GOVERNOR M'kean, Who Means to Honor the Theatre with His Prefen.Ce
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
GENEALOGY OF THE OF PE:NNSYLVANIA, 'WITH A BIOGRAPHY 011' THE HON. THOMAS McKEAN, LL.D.; MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS FR0:11 DELAWARE, CHIEl<' JUSTICE AND GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA, SIGNER OF TUE DECLARATION OF INDE• PENDENCE, AND PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. 0 BY ROBERDEAU BUCHANAN, AUTHOR OF THE GENEALOGY OF THE ROBERDEA.U FAMILY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE DESCENDANTS OF DB, WILLIAM SHIPPEN THE ELD.ER. WITH AN INTRODUCTORY LETTER BY THB HoN. THOMAS F. BAYARD, LL.D. LANCASTER, PA.: INQUIRER PRINTING COMPANY. 1890. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1890, by RoBERDEAU BcCBANAN, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. TO THE HON. THOMAS F. :BAYARD, LL. D. WHOSE DISTINGUISHED SERVICES IN THE COUNCILS OF THE NATION AS A SENATOR, AND AS SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE UNITED STATES HAVE REFLECTED ESPECIAL HONOR UPON THE STATE OF DELAWARE, Ubts :mtograpb}2 OF "THE LEADING DELEGATE FROM DELAWARE" IN THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY HIS OBEDIENT SERVANT, THE AUTHOR. INTRODUCTORY CORRESPONDENCE. THE AUTHOR TO THE BON. THOMAS F. BAYARD, LL. D. WASHINGTON, D. C., December 23, 1889. To THE HoN. Tuo111As F. BAYARD, LL. D. Dear Sir: Having in course of publication a Life of the Hon. Thmnas McKean, LL. D., who for a number of years was the "leading delegate from Delaware" in the Continental Congress, and also a Signer of the Declaration of Independence; it would give me much pleasure if you will permit me to dedicate the same to you, as a slight mark of my appreciation of the services yon have in later days rendered, in many important positions, not only to the State of Delaware, but to our country at large. I have the honor to enclose proof pages of the work as far as yet printed ; and, with your approbation, will from time to time send the succeeding pages as they are received from the printer. I have the honor to be, with much respect, Yours very truly, ROBERDEAU BUCHANAN. REPLY OF THE HON. THOMAS F. BAYARD. WILMINGTON, DEL., March 25th, 1890. Dear Sir: Since receiving your letter of December 23d, the proof sheets of the "Life of Thomas McKean, LL.D.," have been duly sent me, and I now congratulate you upon the successful completion of your labors. I accept with pleasure the honor of your dedication, and as an American, especially as a citizen of Delaware, I am justly proud to be thus associated with the Memorial of a patriot, statesman, and jurist, so distinguished as Thomas McKean. In thi~ State Mr. McKean commenced his professional and public career; as a Representative of this community he was delegated, together with his compatriot, Cresar Rodney, to the Stamp Act Congress of 1765; and from that time onward until American liberty and indepcn<lence were firmly secured, he was ( V) Vl INTRODUCTORY CORRESPONDENCE. continuously invested with the highest public trusts which the people of this State could bestow; all of which he executed with a fidelity and ability which a"akened the grateful admiration of his constituents, and secured for him the highest popular e;,teem. To him is due the high distinction of serving longer and more continuously than any other member of the Continental Congress, in the stormy and eventful years of the struggle for our indepen dent National existence. To this it may be added that his assiduity was equalled by his courage, discretion and ability in the "times that tried men's souls." In parliamentary bodies, declamatory vigor and selfish assertion, contenting itself with sharp criticism upon the work of others, may, and often do, give distinction and sometimes an undeserved reputation with the public; while the patient, self-controlled and steady labor that formulates and constructs is recognized and ap preciated only by the "singular few," who quietly take part in the real work of State building, and to whom mankind are chiefly indebted. In this sober class of unselfish and conscientious constructors of our republican system, Thomas McKean must be ranked among the first. As his kinsman and descendant, you have performed a pious duty in compiling with simple accuracy, a full and faithful record of the life-work of your ancestor; and the picture you have given of his private as well as of his public character and career is just and true. As a citizen, you have done public service in contributing an important chapter in the veritable liistory of laying the founda tions of the government whose blessings we now enjoy, and which it is the duty of each of us to assist in transmitting unimpaired to posterity. I am, dear sir, Respectfully and truly yours, T. F. BAYARD. To Roberdeau Buchanan, Esq., W&hington, D. C. PREFACE. THE author has the honor of presenting herewith to the Mc Kean family, the GENEALOGY OF THE DESCENDANTS OF THE HoN. THOMAS McKEAN; hoping it. may give as much pleasure to its readers as it has given to him in its compilation. Since boyhood the author has been interested in family history, carefully collecting names and preserving such facts, dates, biog raphies, newspaper articles, memoranda of books, etc., as came under bis notice; and in this lillow way was continua11y adding tQ his chart of the family, intending at wme future time that hi11 researches should be published. The active preparation of thili genealogy, however, dates from the fall of 1885, when he proposed to complete the work as a contribution for THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION AND THEIR DESCENDANTS, in course of prepara. tion hy Frank Willing Leach, Esq., of Philadelphia. That pub. lication having been delayed on aecount of the magnitude of the work, and the present gent>alogy having nrnch exceeded the com. pass of such a contribution, these pages are now given to the public independently, and in accordance with the author's original design. As to the plan of the work, it is that usually adopted by Amer ican genealogists. In families possessing a title or entailed landed estates, a single line of deilcent is often followed to the exclusion, partially or wholly, of collateral relatives. In this plan, which is followed by Burke in England, Browning's Royal Descents, and Keith's Provincial Councillors, members of a family are separated, while generations are kept together. It necessarily becomes imprac, ticable, intricate, and confusing when there are long biograpl1ies 1 when the family is large, or when all the deBceudants are to he included. Therefore the plan adopted by tlie best genealogist!! h~ this country, and which is decidedly the clearest and simplest, is to classify each generation by itself, aud the members thereof in strict order of primogeniture, Upon this 11y11tem the work proceed11 chronologically, the earlier genera.tionli first, the later at the end of the book ; names of persons appear first as children under the (vii) viii PREFACE. biography of their parents, and subsequently as parents of the next generation. NameR thus repeated are accompanied by a running Arabic number for ~onvcnience of reference and identification. A little examination will readily sliow how a line of descent may, by thi>se numbers, be traced upward to find the ancestors, or down ward to find the desP-endants. Some good genealogists, after the name of a person, give in brackets the names of all his ancestors, which the author consid ers useless and cumbersome. It is of no use to the person himself, for he knows his own ancestors ; nor to another person, for he can readily ascertain the peditree by tlie running numbers. The use of exponent figures denoting the generations, the author also considers to be generally superfluous; it has been restricted in this work to the index, and but sparingly used there. By these omis sions the author is confident that he has not sacrificed clearness of reference. Search in libraries for everything that may be in print concern ing the family, and especially in regard to Governor McKean, has bflen thorough, and on account of the prominence of our ancesto1' and of several other members, has been very laborious, as the references will show. A few good works, with poor indices, or none at all, have been reluctlantly cast aside, from the labor and time necessary to consult them. A book without an index is like a man who has lost bis mind. Being accustomed to mathematical precision in his professional avocation, accuracy bas been the author's great aim in this work, especially as to dates; be bas, therefore, upon all occa~ions en deavored to verify every statement, date and book reference; in several instances where pi>rsons claimed to have graduated at col lege, a reference to the quinquennial catalogues showed that they did not graduate; all college degrees here mentioned have there fore been verified by the college catalogues. Mistakes and dis crepancies are common in printed books, but they have also been found, when least expected, in such public records as church reg isters, cemetery records, in the Navy Department records, on tombstones, in family Bibles, etc. Between the journals of Con gress and the Articles of Confederation the author bas discovered a discrepancy in a date, and old puulications have added a third date, which is difficult to account for. The published journals of PREFACE. ix Congress are very inaccurate and misleading, especially in regard to the Declaration of Independence. So far as the author has compared, the printed journals do not agree with the rough manu script journal, which is the standard, in wording, punctuation, or capitalization: the substance. is of course correct.