds died on 29 November 1896. His obituary listed him as a member of Penn Lodge, No. 26, of the International Order of Odd Fellows. He was buried at Mount Peace Cemetery. A news article published 30 November 1896 stated that he was one of the “most prominent men in the northeastern section of the city.” He had been a School Director and an Alderman and had always taken a “deep interest in the affairs of the locality which had for so long been his home.”
Morris G. Condon (1818-1883)
While he is not listed on the 18 April 1853 list of incorporators of the Soup Society, or on the 1854 list of Officers of the Society, his obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer of 19 March 1883 stated “Mr. Condon aided in the organization of the Kensington Soup Society.” In what capacity he aided the Soup Society, or at what time period he served the Soup Society is not known, but presumably he would have been one of the original organizers of the Society in 1844.
Condon was born about 1818 and was a one-time Commissioner for the District of Kensington when it was a self-governing district. It is said that he built the “large hall at Frankford and Master Street,” that was later owned by the American Protestant Association.
The 1850 Census indicates a Morris G. Condon in Kensington’s 1st Ward, listed as a merchant, with $15,000 in real estate. His wife, Catharine, was born about 1822 in Pennsylvania. They had at least three children: Joseph (9), Catharine (7), and William E. (4), all born in Pennsylvania. There was also a presumed Irish domestic Mary Ann Moore (19), born in Ireland, living in the house.
Prior to the 1850 Census, Condon was renting warehouses for his rag and paper business at No. 12 & No. 14 Decatur Street, below Market. He occupied both of the five-story buildings until there was a tremendous fire in April of 1849, demolishing both buildings, with all the cotton waste, rags, papers, all going up in flames. It was estimated that he lost $15,000, of which he was only insured for $7,000. Another report revealed that Condon’s business was previously on fire in 1847. A disgruntled employed had set the place on fire. That fire cost was a $70,000 loss.
By 1860, Condon had moved out of Kensington and possibly lived in New Jersey, but kept a business address at 412 N. 3rd Street. The 1880 Census has Condon listed as a rag merchant, living at 2009 N. 12th Street, where he died on 17 March 1883 from inflammation of the stomach and bowels. He was sixty-five years of age and was buried at Mount Vernon Cemetery.
Condon's obituary stated he was previously in the iron business, later a pioneer of the paper and rag trade in Philadelphia and had erected one of the first steam brick machines ever built in the city. After retiring, he moved to Pea Shore, N.J. He was widely known for his liberality and charitable disposition and had a large circle of friends in Philadelphia and throughout the United States.
George Stiles Cox (1807-1872)
George S. Cox was listed as one of the incorporators of 18 April 1853, but is omitted from the printed Constitution, By-Laws, & Officers publication of 1854. How much he was involved in the Society is unclear, but he was one of the incorporators.
Cox appears to have been the son of William Henry Cox (1775-?) and Ann Stiles (1780-1855). He was born 25 September 1807 and married Anna Louisa Frank on 28 March 1830 at First Reformed Church, in Philadelphia. She was the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Franck, born 7 Sept 1807 and died 1 Feb 1881.
George S. Cox is found in Kensington’s 1st Ward in the 1850 Census. He was listed as born in Pennsylvania and occupied as a ship joiner. Together, George and Anna Louisa had four children: George W. (b. 1832), a ship joiner, Frank (b. 1834), another ship joiner, and two daughters, Anna L. (10) and Cornelia (7). All the children were born in Pennsylvania.
Taking a further look backwards at the 1840 Census, we find a person indexed as George L. Cox in Kensington’s 1st Ward. This same census has a George S. Cox in Spring Garden’s 3rd Ward. While the middle initial is not correct, the Kensington 1st Ward George L. Cox would appear to be the correct one as the children’s ages all match. The area of Kensington (1st Ward) also matches. It could be the enumerator made a mistake with the name. This is proven correct when you look at the 1830 Census where George S. Cox appears in Kensington.
The Census of 1860 has Cox still in Kensington, in the 18th Ward. All of his children were still at home. His wife was still living and their estate was estimated at $9000.00 in real estate and $1500.00 in personal estate. George S. Cox was enumerated a few houses from Charles M. Lukens and John Robbins, officers of the Kensington Soup Society.
By 1870, George S. Cox’s son Frank had married and moved out of the house, staying in the neighborhood on Savery (Oxford) Street. George himself was still living with his wife and daughter Cornelia. The other two children must have married and moved away as well. George S. Cox had by 1872 died as his wife Louisa is found listed as a widow, as was her daughter Louisa Clark (probably Anna Cox, as Louisa the mother also went by Anna Louisa).
George S. Cox died on the 15 February 1872 and was buried four days later at Cedar Hill Cemetery, in Philadelphia. Cox's wife would eventually be buried with her husband. All his life Cox had been a ship joiner. His obituary states that the “Pennsylvania Beneficial Shipwrights’ Society and the shipwrights in general” were respectfully invited to his funeral at his late residence, 1043 Beach Street, above Laurel.
Joseph P. Cramer (1818-1880)
Joseph P. Cramer was listed as one of the incorporators of the Soup Society on 18 April 1853, but then did not appear on the Board of Managers in 1854.
The Census of 1850 indicates that Cramer was living in Kensington’s 4th Ward. He was born about 1818, in Philadelphia. He was listed as a clerk in 1850 and was still listed as a clerk on his death certificate of 1880. He married Ann Elizabeth Hamilton (1825-1866), the daughter of George J. Hamilton, one of the society's founders, its long time Treasurer and one time President. Cramer and his wife had two children: George Hamilton (1848-1889) and Joseph P. (1850-1870). Cramer’s children and wife were all born in Pennsylvania. Also in the house was [Lelandah] Cambell, a 13 year-old female born in Pennsylvania.
While the 1860 Census is unclear, the 1861 Philadelphia City Directory lists Cramer as a clerk at the Philadelphia Bank, living at 415 Richmond Street. This then can be compared with the Census of 1860; we find “J. Cramer” living in the Northeast Division of the 18th Ward, on the same block as William Cramp and Jacob Jones (two other early managers of the Soup Society). Cramer was listed as a clerk. His sons, George and Joseph, were young children (14 and 10). In the house is one Ambrose Cramer, 77 years old, perhaps Joseph’s father. Joseph and Ambrose are both listed as being born in New Jersey. The family also had an Irish domestic servant in 1860.
Cramer is listed in 1870 having moved to the 20th Ward. He was living with his wife, now named Mary D. Cramer. His son George W. was also enumerated in the household. Mary D. Cramer would appear to be the second wife for Cramer, as Ann Elizabeth Hamilton is known to have died on 24 August 1866. She was born about 1837 at Swedesborough, New Jersey, the daughter of James and A.E. England.
In 1870, Joseph P. Cramer is now listed as a bank clerk, born in New Jersey. His personal estate is $1500.00, his real estate estimated at $850.00. They had the services of one Irish domestic servant.
Joseph P. Cramer, Jr. died on 16 Feb 1870, unmarried. His funeral was from his father’s home, now at 1503 Oxford Street. He was buried at Mount Peace Cemetery.
On 1 May 1880, Joseph P. Cramer died at the age of 62. He was mentioned as being “of the Philadelphia National Bank,” presumably having worked in banking with his father-in-law, a known banker. Cramer was also buried at Mount Peace Cemetery. His funeral was from the Park Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, at Park Avenue and Norris Street. He was 62 years of age.
Mary D. Cramer was found in Census of 1880 to be living at 1919 N. 11th Street. She died on 17 Jan 1885. Her obituary stated she was widow of the late Joseph P. Cramer. Mary was laid out at her mother’s (Mrs. A. E. England) residence at 1025 W. Norris Street and was buried at Mount Peace Cemetery with her husband.
William Cramp (1807-1879)
Probably the most famous individual involved in the founding of the Kensington Soup Society was shipbuilder William Cramp. Cramp was listed as one of the incorporators of 18 April 1853, as well as on the printed Board of Managers for the 1854 copy of the Constitution, By-Laws & Officers. He is not found on the 1859 or 1861 lists that exist for the Board of Managers nor any thereafter, thus his participation was limited to the very earliest years of the Soup Society.
In Cramp’s lifetime, he was known throughout the world as one of the great shipbuilders of the Nineteenth Century. He was born on 22 September 1807 on Otis Street, now Susquehanna, in Kensington. The family name was originally Krampf until the American Revolution, when according to the patriotic fashion at that time it was anglicized to Cramp. The Krampfs came from the Rhine Valley in today's Germany and were among the earliest settlers in Kensington in the Eighteenth Century.
Cramp lived in Fishtown for most of his life. He first lived on Vienna (Berks) above Queen (Richmond), Queen (Richmond) below Wood (Susquehanna), the rear of Palmer above Queen (Richmond), then at 65 Palmer, and finally at 1033 and 1120 Palmer Street. In the last years of his life, he finally left the neighborhood and moved into the post-Civil War “new money” neighborhood, on 15th Street near Master, a neighborhood where many Kensingtonians who made their money in the Gilded Age moved to live in fine brownstone mansions.
After attending the public schools in Kensington in 1823, he went to work for Samuel Grice, a local Kensington shipbuilder where he learned the shipwright's craft. Cramp married into a prominent network, or extended family of Kensington shipbuilders when he married Sophia Miller, the daughter of Henry Miller and Elizabeth Birely. William and Sophia Cramp had eleven children.
Cramp’s in-laws, the Millers and Birelys, were generations-old shipbuilding families that had intermarried with other well-known shipbuilding families, including Suttons and Bennetts. The Birely family is the same family that included Theodore and Jacob Birely, two early Board of Managers of the Kensington Soup Society.
In 1830, after a seven-year apprenticeship with Grice, William Cramp opened his own shipyard at the foot of Palmer Street and the Delaware River. From this humble beginning, his shipyard grew into the William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company, one of the most famous and largest shipyards the world had ever seen, and the largest private shipyard in the United States. He constructed wood, ironclad, iron and eventually steel ships. He remained president of the firm for almost fifty years, from its founding in 1830 until a couple of years before his death in Atlantic City on 6 July 1879. He had been in declining health since about 1877. He is buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery.
Cramp was a long time member of the First Presbyterian Church of Kensington where he was a trustee for over 20 years and is honored by that church with one of the stained glass windows. He initially began study for the ministry under First Presbyterian Kensington’s Rev. George Chandler but due to poor health it was recommended that he take up an outdoor occupation. That was when he decided to go into the shipbuilding craft. In his lifetime, he is said to have built 225 ships. Cramp also served as one of the Board of Commissioners for Kensington and on the Board of Port Wardens for Philadelphia. He was also one of the founders of the Union League during the Civil War.
Matthias Creamer (1787- 1853)
Matthias Creamer was listed as one of the incorporators of the Kensington Soup Society, as seen in the Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1853 (Harrisburg: 1853). His name however does not appear on the 1854 printing of the Society’s Constitution & By-Law as one of the Board of Managers, nor does it appear on the list of incorporators from the 1912 reprint of the list of April 1853. Cramer’s participation in the Soup Society would appear to be in those early years before and after formal incorporation of the society.
Matthias Creamer’s name is also seen as Matthias Cramer but it would appear that the "Creamer" spelling is more accurate. He was born about 1787 and married Margaret Vaughan (ca. 1798- aft 1880), the daughter of Thomas Vaughan and Mary Bryan. Thomas Vaughan was the Revolutionary War militiaman whose family produced so many Kensington shipwrights.
Creamer and his wife, Margaret, had eight children. His daughter Catherine Creamer married Joseph Bennett another founder of the Kensington Soup Society. His brother-in-law was John Vaughan, another organizer and founder of the Soup Society. Creamer would seem to be related to Joseph P. Creamer; another founder of the Soup Society but his relationship has not been established. While David W. Gauer’s book Vaughan Shipwrights of Kensington does have information on both Matthias and Joseph P. Creamer, he was unable to establish the exact relationship.
Creamer resided at 1029 Marlborough Street. Margaret Vaughan’s sister, Rebecca Vaughan, had married George Shiffler. Their son George Shiffler was the young man who was made a hero by the Nativists after his death in the Kensington Anti-Irish Catholic Riots. Rebecca Shiffler’s older children lived with Matthias and his wife on Marlborough Street.
Creamer was an early Trustee of Kensington M.E. “Old Brick” Church, serving from 1818 to 1838, and again from 1840 to 1848. He was also a Class Leader in 1822 and Sunday School Superintendent between the years 1831-1853.
Matthias started out as a ship carpenter. For a number of years (1847-1853) he was a Philadelphia County state tax collector for the 4th Ward of Kensington. He also acted in the same capacity for the 1st Ward on several occasions. During this time he was living on Marlborough Street, presumably the later 1029 Marlborough Street address.
Matthias Creamer died on 4 October 1853 at the age of 66 years old. His funeral took place at his Marlborough Street home.
Jacob Plankinhorn Donaldson (1801-1855)
Jacob P. Donaldson was listed as one of the incorporators on 18 April 1853, but not listed the following year in the printed version of the Constitution, By-Laws, & Officers. He was not listed in the surviving 1859 or 1861 lists of Board of Managers.
Donaldson was born in Pennsylvania on 4 Sept 1801. He was the son of William Townsend Donaldson (1762-1818), a Southwark shipbuilder and Mary Adams. He moved to Kensington from Southwark after the death of his father and by the year 1843, he was elected as one of the bank directors for the Kensington National Bank.
He is found in Kensington’s 1st Ward in the Census of 1850. He was listed as being born about 1802, in Pennsylvania. He was a mastmaker and in 1850 had $7000.00 in real estate. His wife Maria Connor (36) was born in Maryland about 1814; together, they had five children: Jane (18) born in Maryland, Clara (13), Henry (11), Matilda (7), Jacob P. (4), all born in Pennsylvania. Also with the family was Eliza Nixon (22), possibly an Irish born domestic.
Prior to the 1850 Census, the Donaldson’s eldest son, Weston, died at the age of 16. His obituary of 18 May 1850 stated he died on the 17th of May. The obituary also notes that the friends and relatives were invited to the family home at No. 4 Penn Street, above Maiden, in Kensington. It asked that “Baltimore Papers Please Copy,” showing perhaps some relationship with that city, perhaps on his wife’s side of the family.
On 18 May 1855, Jacob P. Donaldson died at Philadelphia. The funeral took place at his home on Shackamaxon Street, in Kensington.
The 1860 Census indicates that Maria Donaldson is a widow, her husband Jacob presumably having died. Besides her children who appeared on the census of 1850, there was also another child born, Weston Donaldson, born about 1853. He would appear to be named Weston in memory of their eldest son Weston who died at 16 years of age in 1850. Hannah Connor, 70 years old, as well as Clarinda Connor, 45 years are listed in Maria Donaldson's household in 1860. Both of these women were born in Maryland. These two women would appear to possibly be Maria Donaldson’s mother and sister. The family still had an Irish domestic living with them, one Alice Nugent, 25 years old, born in Ireland.
In 1860 Maria had real estate of $8000.00 and a personal estate of $26,500.00, but with no occupation listed. She would appear to have perhaps sold off the mastmaking business of her husband, or had income from some other source. Maria and her son, Henry Clay, were living at 1108 Shackamaxon Street, but neither had occupations listed.
After the first Weston Donaldson died, Henry Clay Donaldson became the eldest son. Unfortunately, he too died, from wounds he received in the Richmond Campaign on 29 June 1862, during the Civil War. He was 23 years of age.
By the time Jacob’s daughter Matilda Donaldson died on 29 July 1881, Maria, Jacob’s widow, had moved to 2014 Mount Vernon Street in Philadelphia's fashionable "Spring Garden" residential district. Maria herself died on 23 Feb 1899, at the Mt. Vernon Street house. She never remarried. Their son Jacob P. Donaldson died 17 Nov 1912, at Devon, Pennsylvania.
David Duncan (1814-1880s)
David Duncan was listed as one of the original incorporators of 18 April 1853, and also listed on the 1854 printed version of the Constitution, By-Laws, & Officers. He is also found among the loose notes of the 30 December 1859 Board of Managers meeting as one of the Managers, and he was still listed as one of the managers in the 7 January 1861 Philadelphia Inquirer article. He was one of the core group of eleven members that served on the Soup Society’s Board of Managers in the early years from at least 13 April 1853 to 7 January 1861. In all, Duncan appears to have served on the Board of Managers of the Kensington for the years 1853 thru 1871. He does not appear to have held any other officer or committee positions.
Duncan was born about 1814 in Pennsylvania. He was listed as a coal dealer in the Philadelphia City Directory of 1855, living on Shackamaxon above Queen, with his business at Broad below Lombard. The 1860 Census lists him in Kensington’s 18th Ward (Southwest Division) living a few doors from the early Soup Society collector, Daniel Mickle, on Shackamaxon Street. This 1860 Census had his estate valued at $15,000 in real estate, with a personal estate of $4,300.
He was married to a woman named Harriet, born about 1815, in Pennsylvania. He would have married Harriet sometime before the birth of his oldest child, Sallie B. Duncan, born about 1848. The Duncans also had at least four other children: David B., born about 1851, Mary L, born about 1853, Clara, born about 1856, and Harriet, born about 1859; all were born in Pennsylvania. In the house with the Duncans was a young woman of 19 years of age, Margaret A. Delany. She was born in Pennsylvania.
The following year, in 1861, Duncan was listed as a coal merchant in the Philadelphia City Directory, having an office at 517 S. Broad, with his home at 1027 Shackamaxon. By the 1870 Census, Duncan is found enumerated in Kensington, in the 18th Ward, just a couple of houses from fellow Board of Managers member, Eli Garrison. His son David had gone into the coal business with his father, as both of them are listed as coal merchants. Duncan’s four daughters and his wife were still alive and living in the house.
By 1880, David Duncan had moved with his family to Brooklyn, New York, where he continued working in the coal business. In the 1880 Census he is listed as a wholesale coal dealer, his son David being in the business with him. The family was living at 399 Grand Avenue, in Brooklyn. In the household with David and his son are David, Sr.’s wife, Harriet, and three of his daughters (Mary L., Clara C., and Harriet). Also in the house is a young man described as a grandson, Clarence Delany; in the 1860 Census, there was a Margaret Delany found living with the family. Presumably, then, Margaret Delany was perhaps another daughter of the Duncans.
The 1880 Census also indicated that David Duncan was born in Scotland; everyone else, in Pennsylvania. In 1890, David Duncan appears to be deceased. David B. Duncan, David Sr.’s son, was now partner with John Donaldson in the firm of Donaldson & Duncan, coal dealers, with offices at 226 Walnut. Donaldson was the president of the company and lived at 1939 Arch Street. David B. Duncan was apparently living in Brooklyn and running the New York branch of the company.
David Duncan was a long time trustee of the Kensington Methodist Episcopal “Old Brick” Church, serving on the church’s Board of Trustees from 1851 to 1874. He was one of the group of men who both served on Kensington M. E. “Old Brick” Church’s Board of Trustees, in addition to helping found the Kensington Soup Society.
Harriet B. Duncan, David’s wife, died 16 January 1899 at her Brooklyn residence, 399 Grand Avenue. Her husband, David, died prior to her death.
Abraham P. Eyre (1810-1877)
Abraham P. Eyre is listed as one of the incorporators on 18 April 1853. The printed Constitution, By-Laws, & Officers of 1854 lists him as President of the Kensington Soup Society. Given his stature in the Kensington community (he was the President of the District of Kensington prior to the founding of the Soup Society) and his family’s long history in the area, he in all likelihood was the founding President. For all the years available that he was a member of the Board of Manages of the Soup Society (1853-1862), he served as the President.
Abraham P. Eyre was born about 1810, the son of Jehu Eyre (b.1774-d.1838) and Mary Elizabeth Kraft (b.1781-d.1862). Jehu Eyre’s father was Colonel Jehu Eyre (b.1737/38 - d. 1781), who served with distinction in the Revolutionary War, which made him somewhat of an important figure in Philadelphia history. Jehu Eyre of Revolutionary fame was one of three brothers (Jehu, Manuel, & Benjamin) who were shipwrights and came down from Burlington, NJ, to Kensington in the years before the Revolution (circa 1750s) and helped to establish Kensington as Philadelphia’s maritime district, building some of the first ships for the Revolutionary War Navy.
Abraham P. Eyre is first found living on his own, when he was enumerated in Kensington’s 5th Ward in1840. He was living next door to fellow Kensington Soup Society incorporator, Theodore Birely. In 1850, Eyre was listed as a wharf builder, born about 1810 in Pennsylvania, with real estate at $80,000, which increased to $175,000 by 1860. He married Ann Boyce, who was born about 1818. By 1850 the couple had at least five children: Edward, born about 1838, Juliet, born about 1840, Jehu, born about 1842, William, born about 1845, and Samuel, who was born about 1848. Also in the house is a young woman named Margaret Moore (18). Everyone in the household was born in Pennsylvania, except for one Mary Hare (31), who was presumably an Irish born domestic.
Eyre was the earliest known President of the Soup Society, holding that position from at least 1854 to 1861. In the Soup Society Minute Book, at a meeting dated 13 March 1884, it stated that photographs of all the Society’s presidents since Abraham P. Eyre should be obtained and hung in the meeting room. This would seem to indicate that Abraham P. Eyre was the first president of the Soup Society, but could also mean he was the first president at its incorporation. It did not mean that he was the earliest President still alive to be photographed, as he died in 1877.
Abraham P. Eyre was held in high stature in Kensington, having been elected President of the District of Kensington from June of 1836 to May of 1840, at a time when Kensington was a self-governing district. Before becoming President, he had already been served as one of the Commissioners.
The Philadelphia Directory for 1861 listed Abraham P. Eyre as a wharf builder, living at 422 Richmond Street. In the same directory is listed Franklin Eyre, also a wharf builder, at 430 Richmond, just a few doors away. The firm of “Franklin Eyre & Son (Franklin & George F. Eyre), wharf builders,” was listed at this same 430 Richmond Street address. There is a George F. Eyre, the presumed son of Franklin, listed as a wharf builder and living in 1861 at 1126 Palmer Street. Another Eyre, Jehu W. Eyre, was also a wharf builder, living at 1326 Beach Street. The Eyre family had switched from building ships in the Eighteenth Century, to building wharves in the Nineteenth Century.
In 1839, Abraham P. Eyre was recorded as having built a wharf for the shipping tycoon, Thomas P. Cope. In 1840, perhaps as his presidency of Kensington ended, the Governor of Pennsylvania appointed him Assistant Warden to the Port of Philadelphia. He was reappointed in 1841 and 1842 and then appointed to be the actual Warden in 1846.
In 1841, the District of Kensington elected him School Director, along with fellow Soup Society managers John Robbins and Peter Fisher, as well as Irish Catholic leader, Councilman Hugh Clark. Along with John Robbins, Eyre was on the Democratic ticket for the District of Kensington Commissioners’ election of October 1843 and with four other Democrats received more votes than the Whig candidates.
In March of 1844, two months before Kensington’s Anti-Irish Catholic Riots, Eyre spoke to the Nativist Meeting held at Commissioner’s Hall. In 1845, he served on the City & County of Philadelphia Committee that was formed to organize an event or parade to honor the death of President Andrew Jackson. Eyre and John Robbins were also on the committee for the City and County that welcomed then President James Polk to Philadelphia in 1847.
Eyre seems to have been involved in almost all of the institutions of Kensington, as he served as a Director (in at least 1858) for the Howard Fire and Marine Insurance Company. In addition, he was one of the founders of the Kensington Mutual Fire and Marine Insurance Company, incorporated in 1854. When the Kensington Building Association was founded in 1847, Abraham P. Eyre was elected President at their first meeting. Eyre was also a member of a group of Philadelphians who supported Pope Pius IX in his efforts to establish the Constitutional Reforms in progress in the Papal States. The group met at the Chinese Museum in January of 1848.
Abraham P. Eyre died December 10th, 1877, at his home near West Point, Virginia, at the age of 67. He had previously moved there from Philadelphia after his retirement. His funeral was held at his sister’s residence, Mrs. Anna M. Heller, of 2421 N. 11th Street, Philadelphia. Eyre’s body was interred at South Laurel Hill Cemetery. Eyre’s sister Anna had previously married Amos Heller.
Eyre’s son, Edwin S. Eyre (also listed as Edward), also served on the Board of Managers for the Soup Society, for at least the season of 1863-64. After the death of his father, Edwin’s mother moved back to Philadelphia and is found in 1880 with her son living at 2114 N. 15th Street, in the wealthy neighborhood of North Broad Street, where many former Kensington manufacturers and industrialists resided. Edwin Eyre died 30 Oct 1895 at the age of 57; at the time of his death he lived in Audubon, NJ. He was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery.
Franklin Eyre (1807-1864)
Franklin Eyre is listed as one of the incorporators of the Kensington Soup Society on 18 April 1853. However, he is not listed as a Board of Managers member on the 1854 Constitution & By-Laws. His involvement, then, was limited to the early founding years.
He was the brother of Abraham P. Eyre, mentioned above as being one of the sons of the Jehu Eyre family of Kensington shipwrights. He took an active interest in Kensington, serving as a Commissioner of the District of Kensington. While a Commissioner in 1832, he served on the Watch & Lamp, Building, Ways & Means, and Landing Committees.
In 1850, Eyre was listed in Kensington’s 5th Ward. He was born about 1807, in Philadelphia (possibly Kensington). He was listed in 1850 as a wharf builder, with real estate of $3000. His wife was Rebecca Faunce, born about 1810. She was a member of the well-known fishermen Faunce family of Fishtown
The Census of 1850 has Franklin and his wife enumerated with their children: George (14), Elizabeth (11), Franklin (8), Richard (7), Matilda (3), and Ann (1). They also have what appears to be an Irish domestic, Sarah Levy (20) living with them.
The Philadelphia Directory for 1861 lists Franklin Eyre as a wharf builder, at 430 Richmond Street, just a few doors away from his brother Abraham P. Eyre, who was listed as a wharf builder, living at 422 Richmond. In the same directory is listed the firm of “Franklin Eyre & Son (Franklin & George F. Eyre), Wharf Builders,” at 430 Richmond Street. There is a George F. Eyre, the presumed son of Franklin, listed as a wharf builder and living in 1861 nearby at 1126 Palmer Street. Another Eyre, Jehu W. Eyre, was also a wharf builder, living at 1326 Beach Street.
Franklin Eyre was probably the class leader at Kensington Methodist Episcopal “Old Brick” Church in 1843 and also served as a trustee for that church between 1853 to1864. Franklin also served as a trustee of the Kensington Burial Ground (Palmer Cemetery). He died on July 15th, 1864 and was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery.
Jehu W. Eyre (1802-1865)
A genealogy of the Eyre family shows Jehu W. Eyre to be the son of Jehu Eyre and Mary Elizabeth Kraft, and the brother of the above-mentioned Abraham P. Eyre and Franklin Eyre.
Jehu W. Eyre’s involvement in the Kensington Soup Society appears to be limited to the earliest years. He is listed as one of the incorporators of the Kensington Soup Society of 18 April 1853 and as well he is also listed the following year in 1854 as one of the Board of Managers of the Soup Society in their printed Constitution & By-Laws. He does not appear in later records of the Soup Society.
In the 1850 Census, Jehu W. Eyre is enumerated in Kensington’s 5th Ward. He is listed as being born in Pennsylvania and working as a wharf builder. The household is headed by Lydia Eyre, probably his aunt, listed at 85 years of age, with real estate of $20,000. This household had been the home of Jehu’s grandparents, Jehu Eyre & Lydia Wright.
Also in the house is Ann Little, at 75 years of age, and probably another aunt of Jehu. There is also an Elizabeth Eyre, 68 years old, who appears to be Jehu W. Eyre’s mother, Mary Elizabeth Kraft. Jehu’s father, also named Jehu, had died in 1838.
The household also included Richard Eyre, 43, also a wharf builder, Jehu’s brother, as well as two other female Eyres, Matilda Eyre, 46, and a Mary Y. Eyre apparently 28 years of age, probably Jehu’s sisters. All of the members of the household were born in Pennsylvania. There were also two young women born in Ireland, who were probably domestics; Mary White at 15, and Bridget McEwen, at 18.
The Eyres were enumerated next to Matthew Van Dusen, located at Beach Street at Columbia, on the site of the “Treaty Elm,” the honored place where William Penn made his Treaty of Amity & Friendship with the Native Americans. This was also the area that Jehu, Manuel, and Benjamin Eyre first had their shipyard back in the 1760’s. The 1861 City Directory proves this address, as it has Jehu W. (Wright) Eyre, wharf builder, at 1326 Beach.
Jehu W. Eyre died on November 24th, 1865 at 63 years of age . He funeral took place at his Beach Street home and he was buried at the family plot at Laurel Hill Cemetery. During his lifetime, Jehu Eyre had been a trustee of the Kensington Burial Ground, a.k.a. Palmer Cemetery.
Eli Garrison, Sr. (1789- 1870)
There is an Eli Garrison, wharf builder listed in the Philadelphia City Directory of 1818, on N. 2nd Street, above Poplar. He would have been about 29 years old at that point in time. The name, location, and occupation would all appear to fit.
In a newspaper advertisement for William Carman, of the Camden Steam Saw Mills, in Philadelphia’s North American and United States Gazette, dated July 4th, 1853, there is a note within the advertisement that Carman’s Lumber is superior to any that has lately been on the market, having been:
“…selected by one of the oldest pioneers on the Susquehanna River, who has resided many years in the forest himself, and felled many trees of the same character, I refer to our old and worthy citizen, Eli Garrison, Esq., Kensington.”
This advertisement would seem to indicate that Garrison’s background in the lumber business was well known in the Delaware Valley, so the wharf builder of 1818 could very well be him.
In the early 1820’s, an Eli Garrison was found employed in the construction of Fort Delaware, on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River. He was employed for three years by the Federal Government as a wharf builder and pile driver.
Eli Garrison is found in the 1830 & 1840 Censuses for Kensington’s 4th Ward. In 1830 there was one male child under 5 and two male children between 10 and 15. Eli and his wife would appear to be the couple between the age of 30 and 40. They also have a female child under 5, as well as one between 5 and 10 in 1830.
Garrison is later found in the 1860 Census in the 18th Ward, on Shackamaxon Street. He was born about 1789 at Salem County, New Jersey. His occupation appears to have been retail lumber dealer, with real estate of $10,000 as well as personal estate of $10,000. There is a Mary Garrison, 75 years of age and born in Pennsylvania. Mary is presumably his wife. Also in the house is Louisa Garrison (39), possibly his son’s Eli’s wife. The household included Emma (20), Joseph (17), Susan (15), David (11), Leydon (9), and Cornelius (6). All of these younger Garrisons were presumably Louisa Garrison’s children.
In 1870, Garrison was still living in Kensington’s 18th Ward on Shackamaxon Street, with $10,000 in personal estate. His wife was still with him, as were Lydon Garrison (now listed at 18 years old and working in a saw mill) and Emma Garrison, “keeping house.” The family had the services of a domestic servant as well. The Garrisons lived near David Duncan, the coal merchant, who also served on the founding Board of Managers of the Soup Society.
In 1837, Garrison was the chairman of the Democratic Whigs for the 4th Ward of Kensington. He also served as a one-time Assessor from the 4th Ward of Kensington in the 1830’s. In the late 1840s Garrison and another Soup Society founder Andrew Zane ran on the “Rough & Ready” Party ticket. They lost to the Democrats, but finished ahead of the Nativists.
In addition to the lumber business, Garrison was as early as 1840 one of the directors of the Kensington National Bank. Over the years, a number of the other Soup Society managers served as directors for this local bank, famous for having paid a dividend for all of its years in existence.
Eli Garrison was found to be one of the incorporators of the Kensington Soup Society on 18 April 1853. He was also listed on the printed copy of the Constitution & By-Laws of the Society that was published in 1854. He served as a manager for the years 1853 to 1870, being the Vice-President of the Society for all that time. He was on the Board of Managers for the Soup Society until his death on August 25th, 1870. His funeral was from his home at 1031 Shackamaxon Street and he was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery. His wife was buried with him when she died in 1878.
Edward W. Gorgas (1814-1882)
Edward W. Gorgas was one of the incorporators of the Kensington Soup Society, as listed on 18 April of 1853. He was also listed on the printed copy of the 1854 Constitution & By-Laws of the Society. He served on the Board of Managers for almost thirty years, from at least 1853 to 1882. During that time he was Vice-President from 1871 to 1880, and President from 1880 to 1882, the year that of his death.
The 1850 Census finds Gorgas enumerated in Kensington’s 1st Ward. While the census states he was born about 1820, his obituary in 1882 stated he was 68 years old when he died, making his year of birth about 1814, closer to the 1860 Census entry that indicates 45 years of age.
In 1850, Gorgas was listed as a corder, with no real estate holdings. He was born in Pennsylvania, as was his wife Maria, who was listed as born about 1826 (or if you believe the 1860 Census, born in 1820). In 1850, the couple was listed as childless.
By 1860, Gorgas’ lumber business must have increased, as he is found having $10,000 in his personal estate and $10,000 in real estate, which increased to $20,000 and $35,000 by 1870. In 1860 and 1870 he was living in Kensington’s 18th Ward. His wife’s name was listed in 1860 and 1870 with the middle initial “L,” and in the house with the couple in 1860 was Rebecca Ridgeway, 66 years, a Pennsylvanian, with a personal estate of $3,000. Also in the house is a forty year-old Irish woman by the name of Rosanna Foster, perhaps a domestic servant. By the 1870 Census, the couple still did not have any children, but now had two domestics to help them out about the house.
The Philadelphia City Directory of 1861 lists Gorgas living at 150 Richmond Street, where he was also found in the Soup Society’s Annual Report of 1873-74. The 1861 directory listed his occupation as “wood wharf, 1325 Beach” street, which meant he was lumber dealer on the Delaware River.
Besides his involvement in the founding of the Kensington Soup Society, Gorgas also took an active interest in other Kensington community affairs. When Kensington was a self-governing District, he served as one of its representatives on the Philadelphia County School Board as early as 1847, then later, in at least 1867, he was the President for the 18th Section, representing Kensington on the Philadelphia Board of Directors for Public Schools.
As a dealer in the lumber business, Gorgas took an active interest in fire insurance. In 1854, in combination with ten other incorporators of the Soup Society, Gorgas helped found the Kensington Mutual Fire and Marine Insurance Company. He was also one of the seven Soup Society founders who also founded the Kensington Building Association in 1847, serving as its one-time Treasurer, and also served as a director for the Kensington National Bank, another institution dominated by the Soup Society founders.
The last census that Gorgas appears on is the Census for 1880, where he was living on Richmond Street. He was listed as a wood dealer and living with his wife and a domestic servant. There is an “Edward Bolger,” ten years old, a grandson. However it is unclear how he could be a grandson, since the couple did not appear to have had any children, unless one of them had been married previously.
Edward W. Gorgas’ obituary appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer of April 24th, 1882, where he is said to have died at age 68. He was described as having dropped dead at his office on Beach Street. He was buried from his home at 150 Richmond Street, with the funeral to have proceeded to “Germantown” where he was then interred at the German Baptist Cemetery.
George James Hamilton (1801-1883)
George J. Hamilton was one of the longest serving members of the Board of Managers of the Kensington Soup Society. He served from 1853 until his death in 1883. He was the Soup Society’s Treasurer from at least 1854 until 1882, at which time he then served as the Soup Society’s President for the last two years of his life (1882-1883). During his time on the Board of Managers, Hamilton served on the Committee on Property in 1875-76, and was chairman of the Committee on Distribution Protection for 1878-79. Hamilton was listed as one of the Soup Society’s incorporators on 18 April 1853 and was listed in the printed Constitution & By-Laws of 1854.
George J. Hamilton was born in 1801, the son of sea captain George Hamilton and Elizabeth Byles Stout (1780-1875). Hamilton’s father died soon after his birth. His mother remarried Joseph Barnaby in 1803, only to have her second husband die soon after. She then married a third time, in 1808, to Griffith Vaughan, the brother of another Soup Society founder, John Vaughan, who had married Anna Maria Stout, Elizabeth Byles Stout’s sister. Hamilton’s mother, Elizabeth Byles Stout, had as her uncle William Ball, the heir to the Ball Estate, which the southern area of the current day Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia was built upon.
Hamilton was the receiving teller at Commonwealth Bank and had also worked as a teller with the National Exchange at 2nd & Green Streets. Hamilton’s financial abilities were also shown by his presence on the founding Board of Directors of the Kensington Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which had a number of the founders of the Kensington Soup Society on its Board.
George J. Hamilton lived at 1010 Marlborough Street, as listed in the Philadelphia Directory for 1861. He was still living at this address at the time of his death in 1883.
Hamilton’s obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer on July 4th, 1883, indicated he died on the 30th of June, at 82 years of age. He was a member of Kensington Lodge, No. 211 A.Y.M., and was buried from his Marlborough Street home, with services at Kensington M.E. “Old Brick” Church. He was buried at Mount Peace Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Hamilton was a long-time member of the Kensington M.E. “Old Brick” Church. He was a trustee of Old Brick from 1830 to 1878, a Class Leader in 1855, and the Superintendent for Sunday School for the years 1831-35, 1837-41, and 1848-49. He was also Superintendent of the Sunday School’s Branch Schools for the years 1843-46.
George J. Hamilton also took an active interest in the Penn Widow’s Asylum, now called Penn Home. He was listed in their records as President of the Board of Council in the 1860’s.
Jacob Jones (1808-1901)
Jacob Jones was born on October 15th, 1808 at Philadelphia (probably Kensington). He was the son of Catharina Deal (1780- d. aft 1850) and her second husband David Jones. She had previously been married to Jacob Tag (Day) who died in 1800. Jacob Jones was baptized at First Reformed Church, Philadelphia. When he later married Catharine Rowen on March 30th, 1834, he married at First Presbyterian Church of Kensington, where he had become a member.
Jacob Jones is listed as one of the Kensington Soup Society incorporators on 18 April 1853. He is also listed in the printed Constitution & By-Laws of the Society from 1854. Since he lived to be 93 years old, Jones appears to have had the longest continuous service on the Board of Managers. He began as a manager as early as the year 1853, and stayed on the Board until 1901 when he died. This represents about 48 years of continuous service. During this time he served as Vice-President from 1897-1900 and as President for the years 1900-01. He also served on a number of Committees for the Soup Society over the years, such as the Committee for Entertainment, 1860-61; House Committee 1878-82, 1885-87, 1890-1900; Committee on Conference with Richmond Soup Society 1879-80; Committee on Bath House 1879-80; and the Committee on Real Estate 1882-86, 1892-94, 1897-98, and 1900-01.
Jones lived next door to his mother on the 1850 Census. His brother John Deal Jones married Margaret Faunce and his sister Sarah Jones married John Luffbury. These families were as inner-related in early Kensington, as were the Deals. They were some of the founding families of First Presbyterian Church of Kensington and through marriage, they were related to just about all of the leading families in the community like the Cramps, Days, Hetzells, Seddingers, Suttons, Van Hooks, Vaughans, etc
While there were several Jacob Jones in Kensington, the one that is found in the 1850 Census for Kensington’s 5th Ward would seem to be the correct one. This Jacob Jones was born about 1808, in Pennsylvania and listed as carpenter with $3500 in real estate. His wife Catharine was 34 years old. The couple had at least seven children: George (15), Ann E. (14), Wm. R. (12), Jacob Jr (10), Almira F. (8), Mary E. (5), Andrew M (5/12). All the children were born in Pennsylvania.
In the 1861 Philadelphia City Directory, Jones was listed as builder, at 423 Richmond Street, the same address that he was located at when the Soup Society’s Annual Report of 1873-74 was published. The 1870 Census has Jones listed as a carpenter. For the last 20 or so years of his life (1880 & 1900 Censuses) he was listed in the records as a surveyor.
In 1891, we find Jacob Jones attending the 100th Anniversary of the Kensington Fire Association, where he was described as an old time member.
His obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer on August 20th, 1901, lists him dying at the age of 93 on the 18th of August 1901. He was buried from his home at 423 Richmond Street, having lived there all those years. Members of Lodge No. 3, F. and A. M., Harmony R. A. Chapter; Northern Liberties Lodge, No. 17, I.O.O.F.; trustees of Palmer Cemetery and the Volunteer Firemen’s Relief Association were all invited. Jones was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery.
Joseph Lippincott (1813-1896)
Joseph Lippincott was one of the longest serving members of the Board of Managers of the Kensington Soup Society having sat on the Board from 1853 until 1897, a full forty-four years. He is first found listed as one of the incorporators on 18 April 1853. He was also found on the printed Constitution & By-Laws of 1854. In 1883 he became the Vice-President of the Soup Society and held that position until he died in 1897. During his tenure on the Board of Manages he held served on the House Committee for the years 1873-74, 1875-86, 1887-90, as well as the Committee for Appointing a Steward 1885-86.
Lippincott is most likely a member of the Burlington County, New Jersey Lippincott family. Since we know that Lippincott was a trustee for Kensington Methodist Episcopal “Old Brick” Church as early as 1843, and a class leader at the church for 1842, we can assume that he was in Kensington prior to that time. He was apparently born in New Jersey and died there as well.
A review of the 1840 Census finds a Joseph “Lippencot,” who would presumably be the correct person. He is listed in Kensington’s 1st Ward and the age fits his known birth year as did his wife’s. The couple had a young male in the house between 10 and 15 years of age, but it is unclear if it was their child.
The 1850 Census has Joseph Lippincott enumerated in Kensington’s 4th Ward. He was listed as a tailor, an occupation that he kept for the rest of his life. In 1850 he had real estate of $3000, probably indicating he owned his house and shop. He was listed as married to a woman named Mary, who was about the same age as he was. The 1880 Census lists the couple both being born in New Jersey, with both of the sets of parents also being born in that state. In 1850, an Elizabeth Chapman (13) and Mary Ann Keiser (54), were living with them..
In the Census of 1860, we find Joseph Lippincott listed in Kensington’s 18th Ward, Kensington having been consolidated into the City of Philadelphia in the year 1854. With Lippincott is his wife Mary. The 1861 Philadelphia City Directory has Lippincott living at 218 Richmond Street.
The 1870 Census and the Soup Society’s own Annual Report of 1873-74, both have Lippincott living at 254 Richmond Street, the address where he was found in the 1880 Census and the 1890 Philadelphia City Directory. It is probable that all these Richmond Street addresses might be the same residence, as the numbering system changed several time. Lippincott and his wife do not appear to have had any children. There were no children enumerated with them on any of the Census Records for 1850, 1860, 1870, or 1880.
Lippincott was a member of Kensington M.E. “Old Brick” Church where he seems to have been a Trustee from 1843 to 1859, and the Superintendent of the Sunday School for the years 1843-44, 1860-84. He was also a class leader in 1842. When the church organized a Building Committee in preparation for construction of their new church in 1853, Lippincott, along with fellow Soup Society founding members Franklin Eyre, Joseph Bennett, David Duncan, and George J. Hamilton, served on the Building Committee for the church.
Lippincott died at Marlton, New Jersey, on December 31st, 1896, at the age of 83 years. The relatives and friends of the family were invited to attend the funeral at the residence of Mrs. Mary Allen, 452 Richmond Street. Mrs. Allen was the widow to wharf builder Joseph S. Allen, who also resided at this address. Lippincott was held at Hanover Street Vault until January 15, 1897, then buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery.
It is possible that Joseph Lippincott and his wife were related to Richard S. Allen and his wife (listed above in the biography of Richard S. Allen). Both of these couples were from New Jersey and moved to the Richmond Street neighborhood of Kensington. Joseph Lippincott was laid out at Joseph S. Allen’s 452 Richmond Street home. This Joseph S. Allen had been previously identified above (in the Richard S. Allen biography) to have been a probable relative to Richard S. Allen.
Robert R. Pearce (1824-1900)
Robert Pearce was listed as one of the incorporators of the Kensington Soup Society on 18 April 1853. He was again listed in 1854 in the printed Board of Managers for the Soup Society’s Constitution & By-Laws. He does not appear at any later dates as involved in the administration of the Society.
Pearce is listed as born in New Jersey. He is hard to find in the 1840 Census and it could be that he was still in New Jersey and had not yet migrated to Philadelphia. There is a Robert Pearce found at Howell, Monmouth County, NJ, at this date, and it could him. This Robert Pearce was born between 1800 and 1810. He would appear to be married, with possibly four children.
The 1850 Census has Robert Pearce enumerated as Robert R. Pearce. He is found in Kensington’s 4th Ward, living in the household of Clement Keen. The Keens were an old and prosperous Kensington family, descendents of original Swedish settlers on the Delaware River in the Seventeenth Century. Clement Keen was retired, with $18,000 in real estate. His wife was named Susan. In an obituary for a Susan Keen, who died at 85 on 18th of August 1885, it stated she was to be buried from her son-in-law Robert Pearce’s house, 1633 Girard Avenue (Philadelphia Inquirer, 22 August 1885).
In the 1850 Census, Robert R. Pearce was listed as a merchant, with no real estate, and born in New Jersey about the year 1826. He was only 24 years old at this time; his wife Mary M. Keen was only 22 years of age. Robert and his wife had one child in 1850, a young girl named Ellen, only four months old. Everyone in the household was born in Pennsylvania, except for Robert R. Pearce
By 1860, Robert & his wife Mary’s family included two other children, Frank (6) and Rodman (1). Pearce was now listed as keeping a wholesale and jobbing house. He was still living with his wife’s parents. His father in-law was listed as a retired ship joiner, with $35,000 in real estate and $6,000 of personal estate. Being retired, Keen would appear to have owned a number of real estate properties. The family enjoyed the help of a 19 year-old domestic servant. In the 1861 Philadelphia City Directory, Clement Keen was described as a “gentleman,” living at 219 Richmond Street. The 1861 Philadelphia Directory only had one Robert Pearce listed, that being the one living with Clement Keen on Richmond Street. He was listed as a merchant.
By the time the 1870 Census was taken, Robert Pearce had remarried. His wife Mary Margaret Keen died on 9 October 1866. She was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery. Robert appears to have married his deceased wife’s sister, Elizabeth Keen, and by 1870 added another child to his family, a young boy named Henry B., who was four years old. Robert had moved his family to the 1633 Girard Avenue address where he was found in 1885, when his mother-in-law Susan Keen died. The family also had the luxury of two domestics. This area of Philadelphia, often called the “new money” neighborhood of “North Broad Street,” was a district where many families that made their money in Philadelphia during the last half of the Nineteenth Century moved to, including a number of well-known Kensingtonians like the Clothier, Cramp, Disston, and Stetson families.
By 1880, Pearce was described as a “Tailors Trimmings Dealer.” The 1890 Philadelphia City Directory has him still residing on Girard Avenue, but now he was retired. Pearce’s sons, Rodman and Robert went into the textile business, trading under the name of Keystone Textile Mills, one was a salesman, the other a bookkeeper.
On 23 May 1890, Pearce’s 2nd wife Elizabeth Keen died suddenly. She was 61 years old. Robert Pearce died on November 1st, 1900, at Zanesville, Ohio. He was listed as 76 years of age. His funeral was from his son Henry B. Pearce’s home, at 2232 N. 20th Street. He was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery. Pearce had moved to Ohio to be with his widowed daughter Ella Pearce Clements, who had married the retail grocer, George R. Clements. Ella was found at Zanesville, Ohio, in the 1880 Census. By 1900, her father and her were both enumerated on the 1900 Census at Zanesville, Ohio. They both survived the death of the their spouses.
Thomas Dunn Stites (1824-1889)
Thomas Dunn Stites was born in Philadelphia on September 6th, 1824. He married Martha Cookman Hamilton, on July 3rd, 1848. Martha was the daughter of George J. Hamilton, the long time Treasurer of the Kensington Soup Society. Besides having Hamilton as his father-in-law, another fellow Soup Society incorporator Joseph P. Cramer was his brother-in-law, since Cramer had married Ann Elizabeth Hamilton, the sister of Stites wife. Stites’ wife’s grandmother was Elizabeth Byles Stout, whose sister Ann Marie Stout married John Vaughan, another founder of the Soup Society. Through the Vaughan family there were at least four other Soup Society Board of Managers related to the family, Jacob K. Vaughan, George W. Vaughan, Joseph Bennett, and A. E. Helffenstein. Undoubtedly, if you were to probe further, more relationships of the Board of Managers of the Soup Society would surface.
The 1850 Census finds Stites enumerated in Kensington’s 4th Ward, listed as a coffee roaster. His wife was listed with him, as was their year old daughter Mary Hamilton Stites. Also enumerated in the house was a probable domestic Sarah Sevick (14), born in PA. Stites and his wife would go on to have at least another two children, Thomas Hamilton Stites and May Virginia Stites.
By 1860, Stites still was shown living in Kensington’s 18th Ward, the same area as the old 4th Ward, but since Kensington was consolidated into Philadelphia in 1854, the ward numbers had changed. He appears to have gone into the flour and feed business. This census now shows his two young children. A different domestic now lives with them, one Sarah Roberts (25).
In 1870, Stites is shown to have moved his family to the 20th Ward of Philadelphia and now listed himself as a real estate agent. Apparently he had done well, as his real estate is stated to be $32,000, with a personal estate of $5,000. His three children were living at home, as well his oldest daughter. Mary had married Charles C. Moland and he lived with them as well. The family still kept a domestic servant in the home.
By 1880, Stites had moved to Stroud Township, in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, where he and his wife lived on a farm, with their son Thomas and his wife Nellie. This census I indicated that Stites’ father was born in New Jersey, his mother Delaware. There are a number of well-known Stites families in New Jersey and undoubtedly he was a descendent of one of them.
Thomas D. Stites died on Sept 17th, 1889. His obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer on the 20th of Sept 1889 stated that he died at 66 years of age, of paralysis, with the funeral held at Stite’s Mountain House, at Spragueville, Pennsylvania. The burial was to be at Stroudsburg.
The 1861 Philadelphia City Directory finds a Thomas Stites listed as a grocer at 518 Richmond Street, with his home on Allen Street, above Shackamaxon. In the same directory is a Thomas D. Stites, coal dealer, at 226 Allen Street. This may be the same Thomas Stites, or it may be relative. The grocer would seem to be married to the daughter of George J. Hamilton. It could be possible that this other Thomas D. Stites was the same person who was an incorporator of the Soup Society, however he does not appear on the census records for 1850, only this grocer, Thomas Stites. Possibly he was enumerated twice on the census, or it might be father and son. There were other Stites, two George Stites, who were machinists on Richmond Street, thus there were definitely other Stites families in the area. In all likelihood, the Thomas D. Stites, who married Hamilton’s daughter, would appear to be the person involved in the incorporation of the Soup Society. He is the only one that shows up in Kensington in the census records at the same time where there is a Thomas D. Stites found to be a Trustee of Kensington M.E. “Old Brick” Church for the years 1852 to 1858 and then again from 1859 to 1874.
Thomas D. Stites was found on the list of incorporators on 18 April 1853. He was also listed in the printed Constitution & By-Laws of 1854. In all, he was a member of the Board of Managers from at least 1853 to 1871, during which time he served on the Committee to Select a Meeting Room in the year 1859.
George Stockham (1808-1885)
George Stockham was a member of the Board of Managers from at least 1853 to 1881. He was President for the decade of 1862 to 1872. He was listed as one of the incorporators on 18 April 1853, as well he was listed on the 1854 printing of the Society’s Constitution & By-Laws, as one of the Board of Managers. He would appear to be the only President (except for the modern era George E. Williams in 1983 and Herman F. Krauter in 1990) of the Kensington Soup Society, who after serving as President, stayed on the Board of Managers after giving up the Presidency.
According to a genealogy of the family, George Stockham was the son of John Stockham (1782-1855) of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and Alice Smith (1790-1822). The 1850 Census has George Stockham living in Kensington’s 5th Ward and running a sawmill. Stockham had married Margaret B. O’Neal (b. 1817). The couple had nine children, but in 1850, only the following six had been born: Daniel B. (14), John O (12), Wm. R. (10), George [H.] (8), Charles M. (4), and Alonzo S.(1). All of the children were listed as being born in New Jersey, except for Alonzo, who was born in Pennsylvania. This would indicate that the couple spent at least the years 1836 to 1846 living in New Jersey.
Also in the house was Elizabeth Buckley (45), who was born in Pennsylvania, and a William Buckley (8), born in Massachusetts. Elizabeth Buckley was a sister to George Stockham. Her son William was George Stockham’s nephew. There is also a Cornelia E. Stockham (17), who would appear to be niece of George Stockham, his brother Thomas’ daughter. Also in the house is an Elizabeth Jackson (14), listed as “Black,” and born in New Jersey. Presumably she was a domestic working for the family. Rounding out the household was Charles Stockham (27), a sawyer, born in Pennsylvania, and John Thoman (13), also born in Pennsylvania.
According to the 1860 Census, Stockham’s family was now living in Kensington’s 19th Ward and added at least three more children to their family: Sara (10), Carrie (7), and Irene (4), all listed as born in Philadelphia. Alonzo is now indicated as born in Philadelphia. George Stockham’s wife Margaret is listed as being born in New Jersey; that would appear to be why the children were born in New Jersey.
The five oldest sons of George Stockham, ranging in ages from 16 to 25, all worked as clerks. George Stockham himself was listed as a merchant. “George Stockham, steam sawmill” was listed at Beach Street at the corner of Norris Streets in the 1861 Philadelphia Directory. The same directory also lists a “George E. Stockham, Beach c Norris,” and “William R. Stockham, Beach c Norris,” and “Daniel W. Stockham, Beach c Norris.” These would be the three sons of George Stockham. All appear to have gone into the business with their father.
With the help of his sons, and perhaps connections in the shipbuilding trades of Kensington, George Stockham’s lumber business prospered. In 1870 his real estate holdings was listed at $400,000, while his personal estate was said to be $110,000. He had moved downtown to 1031 Arch Street, in the 10th Ward, a wealthy neighborhood at that time. Only his youngest son, Alonzo, and his three daughters (Julia, Carrie, & Irene) were at home. The family had two domestic servants to help them. Most of his sons remained living in Kensington’s 18th Ward, presumably caring for and running the family business. Daniel Stockham lived next door to I.P.H. Wilmerton, who later was a Soup Society Board Member from 1886 to 1914, as well as the Society’s Treasurer for 1906-1914.
At about this time Stockham’s son, Daniel W. Stockham, died. He had been a member of Common Council from the 19th Ward. He died at his father’s house at 11th & Arch. Several years after Daniel’s death, the Soup Society’s Annual Report of 1873-74, finds George Stockham still listed at the northeast corner of 11th & Arch Streets.
Stockham later moved to S. Broad Street, apparently sometime after 1874, as his obituary appearing on October 12th, 1885, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, states that his funeral was from his residence at 1336 S. Broad Street. He died on the 9th of October and was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery three days later.
George Stockham was at times involved with the Penn Widow’s Asylum, today known as the Penn Home. At one time, he was on the Asylum’s Council Board, when another of the Kensington Soup Society Board of Managers, the Hon. John Robbins was also active. Stockham’s wife, Margaret Stockham, also took a personal interest in the Widow’s Asylum, serving as one of its managers.
Jacob Tees (1789-1875)
Jacob Tees was one of the original incorporators on 18 April 1853, when the Kensington Soup Society became incorporated. He was also listed as one of the Board of Managers in the printed version of the Constitution & By-Laws that was published in 1854. These early years would appear to be his only involvement of the Soup Society, as he is not listed in later records.
Tees was one of the most prominent shipbuilders and community activists. According to local historian Rich Remer, “His shipyard at the foot of Marlborough Street, constructed nearly 200 vessels during its operations from 1826-1857.” Like Samuel Bower, another famous Kensington shipbuilder, Tees reputation was so widespread, he was once offered the position of Chief Naval Constructor, in his case by the Ottoman Empire.
He was one of the oldest ship-builders of Kensington at the time of his death and served for many years as a Commissioner of the District of Kensington; he was a zealous advocate of its consolidation with the city. Besides politics and business, Tees also served as a Trustee of Kensington M. E. “Old Brick” Church from 1828-1835.
Jacob Tees was the head of the Tees household, found in the 1850 Census in Kensington’s 4th Ward. He was born in 1789 in Pennsylvania, and was listed at that time as a “ship carpenter,” with $10,000 in real estate. His wife was Francis, born about 1796, in Pennsylvania. Their children were: Thomas (31), Eliza (25), Jacob (23), ship carpenter, Francis (female 21), Joseph (19), ship carpenter, John (17), and Ambler (14), all the children were born in Pennsylvania.
Tees obituary was in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Dec 6th, 1875. He died on Dec 2nd at the age of 86. His funeral was from his home at 1220 Beach Street and the interment was on December 7th at Palmer Cemetery. It was noted (10 Dec 1875 Philadelphia Inquirer) that his funeral was largely attended.
George Washington Vaughan (1813-1873)
George W. Vaughan is listed as one of the Kensington Soup Society’s incorporators on 18 April 1853. He was also listed as one of the managers in the printed Constitution & By-Laws of 1854. The Philadelphia Inquirer article of 7 January 1861, indicated he was serving on the Board. Vaughan served on the Soup Society Board of Managers for at least twenty years (1853-1873), if not more. Besides being one of the managers, he also served on the Committee to Select a Meeting Room in 1859-60, the House Committee in 1860-61, and the Committee for Entertainment also in 1860-61.
In David W. Gauer’s book Vaughan Shipwrights of Kensington, Gauer states that Vaughan was born circa 1813. He was the son of William B. Vaughan (1788-1864), shipwright, and Roxanna Van Hook (1794-1852), another shipwright family. William B. Vaughan was the fourth son of Kensington’s Revolutionary War Militiaman, Thomas Vaughan, and the brother of John Vaughan, another early participant in the founding of the Kensington Soup Society. George’s cousin, Jacob Keen Vaughan, was also involved in the founding of the Soup Society, as was his cousin’s husband Joseph Bennett, the husband of Catharine Creamer, whose mother was Margaret Vaughan, the sister of William B. & John Vaughan.
Gauer states that George W. Vaughan had a degree in Pharmacy and was a Doctor of Medicine, however “due to a lateral curvature of the spine, he never practiced medicine, but became a druggist instead.” In 1841, he bought the house at the corner of Richmond & Shackamaxon Streets and ran a pharmacy until he died on 8 Sept 1873. He introduced a line of patent medicines called “Vaughan’s Remedies,” which were popular in the area.
George W. Vaughan was found in the 1850 Census in Kensington’s 4th Ward, listed as a druggist with $7000 in real estate holdings. He lived with his parents, who were retired. Also in the house was his sister Caroline’s family. Caroline Vaughan (1819-1880) married William McBride, a druggist, who took over George W. Vaughan’s pharmacy upon George’s death in 1873 and ran it until his own death in 1886.
George W. Vaughan was a vestryman of, and held a pew at, the Emmanuel Episcopal Protestant Church of Kensington, but not a confirmed member. He also was very active in the public schools, serving as a member of the Kensington School District Board (1846-1853) when Kensington was a self-governing entity. After consolidation (1854), he continued to serve on the School Board from 1854 to 1870 for the 18th Section (Kensington). He also served as the School Board’s Secretary for the years 1860-64 and 1867-70. The School Board honored Vaughan by naming a local Kensington school after him. Vaughan also took an interest in Wills Eye Hospital and served on their Board of Directors.
George W. Vaughan died on Sept 8th, 1873 at the age of 59, having never married. He was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery.
Jacob Keen Vaughan (1812–1886)
Jacob K. Vaughan was listed as one of the incorporators of the Kensington Soup Society on 18 April 1853. He was also listed as one of the Board of Managers listed in the printed Constitution & By-Laws of 1854. He served as a manager for at least the years 1853 to 1862 and for most of that time (1854-1861) was the Kensington Soup Society’s Secretary.
According to David W. Gauer’s book Vaughan Shipwrights of Kensington, Jacob Keen Vaughan was born on 26 Dec 1812, the son of John Vaughan (1786-1846), shipbuilder, and Anna Maria Stout (d.1865). His father John Vaughan was a noted shipbuilder in his day. Gauer describes Jacob’s father as “being in close association” with the Kensington Soup Society, which presumably means he helped to organize it, but died in 1846, before its incorporation.
Jacob’s cousin George W. Vaughan was a founder of the Soup Society as well, as was his cousin’s husband, Joseph Bennett (the husband of Catharine Creamer, who was the daughter of Margaret Vaughan, John Vaughan’s sister). Jacob Keen Vaughan was also related to George J. Hamilton, Joseph P. Cramer, Thomas D. Stites, and A. E. Helffenstein, all at one time or another managers of the Kensington Soup Society.
Vaughan was educated at the Academy of Philadelphia, and it was said that he had a talent for draughtsmanship, becoming a valuable assistant to his father, who admitted him into partnership in 1833 under the new firm name of “John Vaughan & Son.”
With employment secured, Jacob married Matilda M. Ramsay (1817-1888), on May 14th, 1835, the daughter of Alexander Alan Ramsay, M.D., of Norristown, PA. Together the couple would have eight children.
After his father’s death in 1846, the business continued under the name of “Vaughan & Lynn,” Jacob having taken on Matthew Lynn as a partner. By the 1850 Census, Jacob K. Vaughan and his family were living in Kensington’s 4th Ward, listed as a ship carpenter, with real estate of $5000, presumably his house and business properties.
Vaughan’s shipyard continued, “to be the leading shipbuilder in Philadelphia. Their vessels were unexcelled in construction, workmanship, strength and speed; they carried the largest tonnage of any vessels built [in Philadelphia] during many years.”
One of the ships built by this firm was said to be the “Quaker City,” the one that carried Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) to Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land, which was written up in his book, Innocents Abroad. The Financial Panic of 1857 ruined the shipyard.
In 1860, Mr. Vaughan became Supervising Constructor for the United States Light-House Establishment, and performed in that capacity until his death on May 10th, 1886. The Vaughan’s at the time resided at 1222 Providence Avenue, in Chester, Pennsylvania, having moved from Kensington. Jacob and his wife were buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery.
John Vaughan (1786-1846)
John Vaughan was not listed as an incorporator of the Soup Society on 18 April 1853, nor was he listed in the printed Constitution & By-Laws document of 1854. However, in David W. Gauer’s book Vaughan Shipwrights of Kensington (page 84-85), Gauer states that John Vaughan had a close association with the Kensington Soup Society, which might mean that he was one of the original organizers that helped to found it. The fact that he died in 1846 would be one reason he was not on those lists of 1853 and 1854. Gauer does not state where he found the information for John Vaughan’s involvement in the Soup Society. He did have access to many of the Vaughan family papers, which may have been where he was enlightened. It might also be noted here that John Vaughan was one of the founders of Kensington Methodist Episcopal “Old Brick” Church, which was in many ways involved in the founding of the Kensington Soup Society.
John Vaughan was born on October 31st, 1786, and died February 19th, 1846. He was the third son of Kensington’s Revolutionary War Militiaman, Thomas Vaughan (1757-1842) and Mary Bryan (d.1855). His parents purchased property in Kensington from the heirs of Kensington founder Anthony Palmer. Thomas Vaughan was the son of Griffith Vaughan, the son of William Vaughan. All of these Vaughans were shipwrights. Griffith Vaughan’s wife, Elizabeth Betson Norris, was the sister-in-law to another early Kensingtonian, William Rice. Elizabeth’s father, John Norris, was likewise a shipwright. John was the uncle of George W. Vaughan another Soup Society founder, and the father of Jacob Keen Vaughan, also an early Soup Society founder.
With all the shipwrights in the family, it was no accident then that John Vaughan would eventually open his own shipyard. He established his yard about 1810 and continued it under his name until 1833. He is said to have been the builder of much of the trading fleet of Stephen Girard, America’s first large merchant marine fleet, although others state that it was Isaac White who actually built Girard’s fleet. Vaughan brought his son, Jacob Keen Vaughan, into the business and the name of the firm became “John Vaughan & Son” and lasted from 1833 to John’s death in 1846. After John Vaughan’s death, his son took on Matthew Lynn as a partner and the business was re-named “Vaughan & Lynn,” operating from 1847-1858, failing in the financial Panic of 1857.
John Vaughan was a member of Kensington Methodist Episcopal “Old Brick” Church, and served in varying lay capacities (class leader 1810, and one of the founders and original trustees starting back in 1809) until his death in 1846. At that time he was the President of the Board of Trustees of the church and its burial grounds. He was also a member of the local Temperance Society, and Friends of the Bible, as well as a one-time Commissioner for the District of Kensington, and a Director of the Kensington National Bank.
Vaughan married Anna Maria Stout and together they had eight children. Ann Maria Stout was the sister of Elizabeth Byles Stout, the wife of John Vaughan’s brother Griffith Vaughan (1779-1853), another prominent Kensington shipwright. When John Vaughan died he was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery, as was his wife.
Andrew Zane (1811-1886)
Andrew Zane was listed as one of the incorporators of the Kensington Soup Society on 18 April 1853. As well he was also listed in the printed version of the Constitution & By-Laws of 1854. Zane was a member of the Board of Managers of the Kensington Soup Society from at least 1853 until 1871. During this time, he served on at least one committee, that being in 1859-60, on the Committee to Select a Meeting Room.
Andrew Zane’s son, Andrew Zane, Jr. (1836-1910) also served as a Kensington Soup Society Manager. The younger Zane served from 1867 to 1871, leaving at the same time as his father. It appears that they both resigned at about the time they moved from the Kensington area to the 20th Ward, which was just west of Kensington.
The 1850 Census indicates Andrew Zane lived in Kensington’s 4th Ward. He was born in New Jersey, about the year 1811, and was listed as a wood dealer with $8000 in real estate, presumably his house and business properties. He would appear to be related to the Zane family of Gloucester County, New Jersey, who had been in Gloucester County since the late Seventeenth Century. He married a woman named Ellen B. Spence about the year 1832, who was also born in New Jersey, around the year 1810. The couple had at least four children, William, Mary, Andrew, and Sophia, born between the years 1834-1845, and all born in Pennsylvania. Thus, Andrew Zane must have come to Philadelphia from New Jersey, by at least the year 1835.
By the time of the 1860 Census, Kensington’s 4th Ward had become the 18th Ward of Philadelphia and Andrew Zane was living on Richmond Street. Andrew’s son, Andrew Zane, Jr., was already practicing law by the age of 24. The Philadelphia Directory for 1861 has Andrew Zane, in the “flour & hay,” business at “323 Richmond.” His son Andrew Zane, Jr., was listed as an “attorney at law,” with an office in town at 113 S. 5th, but living with his parents at 323 Richmond Street in Kensington.
It appears the family stayed on at Richmond Street through the 1860s and then Andrew, Sr. according to the 1870 Census, went into the business of manufacturing preserving powders and moved to the 29th Ward.
Andrew Zane died on January 30th, 1886. His obituary is listed in the Philadelphia Inquirer of Feb 2nd, 1886. He was listed as being 76 years old when he died. His funeral was from his home at 1528 N. Tenth Street. He was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.
An “Andrew Zane” was a Class Leader at Old Brick in the year 1871. There is also an “Andrew Zane” a trustee of Kensington Methodist Episcopal “Old Brick” Church from 1843 to 1847, and from 1848 to 1851. This trustee “Andrew Zane” would likely be the father, with the Class Leader being possibly either of them.
Andrew Zane ran on the “Rough & Ready” Party ticket as one of the Commissioners of Kensington in the election of 1849 along with fellow Soup Society manager, Eli Garrison, Sr. They lost to the Democrats, but finished ahead of the Nativists.
Andrew Zane, Jr. was a well-known attorney who practiced law in Philadelphia for at least forty years. During this time, he served on City Council, having been initially elected in 1859. For most of his years on City Council, he represented Kensington’s 18th Ward, but the last eight years on Council he was elected from the Twentieth Ward, where he and his father had both moved. He died on May 1st, 1910 and was buried Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.