Life

Preface

More than '"-o year, ago .the manu.scripb of Samuel J Te ■ t of age; thus leaving the last tor "''"''';''"' '^^ w*-<wenty-five years the "Correspoudenee" h,, f„ ' "'"^'' ^> '''^ ««"> P'^''- It i.s true that the. far ap rt- uTto Tl T H " 1" -^— '^-^hough .o.e of reports of the societ s ^ t " , , t' '"""' ""^ ''"'"^ "^ -"-' -te his activity : 1 ':f '" T ^""""'^'' ""^^ ^""^'«' - '° business, of friendship and of !ZZ:' """'" '" '"' '^'"''"^^ ^'■

desirahle to pr^tt Ti ^"1: „"" T'"'''' '"^" '' ^^^'^ obstruct nor interfere withth ' "''^ "'"' ™^ ^™"'<1 "°t each of the «ubiect. Th. ^ ""^ "' practicable under

IV PREFACE.

In the first three Chapters are rioted his ancestry, his environment and the conditions that accompany a healthy, happy and active boyhood.

In the Fourth, we must wade through deep waters if we would accompany a tender-spirited young man on his religious journey, and know just what he passed through before he reached the broad plane on which he traveled during the last twenty-tive years of his life.

The Fifth Chapter, while it presents to our view the mature life of a very active man, must be regarded as .^iuggesHve rather than minutely historical : he did ho much during those forty years that was not recorded.

In the " Correspondence" the omissions are wo^indicated by asterisks, as Ihey consist of business or family matters which would hot concern the general reader ; or else of allusions to occurrences whose interest has long since passed the limit of time.

The "Thoughts on Special Topics" were apparently jotted down as the subjects had taken hold of his mind ; and as some of the papers were without heading, and several of them without date, it is probable that he intended them as mere oidlines to be elaborated at some future time.

Chapter Eighth is the account of his early religious labors from home. Of the later ones the minutes of the meeting, the recollections of his family, and his own letters, have furnished the data.

The " Sermons" from which the selections have been made — and several of them are given nearly in full — it is believed were all delivered in Philadelphia during the late years of his life. It may be said- that any Friend's sermon— being intended for the assembly in which it is delivered — suffers from being placed on paper. The aroma cannot be conveyed to the reader, even where the words are faithfully reported. If this be true of all Friends' sermons, it is particularly so of Samuel J. Levick's ; for his words seemed to have magnetic force as well as Gospel unction, while the earnestness of his manner was solemnly impressive.

The Tenth Chapter is a review of the life, with especial reference to his call to the ministry, and his preparation for the work.

PREFACE. V

There were so many collateral items which though germane to the subject would have broken the thread of the narrative, that an Appendix seemed to be required.

To those who have been life-long members of the religious Society of Friends, some of the observations and explanations may seem superfluous; while on the other hand, many who knew Samuel J. Levick, but who are not acquainted with the usages, the phraseology— the peculiarities — of the denomination, may find passages or expressions difficult to be understood. Though both of these classes have been considered in the preparation of the work, still it is possible that some readers may not feel quite satisfied with the treatment of this portion of the subject: those who would become fully acquainted with Friends should see them in their homes, and in their social gatherings, and observe their intercourse with each other in every-day life.

Should any reader think that secular affairs have been made too prominent, let it be remembered that the Life would not have been true without a presentation of this part: should another feel that the early religious experience has been dwelt upon at too great length, let him remember that it was this experience which our friend valued above every earthly consideration, and which had fitted him for the discharge of his duties as well as for the enjoyment of life.

Should it appear, on a superficial view, as if different portions of the Life were contradictory to each other, a closer study may reveal the fact that it is the record of a candid man whose heart was right, and who was most esteemed where best known. If all the readers of this book had known him of whom it treats, known him in his every-day walk, in the by-ways as well as in the highways, at home as well as abroad, — they would not be likely to stumble at seeming inconsistencies, but would see the course of an honest and earnest man following the golden thread of obedience to the manifestations of duty.

Hugh Foulke,

Philadklphia, Pa., Twelfth Month, 189'..

VI PREFACE.

Note. — The editor is indebted to numerous friends for information and other assistance in the preparation of the work. The correspondents of Friends' meetings, the librarians of this city, and the officers of the societies of which Samuel J. Levick was a member, have kindly responded to all inquiries sent to them, and the publishers of books have given " full permission" to make extracts from their publications.

Especial mention may be made of the assistance rendered by Howard M. Jenkins in furnishing the sketch (a brief one was requested) of the early establishment of Merion Meeting, also valuable information on sundry points ; by Charles Francis Saunders who kindly assisted in preparing some of the papers for the press ; by J . Lewis Crew, President, and by Richard Moore, Secretary of the " Pennsylvania Society to Protect Children from Cruelty ;" by M. V. B. Davis, Secretary of the " Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals;" by Charles W. Alexander, Secretary of the "Pennsylvania Bicentennial ;" by John W. Jordan of the " Pennsylvania Historical Society;" and by the following who have responded to special requests: Charles S. Albertson, Henry T. Coates, Morton C. Coggeshall, Joseph T. Foulke, Jno. E. Freas, Jane G. Kinsey, Emily R. Lyman, Alfred Mellor, Alfred Moore, Wesley Patterson, L. J. Richards, Adolph Roeder and Samuel Sharp.

To the different members of the family individual acknowledgments are due for their hearty cooperation from the inception to the completion of the work.

Contents

Chapter I.— Ancestry and Parentage, Chapter II, — His Fathei-'s Family, Chapter III. — Childhood and Youth, Chapter IV. —Early Manhood, Chapter V. — Mature IVFanhood, Chapter Vr.— Correspondence, Chapter VII. — Thoughts on Special Topics, Chapter VIII. -Religious Visits, .

Chapter IX. — Selections from Sermons, Chapter X.—A Retrospect, .

Memorial,

Chapter I. Ancestry And Parentage

It has been said that there are comparatively few persons who can name all the eight of their great-grandparents. It is a disadvantage to any one to feel humiliated by an allusion to his ancestry ; and it is also a source of regret when progenitors — so far as character and reputation are concerned — have left to their posterity a merely negative inheritance ; where all that can be appropriated from the family record is only a list of names and dates. Wealth there may be that has been acquired by diligent attention to business, increased by honest gains, and hoarded from generation to generation, yet when we search for some incidents that marked the career of these plodding ones, some index-boards on the highway of life, something to constitute a biography — we gather only statistics; born, went into business, married, had children, died, left a will : '* only these and nothing more."

With Samuel Jones Levick the case is very different ; for we find on both sides, a long line of worthy " Quaker" ancestry, and each family that comes into it adds something to the interest of the history, as well as to the variety of intellect and the strength of character. The names of Levick, Manlove, Hall, Jones, Wetherill, Lewis, Hayes, Fearon, E^oble, Garrett, Lovett, Smith and Yeates, call up memories of records and traditions associated with Kent County in Delaware ; with Montgomery, Delaware, Chester and Bucks Counties in Pennsylvania; with Burlington County in I^ew Jersey, and with the city of Philadelphia.

The Levicks came originally from France (where the name was written Leveque or Levesque) ; but they had crossed over to England, and had been living in Derbyshire many years before the first one of the name (so far as we know) came to America. It was in the year 1680 that Richard* and Mary Levick settled in St. Jones County (now Kent County), Delaware. " In the list of grants b}' the Court of St. Jones, is that to Richard Levick of a tract of land of six hundred acres, called the Shoulder of Mutton, situate and being on the west side of Delaware Ba}^, and next adjoining land of J. Brinckle, called Lisbon." In the same list of grants there is one for Mark Manlove. The name of Manlove is quite prominent in the records of St. Jones County. We find that one was a Justice of the Peace, two were members of the Assembly, and one was a Captain in the war of the American Revolution.

Richard and Mary Levick had a son William, and he and his wife Sarah Levick, had a son William who married

* For a more full account of Richard Levick see Appendix.

ANCESTRY AND PARENTAGE. 11

Susanna Manlove, the daughter of Mark and Anne (Hall) Manlove. William and Susanna Levick were the parents of Ebenezer, and the grandparents of SamuelJ. Levick.

We have the information, from those who knew him, that " William Levick, the father of Ebenezer, was a member and Elder of the Society of Friends, a man much esteemed for his neighborly kindness, for his strict integrity of character, and his earnest and useful attachment to the religious body to which he belonged. He was born on the twelfth of Tenth Month, 1738 (0. S), and died at his home in Little Creek, Delaware, on the twenty-third of Tenth Month, 1803.

" Susanna Manlove, wife of William, and mother of Ebenezer, was the daughter of Mark and Anne Hall Manlove, and was born on the twenty-sixth of Third Month, 1752 (0. S.). She died on the ninth of Second Month, 1802, more than a year before her husband, though much his junior. In a Memorial respecting her, written by her friend Sarah Cowgill, she is spoken of as a woman of great sweetness of disposition and of marked Christian humility of character."

At the time of his father's death, Ebenezer had just entered upon his thirteenth year, and about three years later he came to Philadelphia and lived with his cousin Rachel Fisher, who like himself, was a native of Kent County. At this early age, and in a strange city, without a mother's voice to comfort, or a father's counsel to direct, did the youth enter upon his preparation for a mercantile life.

What added much to the hardship of his case was that merchandise was not the calhng of his choice, but was accepted, or submitted to, out of deference to the wishes, and the explicit direction of his deceased father. He had a longing desire to study medicine; but his father — having a great dread of the associations of the medical lecture-room — had opposed the gratification of this desire ; and had taken the precaution to insert a clause in his will, which would prevent it after his death. Ebenezer, in after life, " regretted that his early preference had been set aside, and those who knew him best believed that had he been permitted to follow his inclination, he would have been both a beloved and a successful physician."

While living with his cousin he had occasion to transact some business for her, that took him to the house of Mary Wetherill Jones, where he met, for the first time, her daughter Elizabeth, who afterwards became his wife.

Elizabeth Wetherill Jones was the " maiden name '' of Samuel J. Levick's mother. Her ancestry was a remarkable one in many respects ; and the family records have been preserved and arranged with a completeness, as well as accuracy, that we rarely find in our genealogical researches. Her father's ancestors were Welsh, and her mother's were English; so that we have on one side the names Jones, Lewis and Hayes [her father's grandmothers were both named Lewis] ; and on the other those of Wetherill, Fearon, Noble, Smith, Garrett, Lovett and Yeates. We can name,

ANCESTRY AND PARENTAGE. 13

not only her eight great-grandparents, but in the Noble family can go back two generations beyond Joseph Noble who was her great-grandfather. The Smith line has been traced back to William Smith (Willelmus Smyth it is written in the old Latin Register of Graham Church), who was born about A. D. 1570. Elizabeth W. Jones would have had to pre^xjive greats, and her son Samuel six, to the word grandfather, to make it applicable to this ancestor. Again we find that William Yeates of Alborough, England, was the great-grandfather of her great-grandmother.

Many of these worthy ancestors, both the Welsh and the English, are alluded to in "Besse's Sufferings of Friends," as having been fined or imprisoned for their faithful adherence to the testimonies of Friends; and the certificates of removal that they brought when they came to this country^ also the stations that they filled in the early Friends' meetings in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, show the esteem in which they were held by their friends both in the old and in the new country.

A considerable number of these prominent Friends held civil offices, and one of them is spoken of as the " loved and trusted friend of William Penn." Of the Wetherill's, Christopher, his son Thomas, and his grandson Samuel, were members of the Council of Proprietors of West Jersey. David Jones, Elizabeth's great-grandfather, was one of the first elders appointed in Haverford Monthly Meeting. The name of his wife, Katherine Jones, appears on the record as an '^ inspector of conversation,'^ also as a '' representative to the Quarterly Meeting."

Haverford, Merion and Radnor, seem to have been favorite localities with these early Welsh settlers. Tradition informs us that they were attracted by the fertility of the soil, and by the abundant supply of pure spring water. The English ancestors were drawn to Burlington County, I^ew Jersey ; though some found their way to Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The family history is interspersed with numerous pithy notes as well as more serious items of interest ; many of the latter having reference to the persecutions that the Friends of that day had to suffer for their faith, and their loyalty in the support of their testimonies.

David and Katherine Jones had a son James, who was born in Wales, and who came to this country with his parents in 1699. He married Hannah Hayes, lived to be ninety-two years old, and died at his home in Blockley. This worthy couple had a son named Isaac who married Mary Koble Wetherill ; the marriage being accomplished in Friends' meeting-house at Burlington, 'New Jersey, on the twenty-sixth of Eleventh Month, 1778. The offspring of this marriage consisted of four children the youngest of whom was Elizabeth W. Jones, who became the wife of Ebenezer Levick.

We should have to go farther back to bring in the Garrett, Lovett and Yeates families. The mother of Joseph ]S"oble was Mary Garrett Is^oble; and the mother of his wife

ANCESTRY AND PARENTAGE. 15

was Elizabeth Lovett Smith whose mother was Amie daughter of William Fea^e^ of Alborough, England. The one last named is spoken of as " a worthy Quaker gentleman of Alborough."

To do justice to this family record it should be given in its entirety, Avhich would encroach on the life of the one to be portrayed in this book; so we leave the remote ancestors of Elizabeth W. Jones, and refer to her parents, Isaac and Mary Wetherill Jones, whose marriage has already been noted. In speaking of her parents, Elizabeth says : " My parents were members of the religious Society of Friends, as their ancestors had been, from the days of George Fox. Sincerely attached to its doctrines and testimonies, for which their forefathers had suffered imprisonment and much loss of worldly goods, they were not in the narrow sense of the word sectarian, and numbered among their friends, even their intimate friends, many good people of other religious denominations."

When in her nineteenth year Elizabeth lost her father, very suddenly; and her young life heretofore so joyous was now overshadowed by a deep sorrow. She speaks of him as "a tall and very handsome man, with dark hair and eyes, tender and gentle to all, unwilling to hurt the feelings of anj'one .... thoroughly honest himself, he was unsuspecting of others, and thus in more than one instance, became the loser, pecuniarily, where he had trusted others in business relations."

The other children had been married before the death of their father, so that after that sad event her mother and herself constituted the family in their home : thus it was until the time of her marriage, after which her husband and herself lived with "mother" one year, and then moved into their own house, ^ot long after their settlement in their new abode, "mother" came to live with them, and was one of their household for the remainder of her life.

Mary Wetherill Jones died at the home of her son-in-law, Ebenezer Levick, on the eleventh of Twelfth Month, 1829, and her remains were interred in Friends' Ground at Merion.

CHAPTEE II.

HIS FATHER S FAMILY.

Ebenezer Levick was the son of William and Susanna (Manlove) Levick, and was born at Little Creek, Delaware, on the sixteenth of Seventh Month, 1791. When about sixteen years of age he removed to Philadelphia, and entered upon the preparation for a mercantile life.

Elizabeth Wetherill Jones was the daughter of Isaac and Mary (Wetherill) Jones, and was born at No. 17 Pine Street, Philadelphia, on the fifth of Sixth Month, 1789.

Ebenezer Levick and Elizabeth W. Jones were married

HIS father's family. 17

in Friends' meeting-house, Pine Street, Philadelphia, on the first of Fifth Month, 1816.

For one year after their marriage they lived with Elizabeth's widowed mother, and then moved to the northern part of the city, where Ebenezer's business was located.

In the course of time ^ve sons and three daughters were born into the family. Two of the boys died in infancy, but the other six of the children all survived their father, and three of them were spared to comfort their mother to the end of her long period of widowhood which extended over thirty-seven years. The names of the six in the order of their ages, were Samuel J., William M., James J., Mary J., Elizabeth R., and Anna. Though the youngest of the family, Anna was the first of the six to pass away : she died in 1872. Her husband, J. Lewis Crew of Philadelphia, and their two daughters are still living. William died in 1874. He was a useful member of the Society of Friends, and was frequently called to serve the Yearly Meeting on some of its most important committees ; being esteemed for his excellent judgment, and for his true inwardness as a Friend. His wife was Hannah, daughter of Richard and Sarah Moore, of Quakertown, Pennsylvania : she and their two daughters are still living. The next death in the family was that of Samuel in 1885, and in the following year that of his aged mother. Mary died in 1892 and James in 1893; so that at the present date (1895) the only survivor of the eight children is Elizabeth R. Levick.

The three sons, as was the case with their father, died suddenly, and all were removed in the midst of their usefulness, and before age had impaired their faculties. William and Samuel had been together in mercantile business; but they both left it, and William studied law. After a thorough preparation he was admitted to the bar and became noted as a counselor in office practice. In Orphans' Court business, and in matters pertaining to titles and real estate he was consulted with implicit confidence in his legal knowledge, his good judgment and his strict integrity. He was also for many years a valued member of the City Board of Education. Dr. James J. Levick was one of the eminent physicians of Philadelphia, his professional association being with those who stood in the front rank. As a Welsh historian, and genealogist, he was one of the most prominent in the Pennsylvania Historical Society ; and the Welsh Society had few more useful or more esteemed members than he. His work — both the professional and the historical — will long live, and will keep, alive his memory as well as his name.

With the exception of Samuel, all the children passed their entire home life in the city of Philadelphia.

From numerous passages in the diary of Samuel, as well as from the very interesting " Recollections" of his mother, we are favored with glimpses into the privacy of tlie family circle, and they give abundant evidence that with much individuality, and great strength of character, there was also

HIS father's family. 19

a high regard for filial duty ; but more noticeable than anything else about the household is that it was bound together by the cementing bond of love. Intellectuality and refinement both prevailed; but it was unfeigned afiection that marked the bearing toward each other of parents and children, brothers and sisters, as well as that which subsisted between the two heads of the family. It would appear that this bond of union existed not only while all dwelt together under the paternal roof; but that it continued to cement them after their paths had diverged, and they had established themselves in separate homes. Their loyalty and their love for each other seemed to be of the kind promised in the marriage covenant, to continue " until death should separate them ;" and when the separation came, the survivors were mourners in deed and in truth.

Ebenezer Levick was a prominent merchant of Philadelphia, and he became one of a company that erected some large tanneries at Pocono Mountain. Though less shrewd than is the case with many who have been bred to mercantile pursuits, he was highly esteemed in business circles, as well as by those engaged in philanthropic work ; while among his intimate friends he was known to be generous and genial. His many good qualities drew to him a host of friends. He "took a deep interest in the public charities of his neighborhood, and was one of the earliest members of the Northern Dispensary of Philadelphia, also of the Northern Soup Society, of which he was for some years the treasurer. He was of medium height, of a bright, pleasant countenance, with a clear, English complexion. He possessed great kindness of heart, combined with much native force of character. He was a loving husband, a devoted father, a useful citizen, and his memory is affectionately cherished both in his own home, and in those of many whom he had kindly cared for, and helped in time of trouble." In his faniily he was not only affectionate and tender, but very indulgent both as husband and father. His widow says of him, "niy children all remember their father, and what a bright, cheerful disposition his was; how fond he was of them, and how thoughtful always for their best welfare ; how happy he strove to make all at his home, and how that home was, indeed, a truly happy one. Our married life [of thirty-three and a half years] was very happy, although we knew many vicissitudes and our cup was not an unmixed one. But, I repeat it, the love and tender care of my husband never failed me, and He who permitted, in best wisdom, trials to come upon us, never left us without some present sense of his loving kindness and tender mercy towards us." Ebenezer Levick died suddenly of apoplexy, on the eleventh of Tenth Month, 1849. His widow lived to a good old age, and looked upon several great-grandchildren. Her intellect continued to be clear and bright to the last. For a number of years in her advanced life she was blind ; but at the aore of eio^htv-four an operation was performed, removing the cataracts from

HIS father's family. 21

both eyes, and thus restoring her sight. It was an entire success, and no unfavorable results followed. Thus for the last thirteen years of her life was she permitted to behold the countenances of her family, and her numerous friends, to see the flowers which she so much enjoyed, to use her pen and her needle, and to read, with her own eyes, the pages of the Sacred Volume.

After the death of her husband she lived for ten years with her children William and Hannah ; and as their home was near to the Korth Meeting, she continued to attend that, as she had done during nearly all of her married life. In 1859 she went to live with her son and daughter James and Mary, in their home on the S. W. corner of Twelfth and Arch Streets, and she then became an attender and a member of Twelfth Street Meeting. For the first twentyeight years of her life she was a member of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting for the Southern District; for the last twenty-seven, that of the Western District; and for the intervening forty-two years she belonged to the one for the Northern District. Such is the remarkable record of the Friend who died on the twenty-first of Eleventh Month, 1886, aged ninety-seven years, six months and sixteen days. In both intellect and character she occupied a high place, and of her life it may be said that it did no discredit to her distinguished and worthy ancestry. She died at the home of her son, Dr. James J. Levick, and her remains were interred in Friends' Southwestern Ground, adjacent to those of her husband and their daughter Anna.

Though not prominent in public or organized work, she was much beloved by a large circle of friends who looked upon her in her dignified old age as a link connecting the past with the present, and as one who was worthy of their respect and esteem as well as of a place in their affections. Ancestry, domestic and social environment, character, intellect and longevity all combine to render Elizabeth W. Levick worthy of more than a passing notice.