Concord Township.

owner and landlord, James Neeld, secured that favor. Annually thereafter be was among the licensed houses until April, 1883, when two lengthy petitions, one signed by one hundred and twenty-eight men, and the other by one hundred and fifty women, were presented to court protesting "against granting of any hotel license in the said township, and especially against granting license for the sale of intoxicating liquors to James Neeld, of Concordville, or Jackson McFarlan, of Elam, . . . believing that such license and sale is fraught with results disastrous to the comfort, prosperity, and morality of a portion of our people and the disturbance of our peace, that their petitions are very generally signed by those who bear but a small share of taxation, and who are intoxicated to their own injury. We are fully persuaded that such licenses are not necessary for the accommodation of the public, and that our neighborhood will be better without them." After a lengthy hearing, Judge Clayton refused to grant the license. At the January court, 1884, the license was restored to the Concordville Hotel.

The Mathues family are of Irish lineage, Andrew, the grandfather of Charles W., having emigrated after the war of the Revolution, and settled in Baltimore County, Md. He was united in marriage to a Mrs. Smith, widow, and had a son, William, born Dec. 16, 1796, in the above county, where his early life was spent. When about twenty-one years of age he came to Chester County, Pa., and followed the trade of a paper-maker. He married Susan McHenry, whose children were Andrew. W., John McHenry, William F., Moses R., Charles W., David S., Alexander C., and Susan E. (Mrs. Daniel Hart). Charles W. was born March 15, 1830, in Chester County, and when thirteen years of age became a resident of Delaware County, at which early period of his life be began a self-supporting career by entering the cotton-mill of John P. Crozer. After two years spent at that point be became an employé of other mills in the vicinity, and at the age of twenty entered the professional field as a student of dentistry. Concluding, however, not to practice, he became a clerk for N. L. Yarnall, at Lenni, and subsequently purchased and ran a stage line for a period of two years. He, in 1851, married Amanda, daughter of Milcah Richardson, and has children, - Andrew W., William M., Mary E., Susan M., Charles G., Samuel W., Amanda E., and Ida May. Having determined to become a farmer, Mr. Mathues, in 1857, rented land in Aston township, and subsequently in other localities, finally purchasing a farm in the above township, which his son now cultivates. In 1879 he located in Concord, and has since that time filled a position of prominence as an agriculturist in that township. He is in politics a pronounced Republican, and as a representative of that party was elected in 1875 sheriff of Delaware County, which office he held for the term of three years, as also various township offices. He has since that time been devoted to the cultivation of his farm. Mr. Mathues is a member of the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, as also of the Improved Order of Red Men, the Knights of Pythias, and the American Protestant Association. He is active as a leader in the temperance cause, and has carefully shunned the use of strong drink and tobacco during his lifetime. These correct principles, together with habits of industry and self-reliance, have rendered him independent. In religion he worships with the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Davis Powel, the father of the subject of this biographical sketch, was born in Chester County, and married Miss Catharine, daughter of Thomas Pennell. Their children were Thomas P., Charles Rogers, Davis, Benjamin Rush, Hannah A. (Mrs. William Baldwin, of Harford County, Md.), and G. Washington. Mr. Powel eventually removed to Maryland, where he purchased an extensive landed property, and remained until his death. His son, Thomas P., was born on the 7th of April, 1811, in Philadelphia, and in early life repaired with his father to Maryland, where he enjoyed superior advantages of education. Circumstances influenced his removal in youth to Concord township, Delaware Co., where he engaged in the cultivation of the estate of his maternal relatives. In 1861, having inherited the farm, he made it his residence, and during the remainder of his life followed the business of a farmer. He married, on the 3d of February, 1852, Miss Lydia, daughter of William Garrigues, of Philadelphia, and granddaughter of Samuel Garrigues, of Haverford township. Their only son, William G., now occupies the Pennell homestead, which, in the direct line of descent, is the property of Mrs. Powel and her son. The latter is actively identified with the public measures of the county, was for years secretary and treasurer of the Republican Executive Committee of the county, as also its chairman in 1880, and in 1882 was elected to the State Legislature. Thomas P. Powel made his influence felt in the social and political life of the county. He was in politics a Democrat of the Jeffersonian school, and an ardent supporter of the principles of his party. During the sessions of 1857-58 he was its representative in the State Legislature, and served on the Committees on Agriculture, Railroads, etc. He also filled various less important offices in connection with the township. Though a Friend by virtue of his antecedents, he worshiped with the congregation of St. John's Protestant Epis-