Biographical Sketch of Henry PAINTER (1893); Chester County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris . *********************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: Printing this file within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** Source: "Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county," by Samuel T. Wiley and edited by Winfield Scott Garner, Gresham Publishing Company, Philadelphia, PA, 1893, pp. 791-793. "HENRY PAINTER, who died at his home in West Chester, February 5, 1893, was the popular and efficient manager of the Delaware & Atlantic Telephone Company, whose headquarters are at West Chester. He was the seventh of the nine sons of Samuel M. and Ann (Vickers) Painter, and was born in West Chester, Chester county, Pennsylvania, in May, 1849. This family was planted in America prior to 1705, by Samuel Painter, who came from England and settled in the city of Philadelphia. His son Samuel purchased five hundred and thirty-two acres of land in Birmingham, in 1707, and the father bought land adjoining him in 1711. The son married Elizabeth Buxcey at Concord meeting, April 7, 1716, and had six children: Mary, married Isaac Gilpin; Samuel, great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch; John, married first to Agnes Cobourn and second Sarah Yeatman; Thomas, married Grace Cloud; Ann, became the wife of Robert Chamberlain; and Lydia. Samuel Painter (great-great-grandfather) married Esther Gilpin, of Birmingham township, on June 5, 1741, and their children were: James, who married Jane Carter; George; Lydia, married Isaac Baily; Joseph, great- grandfather of Henry; Thomas, Hannah, married Joseph Townsend, of Baltimore; and Samuel. Joseph Painter (great-grandfather) was born April 1, 1748, and died October 24, 1804. He was a cloth fuller by occupation, and lived most of his life in East Bradford, now Birmingham, township, this county. He married Elizabeth Woodward, who was born June 12, 1748, and died August 24, 1808. She was a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Kirk) Woodward, and bore him five children. Of these Joseph Painter (grandfather), was born July 5, 1782, and died August 12, 1855. At Bradford meeting, on September 12, 1805, he married Lydia Marshall, a daughter of Samuel and Rachel Marshall, of West Bradford. She was born August 2, 1788, and died May 10, 1857. They resided for many years in East Bradford, but removed to West Chester in 1829, where Mr. Painter became the founder and editor of the Anti-Masonic Register, after-ward changed in name to Register and Examiner. He was also engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods for a time in Birmingham. Politically he was an ardent whig, and being a man of strong character he wielded a controlling in- fluence in local politics for many years. He was a strong abolitionist, a firm temperance advocate, an able writer and a first-class business man, accumulating considerable property. It has been well said of him that he 'was a humanitarian in its broadest sense, a friend of liberty and good society, and a foe to tyranny, whether in governmental, religious or mental economics, and for a long period was the brilliant and trusted leader of a party whose most able exponent he was with his trenchant pen and iron will.' By his marriage to Lydia Marshall he had a family of eleven children: Mary Ann, born July 11, 1806, and died November 11, 1809; Rachel M., born April 17, 1808, died November 15, 1865; Samuel M., father of Henry; Elizabeth P., born May 31, 1813, married Joseph Vickers, and died September 8, 1863; Lydia S., born August 3, 1815, died November 24, 1832; Sarah, born December 8, 1816, died June 30, 1817; Joseph H., born October 5, 1818, married Esther Kersey, February 19, 1840; Mary H., born September 30, 1820, married Chalkley M. Valentine, December 30, 1840; James G., born May 12, 1823, married Mary H. Pierce; Cyrus P., born November 20, 1825, married Abigail A. Alison; and Thomas, born July 7, 1830. "Samuel M. Painter (father) was born September 16, 1809, in Birmingham town- ship, this county, and died at West Chester, in 1882, aged seventy-three years. He spent his boyhood on the farm, and received a good common school education, which he afterward supplemented by a wide course of reading. On reaching man's estate he embarked in merchandising, and in 1844 opened a lumber yard at West Chester, which business he continued to follow until his death, when it passed into the hands of his son, Uriah H. Painter. Politically he was a whig and republican, taking an active interest in local politics, and always firmly supporting the policy and principles of his party. He was a Quaker in religion, and on October 17, 1839, married Ann Vickers, a daughter of John and Abigail Vickers, of Uwchlan township, this county. To this union was born a family of nine sons, five of whom still survive. One of these is John B. Painter, the Cleveland, Ohio millionaire, who is now traveling in Europe, and another is Uriah H. Painter, engaged in the lumber business at West Chester. The others were: William, now deceased; Francis J., now in Europe; J. Elwood, died in Yokohama, Japan, while serving in the United States navy; Albert P., resides in Florida, where he is engaged in growing oranges; Henry, the subject of this sketch, who died at his home in West Chester, February 5, 1893; Howard, who studied in Europe, graduating at Friedberg, Germany, served as a commis- sioner to the Vienna exposition in 1878, and died recently at San Francisco, California; and Clarence, who died in early childhood. Mrs. Ann Painter died in 1890, at an advanced age. Her father, John Vickers, was a native of Penn- sylvania, came to Chester while yet a young man, and died in Uwchlan township. He was a potter by trade, a strong abolitionist and prominent in the 'under- ground railroad.' "Henry Painter was reared principally at West Chester and received a superior English education, studying first in the public schools here, where he spent nearly all his life, and later in the Millersville State Normal school, and a popular boarding school in New Jersey. After leaving school he was variously employed until he became interested in the Delaware & Atlantic Telephone Com- pany, of which he was manager at the time of his death. In politics he ad- hered to the traditions of his family, and was a life-long republican, ear- nestly supporting that party on all general questions, but inclined toward independent action in local affairs. Mr. Painter never married."