Castle county, holding a similar commission for Delaware. The warrant for the
work required the surveyors "to meet the magistrates of the two counties, and in
their presence to admeasure and survey from the town of New Castle the distance
of twelve miles in a right line up ye said river and from ye said distance according
to ye King's letters patent and deed from the Duke, and ye said circular line to be
well marked, two-thirds part of ye semi-circle." The work was performed De-
cember 4, 1701, and Ashmead, in his "History of Delaware County," says that
this survey is the only one ever made of the circular boundary between Delaware
and Pennsylvania.
He held various offices in the county and under the Proprietor. James Logan,
as Receiver General for the Proprietor appointed him, December 11. 1704, Col-
lector of Quit Rents for the county of Chester. The latest record of his discharge
of the duties of this position is in 171 1. He was appointed a Justice, 1719, and
was reappointed from time to time till his death, 1728. He was County Commis-
sioner of Chester county from 1726 till his death. He was a member of Pennsyl-
vania Assembly, 1704-5- 10 12- 19-2 1-22.
Isaac Taylor was a quiet man, his career not so full of interest as that of his
brother, Jacob, and not so intense as that of his son, John, but he filled creditably all
positions in which he was placed and was a worthy and esteemed citizen. His great-
1 3 14 HARRIS
granddaughter, Mrs. William Morris, represents that "They must have been accus-
tomed to pretty high living, for their house in Thornbury was superior to houses
in this country generally, and they had a separate house for their servants. Isaac's
wife also kept a dressing maid." He was a large landholder, his home being in
Thornbury township, Delaware county, in which county all of his estates lay.
Isaac Taylor's wife, Martha, was a daughter of Philip Roman, born about 1645,
in Wiltshire, England, died January 11, 1730, and Martha Harper. They were
married 1669, and emigrated, 1682, settling at Marcus Hook, Delaware county,
Pennsylvania. He was, as Dr. Smith says in his "History of Delaware County,"
"A man of ability, and exercised a good deal of influence both in the Society of
Friends of which he was a member, and also in the community." He was a mem-
ber of Assembly, 1692-5, and a Justice of Chester county, appointed 1698, and
again 1703. He is very frequently mentioned in the records of his time, and took
quite an important part in the business of the community in which he lived. His
wife, Martha Harper, came over with him, with eight children, but died with three
of her children, probably of some malignant fever, very soon after landing, in the
fall of 1682. Martha Roman, his third child, born about 1674, married Isaac Tay-
lor, January. 1695, and died January, 1735.
Issue of Isaac and Martha (Roman) Taylor:
John Taylor, b. 1698: m. (first) Sept. 10, 1718; (second) Oct., 1734; d. 175^';
Jacob Taylor, b. about 1700; m. Nov. 27, 1728; d. about 1764;
Philip Taylor, b. about 1702, d. unm., about 1749;
Ann Taylor, b. about 1705; m. 1733;
Mary Taylor, b. about 1706; m. after 1732.
The record of John Taylor's life is quite voluminous. He kept an account of
all his affairs and these accounts are still in existence. He adopted his father's
profession, and is styled in some of the existing papers, "Practitioner of Physick."
In his voluminous memorandum books he recites the remedies he used, such as
camphor, sal epsom, ipecacuanha, sal vit. Mercurius dulc, calomel, gum Arabic
and tart, emetic, vigorous remedies and no doubt applied in heroic doses. He is
;-aid to have been the only practicing physician between Chester and Lancaster, so
that he was probably not called in for trifling ailments.
He was a farmer on a large scale. His home farm is said to have contained
one thousand two hundred acres, and he followed his father's example of picking
up choice pieces of ground.
John Taylor held many positions in the service of the colony. He was Sheriff
of the county by annual appointment of the Governor, 1720-31, a longer time than
the office has been held by any other man ; he was a member of Assembly, 1730-31,
and a Justice of the Peace, appointed 1741, and holding office a number of years.
There are among his papers many communications to the authorities in regard to
matters of public interest, such as proposing changes in the manner of govern-
ment. He was largely engaged in the manufacture of iron at Sarum Forge, on
Chester Creek. This industry, which dates back of 1718, fell into John Taylor's
hands shortly after his marriage, 1718. As early as 1720, and occasionally for
some years after, he was engaged in making surveys of iron ore lands for Nutt
and Branson, about the forks of French Creek, in Coventry township, in which
locality Reading and Warwick furnaces were started a few years after. The
HARRIS 1315.
industry developed later by the addition of a rolling and slitting mill, 1746, which
was the first of such mills built in Pennsylvania. This mill produced bar iron,
hoop iron, sheet iron, nail rods for horse shoes, and deck nails for ship building.
Soon after the erection of the mill, his storekeeper, who was probably his son,
Isaac Taylor, on one of his periodical visits to England, after pricing nails in
Liverpool, told the merchant with whom he was dealing that he could buy them
cheaper at Taylor's mill in Pennsylvania. This alarmed the English ironmasters
and led to a Parliamentary inquiry as to the condition of the iron manufacture in
the colonies. Pending this inquiry, however, an order reached Pennsylvania be-
fore Taylor's storekeeper returned, forbidding erection of any more iron works.
In due time, September 18, 1750, John Owen, Sheriff of Chester county, certi-
fied to James Hamilton, Lieutenant-Governor, as the result of this inquiry, "That
there is but one mill or engine for slitting or rolling iron within the county afore-
said, which is situate in Thornbury township, and was erected in the year One
Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty-six by John Taylor the present proprietor."
The order in regard to the erection of iron mills did not forbid the working of
those already in existence, and these works were kept in repair and in operation,
though sometimes running at a loss, until after the Revolution. In addition to the
forge and the rolling and slitting mill, John Taylor had on Chester Creek, a grist-
mill and a sawmill, each having apparently its own dam for the creation of a
water-power, the several industries being extended along the creek for a distance
of about a mile. The sawmill only produced lumber for local consumption, but
as John Taylor was an exporter of flour, the gristmill had evidently a more ex-
tensive market. His factor, Robert Moulder, of Chester, in 1755, besides advising
him that the West Indies is a good market for his flour, beef, and pork, tells him
that he will do well to make a shipment or iron there, as the freight is but one
pound per ton, and it will bring there thirty pounds per ton.
The most numerous records of John Taylor's activities relate, however, to his
surveyor's work. He was at first his father's deputy surveyor, but after his death,
1728, he succeeded him as Surveyor of Chester county, which then extended to
the Susquehanna River, including the present Lancaster county. He was ordered
to run the boundary which set off Lancaster county, February, 1729, but he con-
tinued to act as Surveyor for Lancaster county also. The whole district was fast
settling up. Before the proprietor could make deeds, the lands must be surveyed,
his own numerous manors needed to be laid out, in order that his grants to settlers
might not conflict with them, so that there was a constant demand for surveys on
the part of the proprietor, and John Taylor, finally sent in his resignation, 1740,
because he was pushed too hard to accomplish more than a man could do. The
boundaries between Maryland and Pennsylvania, which were in dispute from 1680
till Mason and Dixon ran the final line in 1764-7, were the subject of negotiations
between the proprietors of the two provinces, and an agreement as to the dividing
line was reached, with John Taylor, May 10, 1732, was commissioned to trace on
the ground. October 19, 1734, the proprietors, John and Thomas Penn, directed
"Samuel Blunston, Esq., Clerk of our County of Lancaster and John Taylor, Sur-
veyor of the said County, to go to the Susquehanna, on the west side of which you
are, by the best methods you can, to find a station in the Parallel of Latitude that
is fifteeen miles south of the southernmost part of our City of Philadelphia and
from thence extend a line due west as far as the branch of Patowmac (Potomac)
I3i6 HARRIS
called Conegochega (Conococheague) and farther if when at that place you shall
judge it necessary." These lines were run by Taylor, October and November,
1734;
His life must have been full of activity. It showed many evidences of impera-
tiveness of disposition, and seems to have worn him out before his time, for he
was but fifty-eight years of age at the time of his death.
John Taylor's first wife, Mary Baker, who was mother of all his children, was
the eldest child of John Worrilow and Anne Maris. John Worrilow was born
about 1668, and died 1726. His father, Thomas Worrilow, was originally a resi-
dent of Yorkshire, England, who emigrated in 1688 with his wife, Jane, whom he
had married 1667, and settled in Edgmont township, Delaware county, Pennsyl-
vania. After the death of his first wife he removed to Philadelphia, and lived on
the north side of Chestnut street, west of Third street, till his death. May, 1709.
The wife of John Worrilow, Anne, bom August 18, 1667, was a daughter of
George and Alice Maris, of Springfield township, Delaware county, Pennsylvania.
George Maris was born about 1632, married about 1659, and died January 15,
1706. He was a Quaker of Inkborough, Worcestershire, England, where, in 1670,
he had suffered persecution for his faith. He came to Pennsylvania, 1683, with
his wife, Alice, and six children. He held many public trusts in Pennsylvania,
was a Justice of the Court, appointed in 1682-85-89, and member of the Legisla-
ture, 1684-87, and 1690-3. His wife died March 11, 1699.
Mary Worrilow, John Worrilow's daughter, born January 9, 1692, married
(first). May 18, 1709, Joseph Baker. Jr., son of Joseph and Mary Baker, of Edg-
mont, Shropshire, England, who emigrated to Edgmont, Chester county, Pennsyl-
vania, 1684. Joseph Baker, Jr., died February, 1717. His widow married (sec-
ond) John Taylor, September 10, 1718, and died 1733. She was heiress to a large
property. Their home was in Thornbury, Delaware county, Pennsylvania. They
had issue, the first three of their children being:
Isaac Taylor, b. 1719: m. Jan., 1742; d. Nov., 1745;
John Tayu)R, b. 1721; m. 1744; d. 1761 ;
Philip Taylor, m. Oct. 26, 1748; d. 1754.
John Taylor seems to have been dwarfed by his father's activity. He was a
man of large estate, but held no public positions, and died too early to leave much
mark. His life seems to have been that of a well-to-do gentleman farmer. His
wife, Sarah Worrall, born September 19, 1722, died April 23, 1780, was the fifth
child of John Worrall and Sarah Goodwin.
John Worrall, born 1657, died April 19, 1742, was born in Oare, Berkshire,
England, and emigrated to Pennsylvania, 1682, reaching here a short time before
the first coming of William Penn. He lived first in Philadelphia, where he took
up a whole square on Market street, besides two thousand acres of land in New
Jersey, and one thousand acres in Middletown township, Delaware county, Penn-
sylvania. He was a member of the Governor's Council, 1690; of Pennsylvania
Legislature, 1717. He was a man of large means.
His second wife, Sarah, was a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Goodwin.
Thomas Goodwin, born about 1650, lived at Llandewi Brefi, in Cardiganshire,
Wales, whence he emigrated, 1708, with his wife, whom he had married about
1680, and his children. His wife was born 1652, and died November 10, 1739.
They settled in Pennsylvania, Edgmont township, Chester county.
HARRIS 1317
Their daughter, Sarah VV'orrall, was after her marriage a Quaker preacher. In
this capacity she visited England and Ireland, first in 1724. On the second visit,
1753. she was accompanied by Elizabeth Ashbridge, who died at Waterford, Ire-
land. Sarah Worrall continued her journey to Cork, and in visiting a part of that
City, where there was great poverty and destitution, took a contagious disease
then prevailing — supposed to have been smallpox — and died there.
John Worrall and Sarah Goodwin had nine children, of whom the fifth was
Sarah Worrall, who married John Taylor.
Issue of John and Sarah (Worrall) Taylor:
Mary Worrall Taylor, b. April 8, 1745; m. Oct. 2, 1766; d. Nov. 30, 1830;
Isaac Taylor, b. Oct. 18, 1747; m. about 1767; d. about 1781 ;
Sarah Taylor, b. January 25, 1751; m. Feb. 28, 1768; d. Oct. 2, 1836.
The strength of the Taylor family seemed in this generation to pass to the
female side, and Mary Worr.\ll Taylor was quite a remarkable woman. She
married at twenty-one, her family increased rapidly, and for the first ten years
after her marriage her life was the ordinary life of a prosperous matron of the
time, except that her husband's business interests, and his absorption in public
aflfairs, took him much from home and left the management of the estate some-
what in her hands. After the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, which took
him wholly away, the care of the farm, and of the Sarum Iron Works, fell largely
upon her shoulders. Her letters reporting to him her care of the property, and
her relatives' and neighbors' comments on her management, show that she took
up her unaccustomed work vigorously and pursued it faithfully. When her hus-
band was taken prisoner, September, 1777, she defended her own household from
the British troops who came to despoil it. She was assiduous in getting such com-
forts to him in Philadelphia as she was permitted to take there, and she carried
reports of the sufferings of the prisoners to General Washington, who was then
encamped at White Marsh, and repeatedly visited Valley Forge, to carry to the
suffering soldiers there contributions to their comfort. She kept everything mov-
ing at home. Her custom was in the summer to have her horse saddled by day-
light, ride over the farm giving directions to the workmen, go down to Chester
Creek to the iron works and return home by breakfast time, to give the needed
care to her children, her servants and her household affairs. She outlived her hus-
band thirty-eight years, and her large family of children and grandchildren found
at her home in Thornbury, which was their frequent rendezvous, the delight that
comes from love and sympathy, and to the end of their lives there was among
them an unanimous chorus of praise and admiration of their "Grandma Frazer."
After her husband's death, 1792, she lived at Thornbury till about 1825, when she
removed to the house of her daughter, Mary (Mrs. Joseph Smith"), with whom she
.spent the rest of her life.
Issue of Pcrsifor and Mary f Worrall Taylor) Frazer:
Sarah Frazer. b. Jan. n, 1769, d. March 3, 1841 ;
Robert Frazer. b. Aug. 30, 1771 ; m. (first) May 3, 1798; (second) Oct. 15, 1803; (third)
Feb. II, 1818; d. Jan. 20, 1821;
Mary Ann Frazer, b. Feb. 4, 1774: m. Oct. 16, 1794: d. Feb. 9, 1845:
Persifor Frazer, b. Feb. 26, 1776, d. unm., Sept. 29, 1798;
Martha Frazer, b. May 22, 1778, d. July 20, 1778;
Mary Frazer, b. Jan. 14, 1780; m. Feb. 27, 1800; d. May 2,^. 1862;
I3i8 HARRIS
John Frazer, b. Dec. 27, 1781, d. Aug. 3, 1783;
Martha Frazer, b. Oct. 14, 1783; m. Oct. 15, 1818; d. Jan. 27, 1867;
Elizabeth Frazer, b. May 17, 1786, d. May 13, 1788;
Elizabeth Frazer, b. Dec. 17, 1788; m. Jan. 9, 1812; d. April 25, 1857.
Robert Frazer was born in Middletown township. He received an unusually
good education and was in possession of a law libraiy imported from England at
a cost of iioo, when he commenced the practice of law at Chester, where he was
admitted to practice, July 30, 1792. He lived in Chester county till 1807, when
he removed to Philadelphia, where he remained till after the death of his second
wife, who died 181 4, when he again removed to Chester county to a farm about
ten miles from Chester, where he spent the rest of his life. He was leading mem-
ber of the Bar of Chester County. He was Deputy Attorney General, May, 1793-
February, 1800, and February-November, 1816.
His second wife, Elizabeth Fries, mother of all his children, except the young-
est, was a daughter of John and Ann Fries, of Arch street, Philadelphia. She was
born June 16, 1778, and died June 19, 1815.
Persifor Frazer was cashier of first United States Bank. In the summer of
1798 the yellow fever raged in Philadelphia, the president of the bank died, and
the institution was removed to Germantown. The removal was made in Septem-
ber, and Persifor Frazer, who had exerted himself greatly in making the removal,
took yellow fever and died.
Mary Ann Frazer, as has been said, married Jonathan Smith, and Mary Frazer
married Jonathan's brother, Joseph Smith.
Issue of loseph and Mary (Frazer) Smith:
Elizabeth Wright Smith, b. Jan. 6, 1801, d. unm., Dec. 27, 1885;
Emma Vaughan Smith, b. Dec. 3, 1802; m. Sept. 28, 1832; d. Feb. 17, 1843;
Marianne Smith, b. April 2, 1805; m. April 4, 1833; d. March 12, i8go;
Persifor Frazer Smith, b. Jan. 23, 1808; m. July 24, 1833; d. May 25, 1882;
Martha Smith, b. Jan. 13, 1810, d. unm., Nov. 4, 1872;
Vaughan Smith, b. Feb. 14, 1812; m. Sept. i, 1842; d. Nov. 2i, 1891 ;
Rhoda Wright Smith, b. Aug. 22, 1817, d. unm., June 27, 1903.
Elizabeth Wright Smith was a handsome woman with a good deal of charm
and sprightliness, but her best claim to the gratitude of posterity is that by putting
on paper a number of the family traditions, and much of the family history, she
preserved much that would otherwise have been lost.
â– Emma Vaughan Smith married Henry Augustus Riley, born November
21, 1801. died March 17, 1878. He was a son of Isaac Riley, a merchant of New-
York, and Hannah Alsop, both descended from old New England families. Mr.
Riley was well educated and at the age of thirty-one had studied law, medicine
and theology. He spent over thirty years of his life as the pastor of Presbyterian
churches, mostly at Montrose, Pennsylvania, and after resigning, 1863, resumed
to some extent the practice of medicine.
Marianne Smith was a woman of great industry and though of delicate health
tmtil middle age, she spent her life in pursuits in which she was useful and help-
ful to others. She married Dr. Stephen Harris, whose career is sketched else-
where in this account.
Persifor Frazer Smith graduated University of Pennsylvania, 1823, and was
admitted to practice law, November 3, 1829. He was State Attorney for Delaware
HARRIS 1319
county, 1832; Clerk of Orphans" Court of Chester County, 1835; member of
Pennsylvania Legislature from 1861-4, and Reporter of Supreme Court of Penn-
sylvania, 1866-76. He was a learned and able lawyer, a man of strong feeling
and earnest nature, and a determined and uncompromising patriot during the
Civil War. His wife, Thomasine Susan, born June 24, 1812, died August 2, 1895,
was a daughter of Dr. George A. Fairlamb, of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, and
his wife, Thomasine Whelen.
Vaughan Smith became a clergyman of the Methodist church, 1840. His
clerical life was spent at various stations in Pennsylvania and Delaware. He was
an earnest, able and industrious worker in his chosen vocation.
His wife, Mary Elizabeth, born August 30, 1824, died July 22, 1896, was a
daughter of Benjamin Lloyd Shepperd and Sarah Wooten, of Delaware.
Issue of Stephen and Marianne (Smith) Harris:
Stephen Harris, b. May 23, 1834; m. March 10, 1863; d. March 10, 1874;
Joseph Smith Harris, b. April 29, 1836; m. (first) June 20, 1865; (second) April 27,
1882; (third) Oct. 19, i8g6;
Martha Frazer Harris, b. May 24, 1838; m. May 17, 1870;
John Campbell H./miris, b. April 10, 1840; m. Oct. 21, i86g;
Frazer Harris, b. Nov. 12, 1841, d. April 19, 1859;
Mary Campbell Harris, b. July 16, 1843, d. June 19, 1866;
William Harris, b. Feb. 15, 1845, d. March 8, 1845;
Emma Vaughan Harris, b. Aug. 17, 1846, d. Dec. 19, 1849;
Thomas Harris, b. Dec. 23, 1848, d. July 15, 1851.
Stephen Harris was educated, first, in Chester Valley, Pennsylvania, and after
the removal of his father to Philadelphia, April, 1850, he entered the Central
High School, September, 1850, passing an examination which placed him at the
head of a class of over one hundred and forty boys. His progress was so satis-
factory that he was twice promoted into the next class above his own, and gradu-
ated June, 1853, with degree of A. B., being one of a very few who ever finished
the four years' course at the Central High School in three years. He was gen-
erally at or very near the head of his class during his whole course, though he was
graduated without rank, as he was ill of typhoid fever at the time the class finish-
ed its work.
He entered at once the service of the United States Coast Survey, in which he
remained seven years, rising to the rank of sub-assistant. His work was mostly
on the coast of Maine in summer, and on the coast of Florida, Mississippi or
Louisiana in winter. He rendered valuable service and was highly thought of
in the service, but he desired a more settled life, and, i860, established himself as
a civil and mining engineer in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where he spent his remain-
ing years.
He and his brother, Joseph, formed, i860, a partnership which lasted till Ste-
phen's death, though Joseph did not permanently join him in Pottsville till 1864.
The engineering practice became at once a remunerative one, and his services
were held in high estimation by a wide range of clients. In 1864 he was appointed
the agent and engineer of the city of Philadelphia, in which capacity he had charge
of the very valuable coal estate left to the city by Stephen Girard, 1831. This
property he developed and made very remunerative.
A long career of usefulness seemed to have opened before him, but it was
1320 HARRIS
destined to come to a tragic close. On the morning of March lo, 1874, he went
to inspect some mining work that was being done on the Broad Mountain lands,
about nine miles from his home. The day was cold and there was a furious snow
storm raging on the mountain, which seems to have prevented his seeing or hear-
ing perfectly. In some unknown way he was struck by a coal train which was
backing up the Broad Mountain and Mahanoy Railroad, and was instantly killed.
He was a man of unusual gifts, an able mathematician, an untiring student, and
a man of great reasoning power and of wide influence. He was an earnest, de-
voted and useful Christian man, and combined in a degree rarely seen the abilities
of a successful man of business and the deep and true family affections with de-
voted and self-sacrificing piety.
At his death, the authorities of the church in which he was active, adopted a
minute stating :
"He was at once distinguished in the church by his deep-toned, practical piety, and by
his modest but zealous and unselfish devotion to all the best interests of the church. He
was appointed Superintendent of the Sunday School on May 23, 1869 (his 35th birthday),
and continued in that position until his death, excepting for an interval of less than two
years when he served as a teacher of a class, laboring unceasingly and successfully to in-
crease the power of the school as an instructor in God's truth and a means of bringing the
young under the influence of His grace. He was elected to the eldership on May 12, 1868,
and at once because of the maturity of his judgment and the commanding power of his fine
intelligence, his pure motives, and his spiritual aim, was looked up to by all as a leader in
every department of labor to which his office called. Without a semblance of ostentation he
was to all a bright example of large and cheerful liberality, of unswerving energy, and per-
sistent diligence in every good work. He was eminent in his profession, commanding the
most respectful confidence of those most competent to judge, and he performed his daily duties
with such conscientious integrity and elevated aim that his most secular labors appeared to
men as they truly were a worship of God."
To which his pastor added :
"I am thankful especially for an opportunity to share in the tribute you pay to the