Biographical Sketch of John T. EACHES (1893); Chester County, PA

Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris <jmcdmorris@comcast.net>.

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Source: "Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsyl-
vania, comprising a historical sketch of the county," by Samuel T. Wiley
and edited by Winfield Scott Garner, Gresham Publishing Company, Phila-
delphia, PA, 1893, pp. 484-8.

"JOHN T. EACHES, son of Eber and Hannah Phillips Eaches, was born December
16, 1842, in the village of Charlestown, Chester county, Pennsylvania.
His parents were both natives of Pikeland township, in the same county.
The father, a son of John Eaches, was of Welsh descent.  He was for many
years a school teacher, farming and working at the cooper trade during the
summer, and teaching school during the winter.  He was widely known and
universally esteemed.  He settled in Phoenixville in 1847, and died there
in 1880, in his seventy-eight year.  He was for many years an officer in
the Baptist church of that place.  His wife, the mother of John T. Eaches,
is still living with un-impaired faculties in her ninety-first year.

"The subject of this sketch was the youngest of four sons.  The other
brothers, William, a carriage manufacturer in Philadelphia; Josiah P.,
teller in the Phoenixville National Bank; Owen P., pastor of the Baptist
church at Hightown, New Jersey, all survive him.

"He received a superior English education in his boyhood in the public and
private schools of Phoenixville.  He possessed a quick and receptive mind.
He was fond of study and made rapid progress, attaining a high rank as a
scholar.  About the time that he was finishing his studies and while
making preparation for entering the duties of practical life, the storm of
war burst upon the country.  Every town and hamlet in Pennsylvania at once
became a recruiting station for the army.  Finishing the work to be done
at home, he secured the consent of his parents and entered the service of
his country in his nineteenth year.  He enrolled himself a member of Co.
G, 1st Pennsylvania reserves.  He served during the three years term of
service, not visiting his home during that entire time.  He was faithful,
brave, untiring in all the duties that came upon him.  He did not know the
meaning of shirking or of cowardice.  He became a corporal in his company.
In the seven days' fight before Richmond, at the battle of Charles City
Cross Roads, he was wounded, left on the field of battle, captured by the
Confederates, and placed in the Libby prison.  After four week's imprison-
ment he was exchanged.  He was in the battle of Gettysburg and in all the
important battles of the Army of the Potomac.  The soldier life was in his
blood, as his grandfather and three of his brothers were the commanding
officers in the seventh battalion of Pennsylvania troops in the war of the
Revolution.  At the close of the war he returned to Phoenixville.  He
accepted a clerkship in the cotton factory of Mr. L. H. Richards in
Phoenixville.  He remained here until 1869, when he accepted a position
in the National bank of that place.  He filled the position of paying
teller and book-keeper to the satisfaction of all.  On the organization
of the Spring City National bank in 1872, he was offered the position of
cashier of the bank.  He accepted the proffer and filled the position with
eminent ability until the time of his death.  He was a man of the strict-
est honesty and integrity in his business dealings.  To his enterprise and
rare financial power much of the success of the Spring City bank is due.
He was one of the four founders of the Spring City Forge Company.
Possessed of public spirit, he did much that contributed to the business
interests of the town in which he resided.

"He took a large interest in political and public affairs, though never
soliciting or holding public office.  He was married in 1879 to Hannah
Stauffer, of Spring City.  Three children were born to them: Mary, Amy,
and Clara, all of whom are living.  The quiet of the home circle was a de-
light to him after the cares of the day.  He was a man of rich devotional
life. For many years he had been a member of the Baptist church in
Phoenixville.  Here he was active in all kinds of church work.  He was an
effective teacher in the Sunday school.  He was an active member of the
G. A. R. and of the Masonic fraternity.  He died suddenly, after a short
illness, in his forty-seventh year, September 28, 1889.

"He had accumulated a handsome competence.  His largest wealth was in his
irreproachable character, his unstained name, his gracious influence, his
devotional life, his noble manhood.  His heart was as tender as a child's.
His heart was as tender as a child's.  His manner was winning.  He was a
pillar in the church and in the community.  None knew him but to respect
and love him.  Followed to the grave by a large number of his fellow sol-
diers, fellow citizens, kindred and friends, he sleeps in the quiet of
the cemetery at Phoenixville.

"Life's fight well fought,
"Life's work well done,
"Life's course well run,
"Rest comes."