Prepared by Anne Broomall Wiegle

1. JOHN MARTIN BROOMALL I ( JOHN 4, DANIEL 3 , JOHN 2 , JOHN 1 ) was born January 19, 1816 in Upper Chichester Twp, Del Co. PA. He married (1) ELIZABETH BOOTH, daughter of JOSEPH BOOTH and MARTHA HOSKINS . He married (2) CAROLINE LOUISE LARKIN September 29, 1853, daughter of JOHN LARKIN and CHARLOTTE MORTON .
John Martin Broomall was a lawyer, legislator and judge. He was reared upon the home farm and was educated in the schools of the Society of Friends and in Samuel Smith's boarding school in Wilmington, DE and for a time was a teacher there. He began his legal studies in Philadelphia under the eminent jurist John Bouvier and completed them under Samuel Edwards, a leading lawyer of Delaware Co. He was admitted to the bar on August 24, 1840. He specialized in criminal law. Being opposed to capital punishment, this was the mainspring of his deep interest in such cases, as he was rarely paid for his service while engaged in them. His early Quaker training evidently manifested itself to those accused of crimes of this nature. Elected to the Pennsylvania legislature, serving in sessions 1851-52. He helped frame the Constitution of Pennsylvania. When asked again to serve he declined and also declined a seat in congress in favor of William Everett. of Chester Co. He accepted the nomination in 1854, but he was defeated by Democratic candidate John Hickman. He was one of the organizers of the New Republican Party of Delaware Co. in 1856. He withdrew in favor of a Mr. Bowan, rather than weakening the party. In 1858 he was nominated by both Chester & Delaware Counties and was again defeated by Mr Hickman, who was an independent candidate. In 1862 Mr Broomall was elected to Congress in two consecutive elections, during the most trying periods of the Civil War. He was one of the leading spirits in the legislation which conferred full civil rights upon the black as well as white. In his second term he was Chairman of a special committee sent to Memphis to investigate riots in that city. On February 7, 1865 Broomall delivered a speech on civil rights which Mr Blaine in his "Twenty Years of Congress," said the "finest specimen of terse and strong English known to the American Congress." Mr Broomall was an intimate friend of Mr Lincoln. He was a Member of the electoral college in 1860, when he cast a vote for Lincoln, and again when he cast it for Grant. In 1862 when the city of Washington was threatened by Lee's army, Mr Broomall served as Captain of Company C, 16th Regiment Pa. Militia. Inn 1863 he was in command of Company C 29th Reg Emergency Men from June 19th to August 1. He was appointed by the Governor as president judge, being commissioned in 1874 and serving until Jan 1, 1875. Music and poetry were a source of delight to him. He died June 3, 1894 in Chester Delaware Co. PA and is buried in the Media Burial Ground.

Per History of Delaware County- by John Jordan, 1914, and Historic Homes of Chester and Delaware Counties- by Cope and Ashmead.

John M. Broomall did a lot of speculating in real estate, developed may properties, and built many houses and resold them. This enabled him to have an independent income so he could pursue his law interests (which were mostly pro bono) and his political interests. He was very innovative and in 1850 he built a most unusual house in Chester, The Mud Fort.

Children of JOHN BROOMALL and ELIZABETH BOOTH are:
i. WILLIAM BOOTH BROOMALL , b. January 30, 1843, Chester PA; m. ANNA MARY HINKSON, October 17, 1866.

William graduated from Haverford College, and immediately entered upon the study of the law with his father. He enlisted in Co. D, 124th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served from August 11, 1862 until he was honorably discharged May 15, 1863. On February 22, 1864 he was admitted to the Bar of Delaware County, and was actively engaged in the practice of law until his elevation to the Bench. He was elected to the Council of the city of Chester in 1882 and reelected in 1884, but resigned that fall to accept the solicitorship of the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad. He also served on the Board of Education. On March 18, 1907 he was appointed Judge. . He was elected to two terms as judge, but in August of 1925, he resigned because of ill health. He was active in historical investigation and was a member of the Delaware County Historical Society, serving as its president. He died March 03, 1927 and is buried in the Media Burial Ground.

ii. JOSEPH JOHN BROOMALL , b. December 30, 1844; d. October 12, 1846, Buried Media Burial Ground .According to William Booth Broomall: "A too inquisitive investigation of a paint pot on the window ledge, upsetting it in his face, led to the sickness and death of my brother Joseph John."

iii. ANNA ELIZABETH BROOMALL , b. March 04, 1847, Upper Chichester, Delaware Co. PA.
She was pioneer in the field of women's medicine. She received her early education at Pierce's Academy, Bristol PA. She studied medicine and graduated in 1871, at the Women's Medical College of Philadelphia. She was immediately appointed Assistant Physician at the Women's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she remained until the spring of 1872. In the summer of that year she went to Europe to complete her studies, and spent two years in the hospitals of Vienna and Paris, returning in November 1874. In August 1875, she was appointed Resident Physician in the Women's Hospital, and in 1878 was made Physician in Charge. In 1882 she resigned to engage in private practice. In 1878 she was appointed Professor of Obstetrics in the College, and she was also Obstetrician and Gynecologist in the Women's Hospital. Early in 1885 she was appointed Consulting Physician and lecturer on Special Hygiene to the new College for Women at Bryn Mawr. She died April 04, 1931,. Buried Media Burial Ground. Unmarried.

Children of JOHN BROOMALL and CAROLINE LARKIN are:
iv. JOHN LARKIN BROOMALL , b. March 08, 1855; d. July 27, 1855, Buried Media Burial Ground.
2. v. JOHN MARTIN BROOMALL, JR. , b. July 25, 1856.

3. vi. HENRY LEWIS BROOMALL , b. April 12, 1860.
vii. CAROLINE LOUISE BROOMALL , b. August 30, 1862; d. September 27, 1862, Buried Media Burial Ground.
4. viii. CAROLUS MORTON BROOMALL , b. March 08, 1870.

2. JOHN MARTIN BROOMALL, JR. (JOHN MARTIN 5 , JOHN 4 , DANIEL 3 , JOHN 2 , JOHN 1 ) was born July 25, 1856.

He was a lawyer. After attending the public schools, he passed one year at Swarthmore College, and then went in the summer of 1872, to Hanover, Germany, where he completed his scholastic education. Returning in 1874, he read Law in the office of his father, John M. Broomall, and was admitted to the Bar in 1877.

On January 23, 1877, he married ELIZABETH M. COOK . He entered the office of his father, in Media, as a partner, and soon took his place among the young, promising members of the Bar. He died July 12, 1884; buried Media Burial Ground.

Children of JOHN BROOMALL and ELIZABETH COOK are:
i. THOMAS H. BROOMALL.
ii. CAROLINE LOUISE LARKIN BROOMALL , b. May 23, 1883; d. November 01, 1934.
iii. ANNA E. BROOMALL married E. H. BILES. They had several Children.
5. iv. JOHN MARTIN BROOMALL III , b. 1878.


3. HENRY LEWIS BROOMALL (JOHN MARTIN 5 , JOHN 4 , DANIEL 3 , JOHN 2 , JOHN 1 ) was born April 12, 1860. He married ANNE VIRGINIA SNOWDEN, who was born June 1870. His occupations were language and law. He graduated from Swarthmore College, and was a member of the Bar in Chester City.

Children of HENRY BROOMALL and VIRGINIA SNOWDEN are:

i. MARGARET BROOMALL , b. December, 1894.
ii. WILLIAM BOOTH BROOMALL, JR. , b. August, 1896.
6. iii. VIRGINIA BROOMALL, b. March 1898; m. GEORGE WINTHROP TAYLOR SR.
iv. DOROTHY BROOMALL , b. after 1900.

4. CAROLUS MORTON BROOMALL (JOHN MARTIN 5 , JOHN 4 , DANIEL 3 , JOHN 2 , JOHN 1 ) was born March 08, 1870 in Media, Delaware Co. PA.. He married HENRIETTA KRAKER . Lawyer, engineer and surveyor, he was admitted to the Delaware Co. Bar in 1891. He taught Civil Engineering at Drexel Institute for 12 years, was Media Borough surveyor from 1895 to 1920 and Borough Engineer from 1920 to 1940. He was Swarthmore Borough Engineer at the time of his death. A student of Physics, mathematics, chemistry and modern languages, Mr. Broomall was curator of the Delaware Institute of Science, which he had served as treasurer, vice president and president. He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. One of his hobbies was astronomy. He died in 1927.

Child of CAROLUS BROOMALL and HENRIETTA KRAKER is:
i. CARLOTA BROOMALL .

5. JOHN MARTIN BROOMALL III (JOHN MARTIN 6 , JOHN MARTIN 5 , JOHN 4 , DANIEL 3 , JOHN 2, JOHN 1 ) was born 1878, and died 1940 in Philadelphia. He married MARGARET CRUMMER HAMILTON. He died August 19, 1953 in Media, Delaware Co. PA. .

John Martin Broomall III

Margaret Crummer Hamilton

Photos courtesy John H. Gordy

Children of JOHN BROOMALL and MARGARET HAMILTON are:
i. MARGARET ARMSTRONG BROOMALL , b. December 31, 1901; d. December 13, 1972, Sable River NS, Canada. She married (1) CHARLES NOBLE BUTLER, JR. . She married (2) KENNETH HOLMES BURNS . Issue.
ii. JOHN MARTIN BROOMALL IV, was born June 07, 1903 in West Chester, Chester Co., PA. He married FLORENCE WOLVERTON GREEN . They divorced many years later. He died 1967 Chester Co. PA. Issue.

pictured left to right
Bud Green, Dorothy Gallop, Richard Wetherill, Florence W.Green & John M. Broomall IV
Sadie Wilson, Thomas H. Broomall (15 years),Flower Girl Peggy Butler (3 years)
photo courtesy of John H. Gordy

iii. KATHERINE VAUGHN BROOMALL , b. December 25, 1909, Germantown, Philadelphia Co. PA; was born December 25, 1909 in Germantown, Philadelphia Co., PA. She married JOHN DENARD GORDY April 19, 1929 in Chestertown, Cecil Co., MD, son of CLAYTON GORDY and LAURA LEONARD. She died May 13, 1991, Lima, Delaware Co., PA. Issue.
iv. THOMAS HAMILTON BROOMALL , b. August 15, 1915; d. April 1987, Taylor Hospital, Ridley Park, Delaware Co. PA. Married DOROTHY WHYTE. Issue.

6. VIRGINIA BROOMALL (HENRY LEWIS 6 , JOHN MARTIN 5 , JOHN 4 , DANIEL 3 , JOHN 2 , JOHN 1 ). She married GEORGE WINTHROP TAYLOR, SR.

Children of VIRGINIA BROOMALL and GEORGE TAYLOR are:
i. GEORGE WINTHROP TAYLOR, JR.
ii. SNOWDEN TAYLOR.