- Persifor Frazer
Persifor Frazer (
August 9 ,1736 –April 24 ,1792 ) was an American farmer, soldier, and industrialist, and the founder of one of the most prominent families ofPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania .Frazer, the son of John and Mary Smith Frazer, was born in Newtown Township, Pennsylvania, not far from Philadelphia. He married Mary "Polly" Taylor on
October 2 ,1766 , and managed a prosperous farm near Brandywine Creek. They raised ten children, many of whom established their own successful businesses and lineages. GrandsonPersifor Frazer Smith was a leadingbrigadier general in theU.S. Army during theMexican-American War .Frazer became a leading regional political figure resisting the growing British power in the colonies. During the
American Revolutionary War , in early 1776, he was elected as the captain of Company A, Fourth Pennsylvania Battalion and later was promoted toLieutenant Colonel of theFifth Pennsylvania Line , both under "Mad Anthony" Wayne. Frazer was captured at theBattle of Brandywine and held as aprisoner of war in the Walnut Street prison in Philadelphia until his parole. He was later appointed as abrigadier general in thePennsylvania militia .In a letter to his wife in July 1776 Frazer expressed negative opinions towards the blacks serving in many New England regiments of the army. [Quarles, Benjamin. "The Negro in the American Revolution". (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1961) p. 72]
Following the war, Frazer was an iron manufacturer and merchant, owning and operating the Sarum Forge. He and his wife are buried in the graveyard of the Presbyterian Church in
Middletown, Pennsylvania .Descendants
Children of Persifor and Mary Frazer:
*Sarah (1769-1841)
*Robert (1771-1821)
*Mary Anne (1774-1845), who married Jonathan Smith
*Persifor (1776-1798)
*Martha (1778)
*Mary (1780-1862), who married Joseph Smith, her brother-in-law Jonathan's brother
*John (1781-1783)
*Martha (1783-1867), who married William Morris
*Elizabeth (1786-1788)
*Elizabeth (1788-1857), who married Henry MyersOther descendants include
Persifor Frazer Smith , general in theMexican American War , andJoseph Smith Harris , president of theReading Railroad .References
External links
* [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/faids/upt/upt50/frazerfam.html University of Pennsylvania Guide to the Frazer family] .
Further reading
*Frazer, Dr. Persifor (great-grandson), "General Persifor Frazer: A Memoir Compiled Principally from His Own Papers." (Philadelphia: privately published, 1907).
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