Memoir of Edward Stalker Sayres, Esq., a Vice-President of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

PUBLICATIONS OF THE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. MARCH, 1925. Vol. IX. No. 2. A P MEMOIR OF EDWARD STALKER SAYRES, ESQ. VICE- PRESIDENT OF THE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. BY M. ATHERTON LEACH . G S Mr. Sayres, one of the founders of The Genealogical Society , began his life in Philadelphia, July 30, 1850, and closed it there, April 27, 1923, after an illness of several months, widely known , much beloved and greatly mourned . His ancestors, of whom he was the consummate flower, were among the builders of New' England, New York and of this Commonwealth. Paternally he descended from William Sayre of Ilynwick ,* parish of Paddington , Bedfordshire, where he was living with a grown family in 1553. His will of 1562 directs that he be buried in St , Mary’s churchyard , Poddington , makes bequests to the church and poor of the parish and to the mother church of Lincoln , with residue to wife Alice, Her will of 1567 names their children , gives substantially the same bequest to the poor and to the church with an additional sum for the restoration of the latter Francis Sayre, grandson of William and Alice Sayre, removed to Leighton Buzzard in Bed fordshire, about thirty miles south of Hynwick, where his mar riage and the baptisms of his children are of entry on its parish registers. Thomas Sayre, third son of Francis and Elizabeth . - * Hynwick is about a half mile from the parish town of Puddington , for merly Podington , some five miles from Iiigham Ferrers, a little over thirteen miles northwest of Bedford and about sixty three miles from London The parish which lies on the border of Northamptonshire is in the deanery of Clap ham and diocese of Lincoln - . . 1924 Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 108 Memoir of Edward Stalker Sayres . ( Atkins ) Sayre , was baptized at Leighton Buzzard, July 20, 1597, and , without doubt, resided there until his settlement at Lynn , Massachusetts, where he and his brother Job Sayre were among the inhabitants of 1635. In 1640 Thomas Sayre was one of the eight “ undertakers ” who left Lynn , that mother of colonies, to become the founders of Southampton , Long Island. His descendant in the fifth generation Matthias Sayres, 17461792, of Westfield , New Jersey, served as a captain in the Revolution and was the father of Caleb Smith Sayres, M D. , 1768-1799, who left Westfield to settle in Marcus Hook, Penn sylvania, where he was a well known physician and a liberal subscriber to St Martin’s Episcopal Church. In 1790 he was commissioned Surgeon, Eighth Battalion , Chester County , Penn sylvania militia He was also one of the justices of the peace and of the County courts Ie married Susanna, daughter of Jacob and Susanna ( Wills ) Richards of Aston township, Dela ware County, fourth in descent from Joseph Richards of New gate, in the parish of Witney , Oxfordshire, England , who pur chased five hundred acres of land from William Penn , was resident in Pennsylvania as early as February 14, 1682, and later was one of the earliest practicing physicians in Chester County. His son, Edward Smith Sayres, 1797-1877, of Philadelphia , the only one of his three children to marry , went in early manhood to Brazil as super- cargo of his own vessel, the Clio. Later he was a merchant in Philadelphia. From 1841, under various appointments by the respective governments, he served as Vice-Consul of Brazil, Vice Consul of Portugal, Vice- Consul of Sweden and Norway and Vice Consul of Denmark, resident at Philadelphia In 1872, for long and faithful services to Brazil, he was appointed , by the Princess Regent of that Empire, Honorary-Consul, with the rank of Captain in the Brazilian Navy. At his decease he was Dean of the Consular Corps at Philadelphia, and probably the oldest foreign Consul in point of service in the United States. His wife, Jane I lumes, was a daughter of John Humes, Esq , merchant of Philadelphia and Register of Wills for Philadelphia County, 1880-1886 Edward Stalker Sayres, fourth of the six children of Edward Smith and Jane ( Humes ) Sayres, was educated at Friends’ Private School, Philadelphia, Pine Street above Front ; Eliphalet Roberts’ classical academy and the Friends’ Central School. He read law under the direction of John Hill Martin, a noted advocate and author of his day, was admitted to the Philadel - . . . P . G S - - . . 1924 Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania . PGM Vol IX 109 Memoir of Edward Stalker Sayres . phia Bar, December 27, 1873, and later to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the Court of Claims, Washington, D. C For nearly fifty years Mr. Sayres practised his profession , spec ializing in real estate, mercantile and marine law and that branch of jurisprudence which relates to the Orphans’ Court, winning, meanwhile, honors not a few and friends many He was a member of the Law Academy of Philadelphia, of which he was Recorder in 1872-3, and a member of the Law Associa tion of Philadelphia, In the field of business Mr. Sayres was an active participant Interested in the formation of the Land , Title and Trust Com pany he was for a time its Secretary. He was a Director of and counsel for the late Delaware Insurance Company, and one of the Board of Managers, counsellor and a life member of the Mercantile Beneficial Association. In the directorate of the Merchants’ Trust Company at its organization in 1889, he served continuously from January, 1911, the time of the con solidation and merger of the Merchants’ Trust and the Union Trust companies, until his death in 1923, on the Board of Direc tors and as Chairman of the Finance Committee, occasionally acting as Vice- President In all a period of thirty-four years. Civic betterment and philanthropy found ready response in Mr. Sayres. An original member of the Civil Service Reform Association of Pennsylvania, he acted as Secretary of its first meeting, was for years its Treasurer and a member of its Executive and Finance Committees. In 1891 he became a trustee of the Northern Home for Friendless Children and Associated Institute for Soldiers and Sailors Orphans, was made president of the Board of Trustees in 1917, which office he held at his decease, having given thirty- two years of service to this organ ization In 1895 he was elected a member of the Board of Managers of the Childrens’ Hospital of Philadelphia, secretary in 1902, vice- president in 1909 and president in 1912, continuing in the latter office until his death He also served as treas urer of Christ Church Hospital for seven years, and was for some years one of the managers of the Apprentices Library of Philadelphia. Inheriting a strong inclination for matters military, Mr. Sayres, in 1874, joined Company D, First Regiment of Infantry of the National Guard of Pennsylvania, was in active duty during the coal riots of 1875, and again in the labor riots of 1877, being with his command in the Round House at Pitts . - . - P . - . - G S . . - 1924 Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 110 Memoir of Edward Stalker Sayres . - burgh. P In 1879 and 1880 he was First Lieutenant command ing his company , then Quartermaster of the Old Guard of his company, subsequently Captain and Paymaster, and later Major and Junior Vice- Commander of the Veteran Corps of the Regi ment. Republican in politics, he was one of that group of young Republicans who, in the Garfield Campaign of 1880, formed the effective marching unit known as “ Company H,’’ of which he was second lieutenant. Out -of - doors life held a charm for him and he became, in I 860, one of the founders of the Merion Cricket Club, then at Ardmore, now at Haverford , its Secretary for forty-two years , 1868-1870, 1873-1913, and its President for ten , 1913-1923. Mr. Sayres’ religious affiliations were with St. James’ Protestant Episcopal Church of which he was a vestryman. He believed in the efficacy of the patriotic- hereditary societies to teach Americanism , was in early membership with the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution, served on important committees, was one of its Board of Managers, sub sequently Historian and later Vice-President. He was a mem ber of the Council, twenty one years Secretary, and later a Lieutenant-Governor of the Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In the Society of War of 1812 he held the office of Treasurer ; was some years a member of the Council of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of Foreign Wars of the ffiited States and Treasurer General of the National Commandery. From 1897 he was for a time a Councillor of the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania, and was also in membership with the Swedish Colonial Society. He was a member of the Council of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania 1908-1923, and greatly interested in the Society’s development ; Trustee of the Building Fund 1916 1923 ; Trustee of the Gratz Fund 1917-1923; member of the Committee on Library and Collections 1909 1923, and Counsellor of the Society 1920-1923. He was also one of the Board of Managers of the Christ Church Historical Association ; a member of the Rittenhouse Club of Philadelphia , and of the National Geo graphical Society of Washington. A recent biographer has written of him that : “ This long list of Presidencies, Vice Presidencies, Directorships, Secretary ships, Treasurerships, is in itself a portrayal of the character of Mr. Sayres, of the impression he made on his fellow men. So - - S - - G ; - - - 1924 Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania - PGM Vol IX Memoir of Edward Stalker S ayres . Ill many offices of trust and administration in so many companies, societies, institutions came not by chance.’ * * One of the five original founders of The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania , he was elected its first Recording Secretary February 19, 1892, and became a Vice-President in 1917. The Minute to his memory passed by the Board of Directors said in part: “ To this Society his loss is immeasurably great. During thirty-one years he served it assiduously , and his wise counsel , To the especially in legal matters, will be greatly missed Committees on which he served, he brought a broad and varied knowledge of affairs, an unusual aptitude for conciliation , and an unrestricted ability to judge matters accurately Ct A gentleman of the old school , he was indeed a rare spirit, an inspiration to all who knew him , and died, full of years and honors, after a life spent in trying to make this world a happier place in which to live. i L Above all, there was in him a radiating kindliness of word and deed that won for him the everlasting regard of his colleagues of this Board , by whom he was much beloved, and to whom his loss is a personal grief which will long be deeply felt ’’ f Mr. Sayres married, December 15, 1881, Caroline Linda Jennings Lewis, daughter of the late Silas Weir Lewis of Philadelphia. Mrs. Sayres died October 9, 1882, leaving a daughter Linda Lewis On April 3, 1888, Mr. Sayres married Mary Victoria Lewis, daughter of the late Frederick Mortimer Lewis and sister of the late Professor Henry Carvill Lewis, the eminent scientist and geologist In the latter half of his life his city home was at 1825 Spruce Street, Philadelphia ; his country home at Black Rocks, Haver ford. A fellow officer of one of the societies in which Mr. Sayres held membership wrrote of him : “ The ‘ old guard ’ is passing away , but thank Heaven we are gifted with Memory to live over again their devotion to the trusts and duties and friends of their lives. ” And so he passed on into immortality. . S P . . G . - * The Pennsylvania Magazine of History , 1924* t The PablicattOTis of The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, vol * ix , mterleaf , p. 101 * 1924 Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX