The Pennock Family
The Pennock family began with Christopher Pennock of Cork, Ireland who spent time in prison for exercising the Quaker religion. He then married the daughter of a wealthy Quaker George Collett who owned an estate in the Clonmel countryside. In 1683, George Collett purchased 5,000 acres of land in the providence of Pennsylvania that cost £106. It was an opportunity for Christopher and his family to start their new lives in the new colony. Unfortunately, his wife was not satisfied with the new life in Philadelphia, so she and her children returned to Ireland. When George Collett died in 1698, their eldest son Joseph (1677–1771) had Christopher take over his property in Pennsylvania. But Christopher died in 1701, prompting Joseph to come to Pennsylvania to take over the PA property. That was when he built an estate in West Marlborough Township that is known today as "Primitive Hall."
Rebecca Lukens, Woman of Steel
It all started with Isaac Pennock who established the Federal Slitting Mill in Coatesville in 1793. A slitting mill took iron and rolled it into sheets which were then cut to act as barrel hoops or as iron covers for wooden wheels. In 1810, he formed a partnership with his son in-law Jessie Kersey to create the Brandywine Iron Works & Nail Factory. He had a daughter named Rebecca who married a Germantown physician named Charles Lukens. After their marriage in 1813, Charles gave up medicine to help expand his father in-law’s mill operations.
"Training in science prompted Lukens to experiment with making iron plate which could contain the pressure created by a new device, the steam engine. The Brandywine Mill was the first in America to make 'boilerplate.' The ledgers of the company show delivery of this product in 1818. Steam engines had been around since the 1760s but they were dangerous and unreliable, in part, because the pressurized steam often ruptured the containment vessel causing horrifying burns. Brandywine became renown for reliable steam containment vessels. In so doing, the company gave birth to another industry for which Philadelphia would become famous; steamboat and locomotive manufacture."
- Mark Ashton, Chester County, A Modern History
After her father died in 1824, Rebecca inherited a property deeply in debt but she resolved to carry on. Five months after her husband’s death a steamboat engine built by Brandywine launched onto the Susquehanna River creating an avalanche of orders for similar products. Rebecca Lukens would become America’s first woman industrialist. In 1847 she retired, and followed in her family's footsteps: turning over operations to her son in-law, Charles Huston (like her husband, a physician).
Moses and Samuel Pennock, Inventors
"In 1827 Moses and Samuel Pennock invent a new kind of threshing device which substituted for hand flailing the crop. By 1855 advancements is threshing machinery produced 12x more than could be done by six human threshers with flails. In 1841 the Pennocks produced a seed drill, an improvement upon the 1701 seed planting device of Jethro Tull. Now, seeds could be rapidly planted in the ground rather than 'cast upon' the surface where birds and heavy rain could rob the farmer of his investment. The drill allowed a farmer to plant 8 acres of wheat or twice as much of Indian corn in a single day. This invention together with the better known McCormick reaper (1834) revolutionize the speeds at which a farmer could plant and harvest. Farm productivity soared as a result.
Not content with one invention the Pennocks next embark on a means to improve dirt roads which commonly washed out, damaging both wagon wheels and axles. In 1875 they devise a horse drawn road grader which flattens rutted uneven roads using an iron or steel mouldboard. By 1889 the Pennocks are producing graders in Kennett Square, New York and Ohio as well as Canada. They rename the company the American Road Machinery Co. and it prospers. By 1900 it was employing 80-100 personnel in Kennett Square, a village of 1,400. It would continue to prosper until the Great Depression began in 1929. The company name and revised product line live on today as ARM Truck Corp. of Canton Ohio. The company maintains its legacy by producing large scale snowplows, a product that was first produced in an engine driven form in 1913 for use by the City of New York."
- Mark Ashton, Chester County, A Modern History
The Pennock Who Preferred to Play Ball
Herbert "Herb" Jefferis Pennock was attending the Cedarcroft Preparatory School where he was playing baseball. One day, his coach asked him to try to pitch, and threw a no-hitter with assistance of his catcher, Earle Mack, who happened to be the son of Cornelius "Connie" Mack. At that time, he was the owner of the Philadelphia Athletics. Earle told his father about Herb's pitching skills, and thus hi Connie signed Pennock in 1912, with the condition from his parents to use a false name.
Seeing his potential, Connie promoted Herb to the major leagues where he was trained and mentored by the Philadelphia Athletics' star pitchers Eddie Plank and Charles "Chief" Bender. In 1915, Herb was named the star pitcher for the team, but Connie didn't seem to see any ambition from him. So, he traded him to the Boston Red Sox for $2,500, which he would later call this his greatest mistake in 66 years of major league management.
"Pennock’s career in Boston was far from promising. Yet, in spite of a remarkably poor season in 1922 (10 wins-17 losses), the NY Yankees traded three players to acquire him. By 1924 Pennock was probably the second best pitcher in the American League behind Walter Johnson. For the next five seasons, his work was amazing, winning 115 games. But by 1929 he developed neuritis and was relegated to relief pitching. Although baseball fans never conclude their debates, Pennock is often rated the best left handed pitcher of the 1920s."
- Mark Ashton, Chester County, A Modern History
After his retirement, Herb was given a lifetime contract as general manager of the Phillies by Robert Carpenter, who was convinced by Connie Mack to hire Herb. Pennock is generally credited with acquiring the talent that won the National League pennant in 1950 ("the Whiz kids") although he did not live to see that season.
The Strange "Bird" in the Family
By day, Charles J. Pennock (1857-1935) was a banker and justice of the peace. By night, he was an amateur ornithologist. On May 15, 1913 he traveled to Philadelphia to address the Academy of Natural Sciences. When his lecture concluded he was supposed to catch a train back to Kennett. But, he never returned.
In September 1919, the Academy's director received an article submitted for publication in the ornithology magazine, "The Auk" from "John Williams" of St. Marks, Florida. The name did not ring a bell to Academy, but its quality was superb. When Academy curator Witmer Stone took a look. he thought he recognized the handwriting: he thought the handwriting belonged to the missing Charles Pennock. He sent Dr. Richard Phillips to St. Marks to investigate. That was when he ran into "John Williams," AKA Charles J. Pennock.
"Pennock had boarded the train to Kennett but, became overwhelmed by his responsibilities there. He travelled on to Baltimore. Equipped with his suit of clothes and $100 in cash, he decided to keep heading south. And that took him to western Florida where he had been living, studying local birds and working odd jobs. Phillips prevailed on Pennock to return home after a stay with the doctor in Philadelphia and a trip to see Pennock’s son in Harrisburg. His return was reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer on January 2, 1920, roughly 2,400 days after he left his audience and boarded the train. His disappearance had garnered national attention in 1913 although it was mentioned only once in the Philadelphia newspapers. In August 1935 when he died at his home on North Union Street, his obituary made no reference to his disappearance twenty years earlier."
- Mark Ashton, Chester County, A Modern History
Bibliography
Cameron, Mary Ward. The Biographical Cyclopaedia of American Women. (New York: Halvord Publishing Company, 1924): 12-15