HITCHENS Dr. A. Parker Hitchens, of Sharon Hill, is at present director of the Biological Laboratories of the H. K. Mulford Company, manufacturing and biological chemists. Dr. Hitchens was born in Delmar, Delaware, September 14, 1877, son of William S. and Fannie (Parker) Hitchens, both natives of the vicinity, the family having located in Sussex county about the year 1780. William S. Hitchens was reared and educated in Delaware, was a successful merchant there for many years, continuing in that line until 1888, when he removed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is still engaged in mercantile business. He and his wife are the parents of three children. Dr. Hitchens' early education was acquired in the public schools of Delmar and Philadelphia. Later after a preparatory course in Temple University he matriculated at the Medico-Chirurgical College, from which he graduated in 1898 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. During the year after his graduation he was resident physician at the Samaritan Hospital, Philadelphia. Following this he did graduate work in bacteriology at the University of Pennsylvania. He was for two years assistant in the department of Pathology and Bacteriology in the Medico-Chirurgical College. In 1907 he did special work in the Immunization Department of St. Mary's Hospital, in London, under Sir Alm roth Wright. In 1900 he had given up the general practice of medicine in order to devote his entire time to laboratory work, in that year entering the Biological Laboratories of the H. K. Mulford Company, and six years later he became director of these laboratories, in which capacity he is serving at the present time (1914). Dr. Hitchens resided at Glen Olden from 1908 to 1909, and since then in Sharon Hill. He married, June 20, 1906, Ethel Bennett, born in Philadelphia, in 1880, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Bennett. She is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. Dr. Hitchens is a Fellow of the Philadelphia College of Physicians and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is secretary and treasurer of the Society of American Bacteriologists, chairman of the Council of the American Association of Immunologists, and an ex-president of the Philadelphia Clinical Association. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, the Delaware County Medical Society, the Philadelphia Pathological Society, the Philadelphia Medical Club, the American Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, the American Public Health Association and others. He is author of the Section on "Bacterial Vaccines" in "Sajous's Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine," seventh edition, Davis, Philadelphia. Among his numerous contributions to medical science, published in American and foreign journals may be mentioned, "The Preventive Dose of Tetanus Antitoxin for the Horse," "The Bacteriology of Common Colds." "The Treatment of Simple Catarrh of the Respiratory Passages with Bacterial Vaccines," "Serums and Vaccines in the Prevention and Treatment of Undulant Fever," "An Improved Syringe for the Injection of Precise Amounts," "A Chamber in which Dried Tubercle Bacilli may be Handled without Danger," "Refrigeration in its Relations to the Biological Materia Medica," and "Current Developments and Problems in Vaccine Therapy." Fraternally he is a member of the chapter and commandery of the Free and Accepted Masons. This branch of the Pierce family came to Pennsylvania from PIERCE Brandywine Hundred, Delaware, a locality in which the Pierces had long been located. The first of the family to settle in Delaware county was Albin, father of F. Newton Pierce, of further mention. (I) Albin Pierce was born in Brandywine Hundred, Delaware, in 1821, died in Bethel township, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, March 4, 1888. He grew to manhood in Delaware, learning the stone-mason's trade and working at farming, moving after his marriage to a farm in Bethel township, near Booths Corners, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, on which he resided until his death. He was a Democrat in politics and held the offices of tax collector and school director of Bethel township. Both he and his wife were members of the Siloam church. He married Mary J. Hance, of Concord township, Delaware county, who died in 1882. Children: 1. Margaret E., deceased. 2. Samuel H., a hardware merchant of Downington, Pennsylvania, married Anna Moore. Children, Laura E., Wesley, and Anna. 3. A. Atwood, now connected with the Eddystone Print Works, married Ella Painter. Children: Emily, Carrie, Ella, Lawrence and Warren. 4. Sarah J., married Isaac Pennington, a blacksmith and present supervisor of Middletown township. Children: Florence, Bella, Clarence, Edgar, and Norman. 5. Harriet T., deceased, married (first) George Grawl, (second) Charles Schlacter. Children, Mary, Bertha, and Alice. 6. Adam, died in infancy. 6. Adam, died in infancy. 7. F. Newton, of further mention. 8. Albin, a carpenter of Linwood, Pennsylvania, married Margaret Barlow. Children: Elmer and Herman. (II) F. Newton, son of Albin and Mary J. (Hance) Pierce, was born in Bethel township, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, June 8, 1865. He was educated in the public school at Booths Corners and began business life as a clerk in the general store there, remaining four years. He then spent three years on a farm in Concord township, then moved to Brandywine Hundred, Delaware, for three years, returning to Delaware county in 1895, locating in Middletown township, where he purchased the Malin farm of sixty-five acres, where he yet resides. He has made many improvements to the farm and there carries on a successful farming and teaming business. He is a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and in political faith is a Republican. He married in March, 1889, Elfie W. Weer, of Brandywine Hundred, Delaware, daughter of William C. and Mary J. (Barlow) Weer. Mary J. Barlow is a sister of E. L. Barlow, of Chester township, Delaware county, whose family sketch appears in this work. Children of William C. and Mary J. Weer 1 and 2. Elizabeth and Ella, deceased. 3. Edward Tatnall, a farmer and large land owner of Newport, Delaware. He married Elizabeth Hannum and has children: George Clyde, Earl, Anna, Josephine. 4. Laura A., married Thomas Watts Zelley, of Booths Corners, Delaware county. Children: Mary, married R. Harry Hannum, of Concord, Delaware county; Edward, married Bessie McLaughlin, of Booths Corners; Clarence, married and resides at Booths Corners; Lewis; Thomas, deceased. 5. Leila Lorain, married John Trimble. Children: Clara, married William Hunter; Paul, Rupert, Fred, Ellen Cora, Marshall. 6. Elfie W., of previous mention, married F. Newton Pierce. 7. Fred, married Fannie Scott, of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and has a son, Winfield. 8. Wilmer, a farmer of Upland, Delaware county, married Lottie Pierce. Children: Ethel, Albert, Fred, Lillian, Margaret, Walter and Mary J., deceased. The only child of F. Newton and Elfie W. Pierce, Mildred, is a graduate nurse, educated in the public schools and at Northfield, Massachusetts, now a nurse in Media Hospital. In 1657, Isaac Thomas, a farmer of Devonshire, England, THOMAS sailed from London for the New World, where he hoped to make his fortune, and which accomplished he expected to return to his native land and spend the remainder of his days. After a long and stormy voyage he debarked at New York, where he remained several months, and then made his way up the Hudson river. He became enthused over the prospects of the country, its resources, the fertility of the land, and decided that he would make his permanent home in one of the colonies. He wrote for his wife and their young family to join him in the new land, which they did; and together they canoed up the beautiful Hudson and located on the west shore. Here he took up wild land, cleared and erected a log house on it, and cultivated the fields. Isaac Thomas died on his homestead that he had so heroically rescued from the wilderness, and his sons, of whom there were many, wandered away to other colonies, and thus was the present numerous Thomas family founded in America. One of the sons went to Pennsylvania, and is thought to be the forbear of the Thomas families in Lancaster and Chester counties. Isaac Thomas, a descendant of the English immigrant, was born in Pennsylvania, and spent the greater part of his life in Lancaster county, where he farmed successfully. In his declining years he moved to Chester county, Pennsylvania, and died in 1875, at an advanced age. He married Mary L. Smith, daughter of a neighboring farmer in Lancaster county, who died in Chester county, also at an advanced age. Children: Abraham, of whom further; William, who went to sea and is supposed to have drowned, as he was never heard from after sailing. Abraham, son of Isaac and Mary L. (Smith) Thomas, was born in 1834, in Lancaster county. He was partially reared in Lancaster county, and was educated in the common schools of the day. After his marriage he went to Wilmington, Delaware, for a time, about 1875. From there he moved to Chester county, Pennsylvania, becoming a successful farmer, and lives at the present time (1913) in Chester county. He has been locally prominent in politics in whatever community that he has lived in, though he has never accepted any public office. He is a member of the Baptist church, supporting it liberally. He married Lydia Hammond, like himself of straight English descent, who was born in Chester county, and died there in 1881. She was a devout member of the Baptist church, and was greatly beloved by all who knew her. She was the daughter of John E. and Mary E. (Down) Hammond, oldtime residents of Chester county, where they held the esteem of their neighbors. He was a farmer of the county and died at Coatesville, Pennsylvania, when well along in years; his wife was also a native of the county. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Hammond Sallie, married Stephen R. Smedley; Mary L., dead; Lewis, dead; Lydia, wife of Mr. Thomas. Children of Abraham and Lydia (Hammond) Thomas: John E., of whom further; Mary L., dead; George, dead; Lydia, dead; Ida May, married J. Calvin Shinne, of Montana; Frank C., married Mabel Sharpless, resides in Chester county. John E., son of Abraham and Lydia (Hammond) Thomas, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1866. He was educated in the public schools in the various places in which he lived with his parents. When nine years old he accompanied them to Wilmington, Delaware, and later returned with them to Chester county. He remained at home until he reached the age of sixteen, when he decided that he would enter the business world for himself. He was in the employ of various farmers in Chester county for four years, during which time he established a reputation for industry and integrity. At the expiration of that time he moved to Delaware county, Pennsylvania, and located in Upper Providence township, where he rented farms, |