Joseph P. McArthur came from Ireland in 1853 with his parents Joseph and Abigal, a brother and two sisters. The 1900 census record reports he arrived 21 May 1853. Here is the arrival record of the McArthur family:

Joseph Auther, 35, Laborer, Ireland, U. States
Abigal Auther, 35, "
Susanna, 25, "
Joseph, 18, "
John, 13
Sally, 11, "

Port of Departure: Liverpool, England
Ship Name: Philadelphia
Port of Arrival: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Microfilm Roll Number: M425_76
Source Citation: Roll: M425_76; Line: 35.
(National Archives)

The McArthur family settled at a rowhouse at the southeast corner of 25th and Pennsylvania Avenue in the Spring Garden District of Philadelphia. The father was a laborer at the Luther Martin lampblack factory at 25th and Fairmount ave.

On August 8, 1858, after a lingering illness, the mother Abigail died of diarrhea at the age of 51. This was a tremendous loss to the family. Her death notice stated, "A light is from our household gone, A voice we loved is still'd - A place is vacant at our hearths, Which never can be fill'd."

During the 1859-1860 period, the lampblack factory moved to 29th and Oxford Streets. His son John (my 2nd great grandfather) married Jane Charlton whose father was a superintendent at the lampblack factory. They moved to 29th and Oxford Streets to be near her father. John was a contractor and driver.

At this same time, his other son Joseph P. McArthur married Mary Neill (Neal), an Irish immigrant. On October 4,1866, they purchased a home at 1503 N. 27th Street, only two blocks away from John. In 1868 the couple had a child Joseph and Joseph P. McArthur began using "senior" after his name. Joseph P. McArthur, Sr. worked as a contractor, grocer and finally settled on a carer as a wagon-builder with a shop located at his father's Bailey and Jefferson residence.

By 1870, the father Joseph McArthur moved to a home at Bailey (west side) and Jefferson Streets.

July 8, 1870 Census: Joseph, 34, teamster, 20th Ward. Wife Mary, 35, keeping house. Children Annie, 11, Abigail, 9, James, 8, Thomas, 7, and Joseph, 4.

Christmas Day 1871: Their son John, aged two, died of scalding. Parents address: 27th and Jefferson.

1874: Joseph McArthur, contractor, 1501 N. 27th

1876 and 1878: Joseph P. McArthur, grocer, 1503 N. 27th

1879 - 1880: Joseph P. McArthur, contractor, 1503 N. 27th

1880 - Upon the September 1879 death of his father, Joseph P. McArthur established a wheelwright business where his father's house was at 2623 Jefferson Street (northeast corner Jefferson and Bailey Streets). Within two years, it expanded to encompass approximately one-third a square city block at the northwest corner Jefferson and Bailey Streets including properties 2625-27-29-31-33 Jefferson St., 1501-03-05 N. 27th St. and 1506 Bailey St.

Structures included a horse shoe shop (1-story), a shed (1-story), a stable (2-story), a wheelwright shop (1-story, and a three-story building.

An 1890 Hexemer insurance map showed the configeration for the three-story building: blacksmith shop on the first floor, a paint shop on the second floor and a third floor "vac" (this may mean "vacant"). All buildings had a composition or gravel roof.

Joseph P. McArthur, Sr. continued to reside at 1503 N. 27th Street during the time he owned and operated his wheelwright shop, with the exception of 1885 when city directories list 2420 Columbia ave. as his address.

April 18, 1885 Philadelphia Inquirer: "U.S. Circuit Court Notes... The suit of Joseph McArthur against the Philadelphia City Passenger Railway Company, brought to recover damages for the making of an alleged infringement of the complainant's patent for the manufacture of snow-sweeping brooms, was put upon trial before Judge Butler, and when court adjourned had not been concluded."

Beginning with the 1887 city directories, the business at Bailey and Jefferson Streets was called "Joseph McArthur Sons" and he was joined by his sons James A. and Thomas N, who both lived at 2450 Columbia Ave. Over the years, the business listed wagons, wagonbuilder, carriages and wheelwrights as their work. Their brother Joseph P., Jr. also lived with them and was a clerk.

On March 15, 1893, James A. McArthur married Anna Currie at 1734 N. 29th St. where they set up their home.

On March 29, 1893, Thomas Neal McArthur, of 2450 Columbia ave married Laura H. Marple, of 2540 Franklin St. They set up marital household at 1720 N. 29th St.

The Rev. Robert Graham was the officiating pastor at both mariages. Both brothers continued their partnership with their father's wheelwright business.

In 1894, Thomas appears in the Iona, N.J. area. hunting bear. "Since the bear excitement down in Franklin township, Thomas McArthur, an old bear hunter, has been out in the woods daily. He is positive one of these animals has been around, and is almost dumbfounded because he cannot get a tail" (Inquirer, July 24, 1894).

In 1898, Joseph P. McArthur, Sr. and his son Thomas N., moved to Iona, Franklin Township, NJ (1) where they were farmers. For two years, the wheelwright business continued at Bailey and Jefferson, by son James A. McArthur who remained in the nerighborhood.

In 1900, the Carter Wagon Company, under Joel T. Carter, took over wheelwright operations at Bailey and Jefferson. However, Joseph P. McArthur, Sr. continued to own the property until his death in 1913. Joel T. Carter continued as the Carter Wagon Co., Ltd. business at this same location as late as 1930.

Despite being the namesake of his father, Joseph P. McArthur, Jr. doesn't seem to have been involved in the wheelwright business. In 1899 he married a woman Elenore, who was born in New Jersey that he probably met on trips to Iona. The 1900 census lists him as a printer living at 1734 Moyamensing Avenue. In December 1905, the dwelling part of 1503 N. 27th Street was advertised for rent verifying that he was gone from there. By 1908, he and his wife were living in Iona, NJ. Their brother James did not leave Philadelphia.

The McArthur family soon suffered misfortune and set-back. In March 1908, sons Thomas and Joseph, Jr. were indicted by a grand jury for election bribery. Thomas had run for Franklin Township committee and was charged with Joseph, Jr. for providing whisky to voters. During the trial, their brother James, who was at that time an iron worker, was in Philadelphia Hospital dying of pneumonia and menengitis. He succumbed May 26, 1908.

On May 30, 1909, Joseph P. McArthur of Iona, NJ advertised the sale of a "5-roomed house, chicken house, pig sty, one acre of land, all planted, one from station, price $700 clear." He was trying to sell the farm.

Five months later, on September 27, 1909, Thomas' wife Laura died at Iona, NJ. In the Fall of 1909, Thomas ran again for Franklin township committee and won.

In 1910 (census), Joseph, Jr. was working as a retail merchant in a grocery store; Thomas was a house carpenter and Joseph, Sr. was living on his own income and living with his son Joseph, Jr. James' widow Annie and daughter Alice went to live with Annie's parents Daniel and Mary Currie. Daniel was a carpet manufacturer in Philadelphia.

In August 1911, Lee T. Halleck, a wealthy Philadelphia manufacturer who was elected Franklin township tax collector (Republican) in 1909, alleged improprieties with his predecessors. At that time, it was remembered that Thomas ran for township committee on a platform to investigate the irregularities that spanned many years prior.

On August 31, 1912, Thomas married Mary "Mame" E Buri, the daughter of a coppersmith, in Berlin, NJ.

The following year, Thomas' political career soured. In February 1913, Thomas McArthur was indicted along with former tax collector Lee T Hallock and the other members of the Franklin Township committee for defrauding the township. It was claimed that these defendants lowered taxes for their friends. The matter died down but the grand jury was recalled in May 1913 when the charges were made public.

These events probably led to the death of Joseph P. McArthur, Sr. on July 25, 1913. Per his will probated in Philadelphia, his properties were sold: 2625-27-29-31-33 Jefferson St., 1501-03-05 N. 27th St., 1506 Bailey St., Ocean City, NJ, Iona, NJ. He also bequethed money to Alice, the orphaned child of his late son James. He entrusted his son Thomas as executor for her portion of the estate. His children erected a large McArthur monument in the family burial lot at Mount Moriah cemetery, Yeadon, Pa.

Thomas and his wife had their first child Mary Elizabeth on August 29, 1913.

On September 22, 1914, Judge Cole in Woodbury, NJ cleared all defendants of all the charges, including conspiracy and malfeasance. Thomas promptly set out to start his life over again. On February 21, 1915, the Inquirer advertised, "TWENTY ACRE FARM WITH GOOD 8-room house, barn and other outbuildings. 25 miles from Philadelphia, on the electric road; must be sold See McArthur Iona, N J."

After selling the farm, Thomas moved back to Philadelphia. His brother John had died in 1911. Thomas chose to settle in Southwest Philly instead of his old neighborhood in North Philadelphia. He lived at 1645 South 54th Street. He returned to working the wheelwright trade, and had two more children (Lucetta G. on December 11, 1916 and Thomas H. on August 27, 1918) with his wife Mary. He died in Philadelphia in 1937.

Joseph, Jr. died at Iona, NJ in 1917. He and wife Eleanore had no children. The 1920 census shows that she went to be a housekeeper for the family of Louis Petit, a garage blacksmith in Penns Grove, NJ. She continued to be his housekeeper as late as 1940.

JOSEPH'S SONS JOHN AND JOSEPH (P., SR.)

Joseph McArthur (b. 1798) is buried with his son John in Lot 133, Sec. 48 at Mt. Moriah. The family of Joseph P. McArthur, Sr. (born 1833) is buried in adjoining Lot 73 of Section 133.

In 1860, Joseph (b. 1833) named a daughter Abigail H., after his late mother Abigail Hamilton. In 1865, John (b. 1835) also named his daughter Abigail.

In 1868, Joseph P. McArthur (b. 1833) settled at 27th and Jefferson Sts. In the 1860s and 1870s, John McArthur (b. 1835) settled at 29th and Oxford Sts.

John McArthur was a laborer, team driver and contractor.
Joseph McArthur was a teamster and wagonbuilder.

Joseph McArthur, Sr. (born 1833) only started using the "Senior" in the directories in the late 1880s when his son Joseph began to appear separately in the directories. By this time, Joseph McArthur (b. 1879) had died.

The obelisk headstone of Joseph (b. 1833 is clearly taller than the Charlton - McArthur headstone. Note that the Charlton stone was erected earlier, in 1888, and was prominent only because it centers on William Charlton, a wealthy local politician. His sister Jane Charlton married John McArthur (b. 1835). No McArthur names appear on the Charlton headstone, but Joseph McArthur (b. 1798) and wife Abigail are buried in the Charlton lot.

Footnotes:

1. Joseph P. McArthur 1913 death certificate.