The City Of Chester.

Cashiers of the Delaware County Bank: Preston Eyre,¹ Nov. 28, 1814, to Dec. 11, 1834; Charles S. Folwell, December, 1832, to March 3, 1836;² Frederick J. Hinkson, March 10, 1836, to July 25, 1853; James G. McCollin, Aug. 10, 1853, to Aug. 13, 1860; William Taylor, Sept. 6, 1860, to March 17, 1864; Caleb Emlen, March 24, 1864, to Nov. 11, 1864.

Cashiers of the Delaware County National Bank: Caleb Emlen, May 14, 1864, to February, 1874; J. Howard Roop, Feb. 19, 1874, present incumbent.

Present board of directors: Ellwood Tyson, Joshua P. Eyre, David Trainer, Robert McCall, D. Reese Esrey, William S. Blakeley, Thomas Appleby, Thomas Scattergood, John O. Deshong, Jr.

² Resigned to accept a position in the Bank of the United States, and died in Germantown, Dec. 28, 1875, aged eighty years.

Every successful business enterprise is largely the result of the individual efforts of those men who have controlled, directed, and shaped its course. Naturally it is the exponent of the tact and forethought of those persons on whom the responsibility of its management has been cast. John O. Deshong, Frederick J. Hinkson, and Edmund Pennell were conspicuous in their connection with the Delaware County National Bank. Hence it is eminently proper that their biographical sketches should accompany this history of the bank they did so much to place in the high position it now holds in business circles.

John Odenheimer Deshong was born in Delaware County, Pa., Sept. 6, 1807, his parents being Peter Deshong and Mary Odenheimer Deshong. He was the eldest of three children, the others being Maurice W. and S. Louisa. His education was received in private schools in Chester, Pa., and immediately upon attaining manhood he engaged in general merchandising at the corner of Fourth and Market Streets, Chester, in which he was quite successful. In 1843 he engaged in the lumber business in Chester, and being prosperous was able to retire from active business in 1849. He soon after turned his attention to financial affairs, using his capital as a dealer in commercial paper, in which he became a large and successful operator, and continued it until his death. He avoided all financial speculations of uncertain success, and his pecuniary losses were surprisingly small in comparison with the large amount of capital used in his business.

From 1845 until his decease he was almost continuously a director of the Bank of Delaware County, of which institution his father was one of the original directors. He was also for many years a director of the Chester Gas Company, and on his decease the board of directors passed unanimously, and recorded among the minutes, a series of resolutions, a part of which is here quoted as an expression of the opinion and feelings of those who knew him intimately: "That his intercourse with his colleagues was marked by uniform kindness and courtesy, and his counsels were always for justice and fair dealing as well to the community as to the stockholders." The directors of the Delaware County National Bank, into which the Bank of Delaware County had been merged, also recorded resolutions expressive of the great loss that had been sustained: "In the decease of one whose well-known business qualifications, sterling integrity, and excellent judgment entitled him to the respect and grateful remembrance of stockholders and directors."

Mr. Deshong was a Republican in politics, but would never for a moment seriously consider any proposition to become a candidate for any office, though he wielded a large influence on local public affairs by unobtrusive advice and timely suggestions. His counsel to friends with reference to their own affairs was always valuable, and frequently given to those in whom he felt an interest. He was decided, prompt, and self-reliant, with strong and lasting affection for those he loved. A reader of standard works, with a retentive memory, his mind was well stored with useful knowledge, but conspicuous above all other intellectual traits was his clear insight into the motives and capacities of others. His foresight in business matters was marvelous, his grasp of comprehension embracing not only his own, but the affairs of others to an extent that was often astonishing.

In social intercourse Mr. Deshong was genial and sprightly, fond of pleasantries and friendly jokes, always meeting his friends with a cheerful smile and a pleasant word.

On Dec. 6, 1826, he was married to Emmeline L., daughter of Dr. J. H. Terrill, of Chester, by which union were seven children, of whom Alfred O., John O., Jr., Louise (wife of J. E. Woodbridge), and Clarence survive. Mr. Deshong died on May 28, 1881, in his seventy-fourth year.

The Hinkson family came from the county of Cavan, in the North of Ireland. The oldest members of the family there say that three brothers emigrated in the seventeenth century from Hanover, in the North of Germany, to Ireland.

In the burial-ground of the family, in Belturbet churchyard, many of the Hinksons are buried. The Hinksons of this country are descended from John Hinkson and Jane, his wife, who, with one son, came to this country from Ireland, and settled in Upper Providence township, Delaware Co. They had eight children, four sons and four daughters, viz.: John (who married Abigail Engle), George (who married Catharine Fairlamb), Thomas (who married Mary Worrilow), James (who married Elizabeth Crossley), Jane (who married Thomas D. Weaver), Mary (who was unmarried), Sarah (who married William Hawkins), and Nancy (who married Joseph Dickerson). The descendants live in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Maryland. The parents of Frederick James Hinkson were John Hinkson, Jr., of Lower Provi-