USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > History of four famous old families of lower Bucks County. > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Gc 974.801 B85el 2021145
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01144 9706
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyoffourfam00elyw
HISTORY OF FOUR FAMOUS OLD FAMILIES OF LOWER BUCKS COUNTY. Pa.
mm
These Articles Were Written by Warren S. Ely, Librarian of the Bucks County Historical Society, for the Bristol Daily Courier, in January, 1915.
THE HULME FAMILY.
007 78 7882 9
JOHN HULME.
The ancestors of John Hulme, the first president and the virtual founder of the Farmers' Bank of Bucks coun- ty, were among the early settlers in the section of Bucks county in which he lived his eventful and useful life.
The Hulme family is of Norman an- sestry and can be traved back to
Seigneur de Houlme, who crossed the channel from Normandy with William the Conqueror in 1066, and was the an- cestor of Randulphus de Houlme who was the proprietor of the Manor of Houlme in Lancashire, including the site of the city of Manchester, in the 12th century.
2
THE HULME FAMILY.
Sir John deHulme, a great-grandson of Randulphus was knighted by Henry II 1160, and the several proprietors of the Manor of Hulme figure prominent- ly in history until the 16th century.
Sir William de Hulme was knighted for services under the Black Prince in France, and his grandson of the same name is said to have sold the manor in 1489. However, the descendants of the family. spelling the name Hulme, without the French prefix of "de" held land in the vicinity of Hulme Hall until the end of the 17th century.
About 1638 William Hulme, a grand- son of Sir William de Hulme, settled at Tilston in Cheshire. His son, Hugh Hulme, married a daughter of Robert Massaic, and their fourth
son was George Hulme.
So much for English ancestry. The first American ancestor of John Hulme was George Hulme, who with a son of the same name, a youth, and wife, Ellen, came to Pennsylvania from Cheshire, about 1700. Tradition in the family relates that they crossed the Atlantic with William Penn, the great founder, on his second visit to his pro- vince of Pennslycania in 1699,
The family were possibly members of the Society of Friends but there is really no proof of this fact, and the evidence of such' meagre records as we have of George Hulme, Sr., is rather against this theory as his name does not appear on the records of the early meetings of the society as producing a certificate from Friends in England, and the records of the Friends in Cheshire make no mention of him. The probability is that his son, George became a member about the date of his marriage into a family prominent in the society, ten years after his ar- rival. George Hulme, Sr., was a juryman at the Bucks County court held December 11, 1702. His first pur- chase of land that appeared of recard was by deed dated September 12, 1705, when Robert Heaton conveyed to George Hulme, Sr., and George Hulme, Jr., a tract of 600 acres of land in Mid- dletown township, Bucks county. The records of the Common Pleas Court of Bucks County, however, show that George Hulme had possession of this or another tract of land as early as February 20, 1702-3, when he contract- ed, with one, Joshua Beare, for build- ing a barn and splitting 1000 rails. Robert Heaton, the grantor, and his son of the same name received large grants of land in Bucks county, and there being some dispute as to which held the title it is possible that the conveyance was delayed some after the real contract of sale and
delivery of seisin by twig and turf" according to the old custom. George Hulme, the elder, was a grand juror in 1708 and 1709 and appears of record in different capacities of public useful- ness at intervals until his death in 1714. Letters of administration were granted on his estate to his son, George Hulme "ye 26th day of May, 1714," The bond is signed by George Hulme in a good firm hand and oppo- site his name is affixer a red seal of wax impressed with a seal marked with his initials, "G. H." and the name of 'Ellen Hulme" is signed as a wit- ness in a very shaky hand indicative of old age.
The inventory of the goods of the decedent shows that it was taken "in ye hous yt was ohn Norcross'."
George Hulme, the .younger, was probably a minor when he accompan- ied his parents to Pennsylvania, but probably of age when the land was conveyed to him jointly with his fath- er in 1705. On December 2, 1712, 130 acres additional was conveyed to him adjoining the original tract on the north and at about the same date a third tract, and these three tracts he owned at the time of his decease in 1729. The only public office of value we have record of his holding was that of constable of Middletown town- ship, to which he was named by the justices of the county court 1 1710, though he served several times as a juryman and figured as plaintiff in a civil suit in 1711.
On 7th month (September, under the old calendar) 2, 1708, George Hulme, Jr., proposed intentions of marriage with Naomi Palmer, at Middletown Monthly Meeting, or rather sought a certificate to Falls Monthly Meeting in order to proceed in marriage with her at that meeting, and was married to her under the auspices of Falls Month- ly Meeting 10th month (December) 2, 1708. Naomi survived the marriage but about a year as he proposed inten- tions of marriage with her sister, Ruth, 6th month (August) 1710. Mar- riage to a deceased wife's sister was against "the good order maintained among Friends" and the Monthly
Meeting declined to sanction the union. He appealed to the Quarterly Meeting and they on September 7, 1910, sustaining the decision of the Monthly Meeting; the young people took matters in their own hands and got married without the sanction of the meeting.
Jonn Palmer, the father of the two .wives of George Hulme. Jr., came from Cleveland, in Yorkshire, to Bucks county, arriving in ye River Delaware iņ the ship "The Provi-
2021145
THE HULME FAMILY.
3
dence" of Searborough, the 10th of the 9th month (November) 1683 with his wife, Christiana. They settled in Falls township and were the ancestors of the now numerous and prominent families of that name in that section.
George Hulme, Jr., died while his children were yet minors, his will dated June 9th, 1729, probated Janu- ary 8, 1729-30, naming his wife, Ruth, as executrix, gave her the use of his plantation for the maintenance of his children unless it be necessary to sell it for that purpose and the payment of his debts. Ruth Hulme sold the greater part of the land in 1732 and in 1733 married William Shallcross, and survived her first husband upward of forty years.
The children of George Hulme, Jr., were John Hulme and three daugh- ters, Eleanor, Hannah, who married John Merrick, and Naomi who mar- ried Robert Whitacre.
John Hulme, the only son of George and Ruth (almer) Hulme, born and reared in Middletown township. He acquired membership in Falls Monthly Meeting and on March 5, 1744, received a certificate to Bucking- ham Monthly Meeting to marry Mary, daughter of Enoch and Margaret
(Smith) Pearson, both of English Quaker stock, the former a native of Pownal Fee, Lancashire, and the father of Margaret Smith being a na- tive of Yorkshire, and a pioneer set- tler in Wrightstown. - The maternal grandmother of Mary Pearson, Mary (Croasdale) Smith was a passenger with her parents, on the Welcome with William Penn in 1682.
John Hulme and Mary, his wife, moved to Philadelphia in 1759, and re- sided there for four years and then re- turned to Bucks county. settling for a time in Buckingham, where Mary, the wife, died, and on December 20, 1770, John married at Middletown Monthly Meeting Elizabeth Cutler. After re- siding some years in Buckingham and Wrightstown John Hulme removed to Falls where he died at the home of his son, John Hulme, Jr., September 7, 1796. He had six children, three sons John, William and George, and three daughters by his first wife and one son, Benjamin, by his second wife.
Reed nov 15-1978
John Hulme, Jr., the first president of the first bank in Bucks county, was born in Buckingham, August 3, 1717, the change in the calendar in 1752, making his natal day August 13. a certificate from Buckingham Month- ly Meeting dated April 2 1770, and married there May 23, 1770, Rebecca, daughter of William Milnor, and they took up their residence on the farm
belonging to Rebecca's father on the northern line of Penn's Manor, where they resided until the death of William Milnor in 1785. In 1780 he purchased a tract of about 50 acres in the Manor and in 1783 and 1784 purchased two ad- ditional tracts making an aggregate of about 165 acres. This farm was inter- sected by the Trenton Post Road near the present Wheat Sheaf Hotel. It does not appear that he lived on these tracts, however, though he retained title to them for several years after his removal to Hulmeville.
On December 11, 1782, he purchased a farm of 147 acres lying between the farm of his father-in-law, William Milnor and the Bristol and Fallsington road extending almost into the village of Fallsington, part of the plantation on which Phineas Pemberton, the first County Clerk and sometimes termed the "father of Bucks county" lived and died.
Here John and Rebecca Hulme took up their residence on the death of Wil- liam Milnor, it having previously been occupied by his father, and lived there until 1796; in the meantime pur- chasing two small adjoining tracts and selling off some small lots adjoining the village of Fallsington, leaving his farm to contain 154 1-2 acres, when on April 1, 1796, he transferred it to Josh- ua Woolston in exchange for the "Milford Mills" at what is now Hulme- ville and 6834 acres of land, 50 acres of which lay across the Neshaminy in Bensalem township, together with two lots of 61-2 acres in Bristol township.
The Milford Millls had been for years one of the important and promi- nent milling properties in lower Bucks, but there was no other industry and no village surrounding it. All this was transformed by John Hulme and his family. Possessed of an indomit- able energy and progressive ideas in reference to business he soon had a thriving vllage about him. At the time of the removal of the family to Milford three of his sons, William, Samuel and George were of age; an- other son, Isaac was 18, and the re- maining son, Joseph was 12 years of age, and within a few years of his re- moval there his daughter, Mary, mar- ried Joshua C. Canby, and all these contributed to build up the various in- dustries established by John Hulme in the new town which soon took his name.
William, the oldest son, was a build- er and assistant to his father in the management his large business, eventually becoming the manager of a tannery and fulling mill established by his father on an additional tract pur-
4
THE HULME FAMILY.
chased of John Praul; other tracts were purchased later embracing all or the present borough of Hulmeville.
George was the miller and was as- sisted by his younger brother, Isaac, who eventually became his partner. The son-in-law, Joshua C. Canby, orig- inally an apprentice under William Hulme, was a coach maker and a large coach shop was founded for him. Even a tavern was erected, but it was stipulated that no intoxicating liquor was to be sold. John Hulme himself was the merchant and trader being as- sisted by his son, Joseph.
Under these circumstances Hulme- ville was a humming town of industry second to none in Bucks county before the end of the first decade of the nine- teenth century.
In 1809 the Honorable Josiah Quincy, of Massachusetts, on his way to at- tend Congress at Washington, stopped over night at Hulmeville and was en- tertained by John Hulme. Mrs. Quin- cy, who accompanied her husband, made a very flattering entry in her journal concerning John Hulme stat- ing that he was "one of the most prac- tical philosophers" she had ever met, and "his virtues proved him truly wise." He long refused to have a pub- lic house of entertainment established in the town, entertaining . travelers whom necessity required to stop in the town at his own house, and when public house was opened the deed stipulated that no spiritous liquors should be sold on the premises.
Collateral to and supplementing his activities at Hulmeville John Hulme owned and operated the farms in Bris- tol township known as "Walnut Grove" and "Lansdowne,' now owned by Mrs. William H. Grundy and the Lawrence Johnson estate. These prop- erties located on tide water possessing extensive wharfs and warehouses af- forded the necessary shipping facilities for the manufacturing and commercial activities of Hulmeville.
His public activities embraced the office of Justice of the Peace held by
him 1789 to 1796, also member of Penn- sylvania Assembliy 1806, 7, 8, 9, 10.
1814 witnessed the passage of the first Banking Act for Pennsylvania, and it was but natural when the ques- tion of establishing a bank for Bucks county was being considered that John Hulme should be found foremost in this movement and upon its incorpora- tion be chosen its president, and his hive of industry, the site for its loca- tion. He retained the presidency of the bank from 1814 until his death.
John Hulme died December 27, 1817, in his 71st year, having been for a quarter of a century one of the most prominent, enterprising, successful and respected business men of his nat- ive country. His wife Rebecca died April 11, 1816.
He was succeeded in the presidency of the bank by his son, Joseph Hulme, who held the position until July 3d, 1821.
William Hulme, the eldest son, born July 10, 1771, died September 8, 1809, before his father. He married Rachel Knight and left two children, Joseph R. Hulme and Rebecca, who became the wife of Edmund Grundy, and the grandmother of Joseph R. Grundy.
Samuel was a farmer in Bristol township and not vitally interested in Hulmeville industries. He has descen- dants living in Lower Bucks. He died in 1834.
George Hulme born in 1772, removed to Burlington county, New Jersey and die there about 1845. At that time he had a son George residing in St. Louis, Mo., and another son, James S. Hulme in Burlington county. Isaac was living on property in - Bristol township belonging to
his brother George in 1845.
Rebecca, the youngest Taughte :: of John Hulme, married George Harri- son, who was elected to the position of cashier of the Farmers' Bank of Bucks County, at its organization, and hier descendants remained prominently identified with the borough of Hulme- ville for three generations.
-
THE TAYLOR FAMILY.
ANTHONY TAYLOR.
The Taylor family which furnished three presidents of the Farmers' Na- tional Bank of Bucks county, had its first prominence in colonial times in the . province of West Jersey just across the Delaware from the town in which the later generations of the family were so prominently identified with public affairs. Two members of the family were identified with the founding and settling of the Province of West Jersey, later known as West New Jersey, and with the province of
East and West Jersey forming the present state of New Jersey.
William Taylor of the parish of Dore, County of Derby, England, pur- chased a large share in the lands of West Jersey held by William Penn, George Hutchinson, and others as creditors and guarantors of Edward Byllynge, and in the year 1677, trans- ferred to his brother Samuel Taylor, also of Dore, a one thirty-second share therein.
Samuel Taylor, the founder of the family in America, sailed from Bris-
2
THE TAYLOR FAMILY.
tol, England, in the fly-boat "Martha" in 1677 with a number of other share holders and adventurers into the American wilderness, and they landed opposite the site of Bristol, where Burlington now stands. On the voy- age the transfer papers were lost and George Hutchinson from whom the purchase was originally made exe- cuted a deed under date of 1681 to Samuel Taylor for his share in the Proprietary Lands which made him one of the proprietors of the Province of West Jersey. He locatd in Chest- erfield township, Burlington county, where part of the many thousands of acres he was entitled to was laid out to him, the balance being surveyed to him at different intervals and in other parts of the Province.
Samuel Taylor was a member of the Proprietaries Council or govern- ing body of the province and promin- ently identified with public affairs for many years. He married in 1686 Susanna Horsman, and died in 1723, leaving five sons, Samuel. John,
George, William and Robert, to whom his lands descended, and four daughters who inter-married with prominent families of New Jersey.
Robert Taylor, the youngest son was named as executor of the father's will and inherited a large part of the real estate, including a tract of 500 acres known as Brookdale Farm on which he lived until his death in 1758, and which descended to his son Anthony and remained in the tenure of his descendants for several genera- tions and until quite recently.
Anthony Taylor, son of Robert, re- sided on the Brookdale farm until his death in 1785. He was an ardent patriot and rendered loyal service to the cause of national liberty during the Revolution. He married Anna Newbold, daughter of Michael and Susanna (Schooley) Newbold; grand- daughter of Michael and Rachel (Clayton) Newbold; and great grand- daughter of Michael Newbold of Sheffield Park, Yorkshire, another of the original proprietors of West Jer- sey, who settled in Springfield town- ship, Burlingtin county in 1678 and dieć there in 1693.
Anthony Taylor, Jr., third son of Anthony and Anna (Newbold) Taylor, was the first Pennsylvanian of the family. He was born at Brookdale Farm in 1772 and when a boy was placed with John Thompson a well known and prominent merchant of Philadelphia to learn the mercantile business. On attaining his majority and having acquired a knowledge of the business, he found a partnership
with Thomas Newbold, another Jer- sey boy who had undertaken a busi- ness career in the "City of Brotherly Love," and they engaged extensively in the East India trade under the firm name of Taylor and Newbold. As a result of native business ability and close application to business the firm wes very successful and in 1810 Anthony Taylor retired from active business pursuits, settling at Sunbury, his country seat in Bristol township, Bucks county, where he had spent his summers for several years prior to his retirement. He later purchased Richelieu, Belmont, and several other large tracts in lower Bucks county and at his death in 1837 was probably the largest land owner in Bucks coun- ty. He was one of the original di- rectors and became president of the Farmers' National Bank Bucks County in 1823 and served until 1834 when he was succeeded by John Pax- son.
Anthony Taylor married in 1802 his distant cousin, Mary Newbold, daughter of Caleb Newbold, of Springfield township, Burlington county, New Jersey, a granddaughter of Thomas Newbold and his wife Edith Coate and great granddaughter
of Michael and Rachel (Clayton) Newbold before mentioned as the grandparents of his mother.
His partner Thomas Newbold was his brother-in-law, having married successively his two sisters, Maud and Ann Taylor, daughters of .Anthony Taylor, Sr., and his wife Anne New- bold. He was also his cousin, being a son of William and Susanna (Stev- enson) Newbold, and grandson of Thomas and Edith (Coate) Newbold. The Newbolds were among the most prominent families of New Jersey, many of them serving in the Assembly and other high positions of honor, as have the later descendants of the family who have found homes in Bucks and Philadelphia counties.
Anthony and Mary (Newbold) Tay- lor were the parents of 11 children, the seventh of whom was Honorable Caleb Newbold Taylor, well known to many of the older residents of the county. He was born at Sunbury, Bristol township, July 27, 1814, and for half a century, enjoyed promin- ence in business circles and wielded an influence second to none in Bucks county at any period. He was long a prominent and aggressive figure in the councils of the Whig and Repub- lican parties and 3 times the candi- date of the former and twice of the latter for Congress from the Bucks and Lehigh district, being twice elect-
3
THE TAYLOR FAMILY.
ed in 1866 and 1868. He amassed a large estate and at one time owned 3000 acres of land in Bucks county. He became president of the Farmers National Bank in 1874 and served un- til his death in 1887.
"Cale" Taylor, as he was familiarly known to thousands, was an unique character, eccentric to a marked de- gree, careless of dress, and personal appearance, always alert and aggres- sive, strong in his likes and dislikes, a warm and generous friend and an intensely bitter enemy; he is remem- bered by many as a living and vital force in public and business affairs. He was never married.
Dr. Robert Taylor, the eldest brother of Caleb N., and father of the present president of the Farmers Na- tional Bank, was born in Philadelphia in 1813 but was reared at Sunbury, Bristol township. He studied medi- cine and located in Philadelphia later moving to Burlington county, New Jersey, and later in life to Sunbury, his old childhood home in Bucks county where he died August 1872. He married Elizabeth Jones, daughter of Benjamin Jones, of Philadelphia, and a great grandaughter of John Jones, a large land owner in Bucks county in colonial times. She died at Bristol, January 29, 1898, aged eighty years. Dr. Robert and Elizabeth (Jones) Taylor were the parents of five children, Benjamin J., Captain Anthony, Robert, Frances and Alice.
Captain Anthony Taylor, the sec- ond son, born in Burlington county, New Jersey, October 11, 1837, was a distinguished officer of the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, in which he enlisted as a private August 18, 1862. and rose step by step through the several sub-ordinate positions to the rank of Captain. He had command of his company in many notable en- gagements in the Civil War, in the latter part of which he served on the staff of General Rosecrans as aide de camp. He was awarded a medal of honor by the United States Congress for distinguished bravery. He died in Philadelphia May 21, 1894. His wife was a daughter of Lawrence and
Mary (Winder) Johnson, of a family prominent in the business circle of Philadelphia, having a country home in Bristol township for three genera- tions.
Benjamin Jones Taylor, the present president of the Farmers' National Bank, was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, and is the eldset son of the late Dr. Robert Taylor, and his wife, Elizabeth Jones. He was edu- cated in Philadelphia at the Friends' Select School and at the Episcopal Academy and after receiving a thor- ough business training was engaged in the mercantile business in Phila- delphia for eight years. When Penn- sylvania was threatened with inva- sion by the Confederate troops in 1863, he served for three months in the . "Grey Reserves" and witnessed the shelling of Carlisle by General Fitzhugh Lee. He also saw service in Tennessee and Mississippi as a volun- teer on the staff of different com- manders.
He was an heir of his uncle Caleb N. Taylor, and retired from active business on the latter's death and made his residence at Sunbury farm. He was for many years a director of the Farmers' National Bank of Bucks county and became its president in 1894, succeeding Pierson Mitchell, and representing the third genera- tion of his family to serve in that honorable position.
Mr. Taylor inherited the sterling business traits common to his family for three generations, and has fre- quently been called upon to transact business as agent for
others, as trustee as well as in the management of the vast business interests of the large family estate, and the interests. of the bank and a number of local en- terprises in which he is interested. He and his sister Alice are owners of the Sunbury farm of 400 acres which has been the family home for four generations, but during the summer months most of his time is spent at New Jersey seaside resorts where he also has large interests. He is a member of H. Clay Beatty Post, G. A R .. and of a number of fraternal and social organizations.
THE BURTON FAMILY.
ANTHONY BURTON.
With the Burton family we have not only the early suporters of the Bristol Bank but the originators of the town and borough of Bristol itself.
Anthony Burton, the emigrant an- cestor of the family which has been prominently identified with the affairs of the lower part of Bucks county down to the present time, through six generations of the family and over two and a quarter centuries of time, was a native of England and a land- holder of Bristol as early as 1684. In the old Register of Ear Marks in the Prothonotary's office of Bucks county,
made by Phineas Pemberton, the first County Clerk of Bucks eounty, 1684, is registered the ear marks of cattle of Anthony Burton. He was then quite a young man but as here- after shown, deeply interested in the development of that section of
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.