USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume II > Part 35
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(Il) William (2), eldest son of William ( 1) Tyler and his first wife, Johanna Parson, was born in Walton, county of Somerset, England, 5th of 7th mo., 1680. At the death of his father he was twenty-one years of age, and to him was left the Champney property of four hundred acres. His father had such confidence in him, that in his will it was directed that he have charge of the younger children and he was left executor of the will. As execuitor, he received through Elias Osborne, of England, agent of his uncle, Thomas Par- sons, of Philadelphia, a considerable sum of money from England.
William (2) Tyler, married Mary Abbott, a sister of George Abbott. the emigrant. . \ short time before his death in 1733, he made a will and left the plantation on which he lived to his son, William (3) Tyler, other lands to oth- er sons, moneys to his daughters, and to his wife, Mary, and daughters, Edith and Rebecca, all his personal property, after his funeral expenses and just debts were paid, to be equally divided, also his wife, Mary, one-half of his best mansion house to dwell in, also the keep of a horse and cow as long as she lived there. Children: 1. William (3), born 2nd of 5 mo., 1712, executor of his father's estate and heir to the homestead-he, however, to pay his sisters, Edith and Rebecca, fifty pounds in four years. He married Elizabeth, dangh-
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ter of Joseph and Sarah Thompson, and lived where Allowaystown is now lo- cated. 2. Edith, born 24th of 11th mo., 1714; married Samuel Thompson, who was also an executor of the will of his father-in-law. He was a son of William, and grandson of Andrew Thompson, who came in 1677. 3. Rebecca, born 29th of 3rd mo., 1716, married William, son of Samuel Abbott, of Elsin- borough. 4. Mary, born 16th of Ist mo., 1718. 5. James, born 30th of 12th mo., 1720. He married Martha Simpson, and in 1745 built a brick house on the Alloways Creek homestead. He died, aged eighty years, leaving two chil- dren. James and Ruth. 6. Samuel, of whom further.
(III) Samuel, youngest child of William (2) and Mary (Abbott) Tyler, was born 26th of Ioth mo .. 1723, died at Salem, New Jersey, 26th of II mo., 1778. He was about ten years of age when his father died, and when nearly eighteen he apprenticed himself to Benjamin Acton, of Salem, to learn the tanning business. An indenture found among his papers, dated 1741. signed Samuel Tyler and witnessed by his mother, Mary Tyler, specified that he was to serve four years. Soon after the expiration of his term he sold the Allo- ways Creek farm, inherited from his father, and bought of Rebecca Edgil, of Philadelphia, the property at the upper end of Salem, on what has since been known as Tyler street. In the deed for this purchase, dated 1746, the house is called "a new brick house." Samuel Tyler carried on the tannery business in Salem for many years, living to see all his children grow to maturity.
In 1751 he married Ann, died 23rd of 2nd mo., 1777, daughter of John (2), and granddaughter of John (I) Mason, the emigrant. Children: I. Wil- liam (4). of whom further. 2. John, born 7th of 9 mo., 1755. He located in Salem, New Jersey, where he bought a property on Fourth street, built a dwelling house, in which he and his sister, Mary, resided. He carried on a tanning business all his life and became quite wealthy. Late in life he joined the Society of Friends in whose mode of worship he had been educated. He never married and died in 1825. Said a contemporary at the time of his death : "An honest man is gone." 3. Mary, born IIth of 8th mo., 1756, never married and spent her life of forty-eight years with her brother. John. 4. Samuel, born in 7th mo., 1758; was a farmer, his property adjoining his boy- hood home. He married a widow, Grace Acton, daughter of Peter Ambler, of Mannington ; children: i. Ann, married Mark Smith. ii. Elizabeth, married John Miller, of Gloucester county. New Jersey, several times member of the New Jersey legislature, and a judge of Gloucester county. 5. Rebecca, born in 6th mo .. 1764; she never married and lived in deep retirement with her brother. John : at the death of her aunt, Mary Mason, and of her sister, Mary Tyler, Rebecca inherited a considerable amount of money. She built a house on Broadway. Salem, where she lived several years, then moved to Gloucester county, spending her last years with her niece. Elizabeth Miller ; she died in 1843, aged seventy-nine years.
(IV) William (4), eldest son of Samuel and Ann (Mason) Tyler, was born 3rd of IIth mo., 1752. He was twenty-six years of age when his father died, his mother dying the year previous. According to the law at that time he was, as the eldest son, entitled to all the landed estate. He was not, however, unmindful of his brothers and sisters, but assigned to each a share of their father's property : a maternal aunt, Mary Mason, became housekeeper for the family and all remained at home until the marriage of William (4) Tyler, when the family departed, William continuing at the old home. His first wife, Beulah Ridgway, whom he married in 1792, lived but a short time after their marriage. He married (second) in 1796, Catherine, daughter of Hugh Low, of Philadelphia. Hugh Low was the son of English parents, members of the Society of Friends, who came from England to Philadelphia, when he was a
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child in arnis. William (4) and Catherine lived together for twenty-seven years. He was a man of retiring disposition, of few words, honest and impar- tial in his dealings with his fellows. She was considered a discreet, sensible woman with a warm affectionate disposition ; was devotedly pious, sprightly in character and anxious that her children might be brought up right and that they might become good, useful, worthy citizens. Possessing abundant means and holding assured positions in the regard of their community, their lives were spent in quiet happiness. He died after an illness of two weeks in 1823 in his seventy-second year, she died 23rd of 3rd mo., 1825. Children all born in Salem, New Jersey: 1. John Mason, born 28th of 5th mo., 1797. He was adopted by his uncle, John Tyler, whom he succeeded in business. He mar- ried. in 1832, Dorothea Graham Hoskins, of Radnor, Pennsylvania, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Graham) Hoskins; children: Catherine Low, born 1833, and William Graham Tyler. 2. Hannah Gillespie, born 30th of 8th mo .. 1798 ; married, in 1818, Clement Smith, of Mannington, son of William Smith, and a lineal descendant of John Smith, of Smithfield ; child : William Clement Smith. 3. Hugh Low, of further mention. 4. Mary, born 21st of ftth mo., 180I, a remarkably intelligent and gifted woman : died unmarried. 5. Wil- liam (5), born 16th of 9 mo .. 1806 ; after arriving at manhood he made an ex- tended tour of the western states, located in Philadelphia in 1832 and estab- lished in the leather business, becoming prosperous. He and his sister, Mary, maintained a home until 1847, when he married Ann, daughter of Enos Paint- er, a farmer and large land owner, in Delaware county, Pennsylvania : chil- dren : William Enos, born 1848, died 1873: John J., born in 1851.
(V) Hugh Low, second son of William and Catherine ( Low) Tyler, was born in Salem, New Jersey, 20th of 3rd mo., 1800. He was a prosperous farmer until 1850, when he moved to Delaware county, Pennsylvania ; his wife having inherited a valuable farm from her father at his death. This farm, "Blue Hill." had been originally deeded by William Penn to a Miller, the emi- grant ancestor of William Tyler. The Tyler farm, on which they had lived since marriage, was sold when they moved to Delaware county, that property having been in the Tyler name for more than one hundred years. Hugh Low Tyler lived the life of a gentleman farmer in Delaware county for thirty- three years, dying March 2. 1883, honored and respected. He married, in 1835, Mary Shippen Miller, who died at Blue Hill in November, 1872, daugh- ter of George and Mary ( Levis) Miller, of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, he an extensive landowner. Children: 1. William Levis, born in 1836, died in 1872, unmarried. 2. George M., of whom further. 3. John Edgar, born in 1842, who met his death by fire, his clothes catching afire as he was burning leaves in November, 1800. He married Anna Hicks. Hugh Low Tyler, his wife, and his children were all members of the Society of Friends.
(VI) George Miller, second son of Hugh Low and Mary Shippen ( Mil- ler ) Tyler, was born in Salem, New Jersey, in 1838, died in Media, l'ennsyl- vania. May 14. 1908. He attended private schools in Salem until he was twelve years of age, when his parents moved to the Miller farm. at Blue Hill, Delaware county, Pennsylvania. He there attended public school, the private school of Aaron Ivens in Media. also taking a course at Haverford College, but not graduating. His farm at Blue Hill, in Upper Providence township, claimed his attention during his active years, but he finally retired to Media, his home until death. He served in the Civil War in the Twenty-ninth Regiment Penn- sylvania Volunteer Cavalry. He was an independent in politics, serving his township two terms as school director. He married Emma Weaver, born in Philadelphia, still living ( 1913), daughter of Jacob Weaver, who in company with his brother-in-law, Henry Valkmar, was in the stove business at Third
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and Spruce streets, Philadelphia, for many years. A stove made by this firm and sold in Media years ago, is still in good condition, after forty years service. Jacob Weaver married Caroline Valkmar, who bore him two daughters : Em- ma, married George M. Tyler ; Caroline, died unmarried in 1897. Children of George M. and Emma Tyler: 1. William P., of whom further. 2. Frank, born April 30, 1870. died in the Military Hospital at Santiago, Cuba, October 1, 1898, while in the military service of his country, unmarried. 3. Mary, twin of Frank, now residing at Blue Hill, unmarried. 4. Louellen, born December, 1879, resides at Blue Hill, unmarried.
(VII) William Preston, eldest son of George Miller and Emma (Weav- er) Tyler, was born at Blue Hill, Upper Providence township, Delaware coun- ty, Pennsylvania, April 14, 1868. His early life was spent at the Blue Hill farm, where he attended the public school in Media, then entered Friends Se- lect School at Fifteenth and Race streets, Philadelphia, later attended Short- lidige's Academy in Media, finishing his student life at Swarthmore College. During vacation periods he assisted his father in farming operations, and from 1885 to 1888 was with him in Maryland, where his father owned a farm of three hundred eighty-six acres. In 1888, William P. journeyed to Florida, in- tending to there establish in orange culture. During the years until 1892 he was not actively engaged, except for a period of nine months with the Westing- house Electric Company. In 1892 he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania railroad as elerk in the master carpenter's office, continuing seven years. Since that time he has been inspector of bridges for the same company. Mr. Tyler is a Democrat in politics but has never accepted public office.
He married. November 15, 1902, Sarah L. Evans, born in Chester, Penn- sylvania, daughter of John Hickson Evans, born January 12, 1825, died in Chester, September 17, 1883, a cabinet-maker and undertaker, also a practical farmer and land owner. He married Sarah Lowe, born February 17, 1842, in Chester, died June 23. 1905: children : Virginia, married Samuel Harrison ; Lewis, married Grace Robinson ; Mabel, married William Allen : Charles L., married Grace Pennell : Sarah L., married William P. Tyler : Harry, married Margaret Maris ; Elizabeth, married E. Shirley Borden; Helen, married Charles R. Cotton. Children of William P. and Sarah ( Evans) Tyler : George Miller, born May 10, 1904: John W., October 23, 1906.
The family home of the Tylers is in Media. Pennsylvania, where they have resided since June 22. 1903.
The family history of Colonel Joseph Williamson Hawley,
HAWLEY ex-president of the First National Bank of Media, Pennsyl- vania, is an unusually interesting one, dating back to the end of the seventeenth century. According to the records kept by Benjamin Haw- ley, the ancestor of the Chester county family, we have the following account :
"My Father's Name was Thomas Hawley. Citizen and Gunmaker, London, in the Parish of Olive Old Jewry at the corner next Coleman Street and Lothbury. My mother was Frances Malin of a village called Paulus Perry ( Alias Potters Perry ), Northampton- shire, by whom he had ten children, five sons and five daughters, whose names being worked on a sampler were
Thomas and Anna, Thomas and Mary. Frances, Susannah and Sarah, Joseph and Thomas and little Benjamin. Thomas and Frances had these children ten.
I was born on the 5th day of the 8th month catled October in the year of our Lord 1703, Old Style. My Mother departed this life on the ioth day of the 7th Mo. (called
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September), in the year 1714, old style, in the 52nd year of her age and was buryed in the grave yard belonging to the Parish church of Olive Old Jewry. My Father lived in widowhood until sometime in the Month called January 1717-18. My sister Mary kept his house during his widowhood. He departed this Life in the month aforesaid in the 63rd year of his age and was buryed in the same grave with my mother. My sister Mary being left whole and sole Executrix of his last will and Testament, she put me out apprentice to John Hosey of Channel Row, Westminster, citizen and gunmaker of London, with whom ] staide until the month called July 1722. Then I left him and went on board the Britania, snow, John Head master, bound for Madeira and Philadelphia. We had a long passage and suffered much for want of Provisions and water. We were becalmed some weeks and several died for want. I think it was reckoned when we made the land of Virginia we had not eight pounds of Bread and Beef on board for sixty persons. Our captain went with some hands ashore to seek water and provisions but could get no water to bring off, but shot four hogs, a sheep and hawk, the hawk I had for my share. We buried four at sea, one upon Cape May, another at Philadelphia who died coming up the river. William Passmore and Tertulain Johnson were two of the Passen- gers that I had some knowledge of. I stayed on board till the vessel was loaded and went out, and then myself and two or three more of the servants whose time were not disposed of were put on board another ship belonging to the same owners, where we staid till she was loaded and went out, which was some time in January, 1722-3. Myself and another, which was all that was left of the servants, was sent down to George Ash- bridge's in Goshen, for him to dispose of our time. There I had a severe fit of sickness and kept my bed for two weeks. Mary Ashbridge was as good to me as if I had been her own son. Some time in the 12th month (called February) it pleased the Lord to Restore me to my health again and about the latter end of the first month (called March ) 1723, I came to live with John Willis the younger, in Thornbury Township, where I staid till my 5 years servitude was expired, which was the 12th of the 9th Mo. (called Novem- ber) 1727.
It may be explained that his first leaving home was without the knowledge or consent of his master, and that to obtain his passage he sold his services for five years after his arrival in Pennsylvania. It is even said that he changed his name to avoid detection.
Benjamin Hawley was married on the 5th of March, 1730, to Dinah Ga- biter, daughter of John Gabiter, of the parish of Giles-in-the-Fields, London. In September, 1735, he made a voyage to his native land and spent the winter there, and on his return rented a plantation in the forks of Brandywine (West Bradford), till 1743, when he removed to East Bradford and followed farm- ing until 1757. He next taught school two years in Birmingham, and then went again to England to look after an estate left him by his sister, Susanna Arrowsmith. Returning to America near the close of 1759, he made his home with his son, Benjamin, at times, and taught school at Birmingham in the intervals. His wife died 11 mo. 26, 1761, in her sixty-third year, and on the 20th of 4th month, 1763, he was married at Birmingham Meeting to Catharine Hillborn. He continued to teach school until 1769, when he made a third voyage to the place of his birth. . \ few of the last years of his life were spent in the home of his son, Joseph, in West Bradford, where he died 7 mo. 29, 1782, and was buried at Birmingham Meeting. His widow died 5 mo. 13, 1789, aged ninety-three years and three months.
By his first wife he had six children: 1. Benjamin, born November 18. 1730; died ro mo. 26, 1815: see forward. 2. Mary, born October 5, 1732; married Hugh Kirgan. 3. Joseph, born March 21, 1735: married Elizabeth Spackman : died 11 mo. 21, 1817. 4. William, born September 17, 1737; died 6 mo. 2, 1826; married Hannah Taylor. Elizabeth Evenson and Phebe Hoopes. 5. Susanna, born March 28. 1740; died 7 mo. 21. 1770: married Christopher Nupher. 6. John, born March 11, 1743: probably died young. The births of the above children were entered in a Bible, printed 1599, which was given to the father by his sister, Mary Hawley. February 13. 1735-6. Benjamin Haw- ley was admitted to membership with Friends at Birmingham, 3 mo. 10, 1763. Benjamin Hawley Jr. was admitted into membership at Bradford Meet-
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ing, I mo. 15, 1756, and was married there. 4 mo. 22, 1756, to Mary, daughter of Robert Johnson, of East Bradford, said to have been from England, and Katherine (Knott) Johnson, his wife. They settled on his farm in East Brad- ford, just across the Brandywine from his brother, Joseph. They had four- teen children : I. Caleb, born 4 mio. 23, 1757 ; married Hannah Battin, 5 mo. 30, 1782. 2. Thomas, born 12 mno. 6, 1758; died 4 mo. 17, 1781, unmarried. 3. Joseph, born 6 mo. 6, 1760 ; died 10 mo. 5, 1856 ; see forward. 4. Robert, born 3 mo. 28, 1762 ; married Patience Yearsley, II mo. 21, 1787. 5. Rachel, born 8 mo. 3, 1763; married Arthur McCann. 6. Hannah, born 4 mo. 7, 1766 ; unmarried in 1807. 7. Mary, born 9 mo. 2, 1767 ; married John Ingram. 8. Lydia, horn 2 mo. 28, 1769 ; died 12 mo. 28, 1770. 9. Susanna, born 9 mo. II, 1770; married Elisha Davis, 12 mo. 12, 1793. 10. Tamer, born 5 mo. 2, 1772; married Joshua Hicklin, 12 mo. 17, 1801. II. Rebecca, born I mo. 9, 1774 ; died 3 mo. 18, 1859, unmarried. 12. Dinah, born I mo. 18, 1776; mar- ried John Hicklin, 5 mo. 21, 1801. 13. Benjamin, born 5 mo. 18, 1777 ; died 8 mo. 17, 1857 ; married Deborah Hoopes. 14. Phebe, born I mo. 14, 1779; died 2 mo. 11, 1782. The mother of these children died 4 mo. 27, 1822, in her eighty-ninth year.
Joseph Hawley, the third child, was married, 5 mo. 23, 1798, at Nantmeal Meeting, to Rebecca Meredith, born 8 mo. 10, 1766, died 6 mo. 12, 1851, daugh- ter of Simon and Dinah (Pugh) Meredith, of Coventry. They settled in Uwchlan township, and Joseph died at Lionville in his ninety-seventh year, having been blind for several years. They had children: I. Mary, born 3 mo. 2, 1799: died unmarried, 8 mo. 27, 1821. 2. Simon, born 4 mo. 6, 1801 ; died 7 mo. 26, 1863. He married Mary Lewis. 3. Benjamin, born 4 mo. 13, 1803; died 7 mio. 27, 1850. He married Mary Beitler. 4. Joel, see forward. 5. Jesse, born 2 mo. 14, 1806 ; died 10 mo. 6, 1887. Married Esther Meredith, and had: Jesse G., deceased, who was the proprietor of the Reading "Eagle." 6. Dinah, born 10 mo. 30, 1808; married, 2 mo. 17, 1830, Charles Moore, and had a son : Henry J., who was engineer of the city of Pittsburgh at the time of his death, 1872.
Joel Hawley, son of Joseph and Rebecca (Meredith) Hawley, was born 10 mo. 7, 1804 ; died 4 mo. 8, 1883. After his marriage he was a merchant in Lionville, Uwchlan township. In 1871 he was elected an associate judge of the courts of Chester county for a term of five years, and was the last person to hold that position, the office being abolished by the new constitution. He and his wife retired to West Chester, where their deaths occurred but a few hours apart, and they were buried in one grave at Oaklands Cemetery.
Joel Hawley married, 12 mo. 11, 1833, Catharine B. Williamson, who died 4 mo. 7, 1883. Children : Hannah Mary, who married Levi C. Griffith, of Ox- ford ; Joseph Williamson, see forward ; Samuel W., married Ellen Lewis and lived in Media.
Colonel Joseph Williamson Hawley, son of Joel and Catharine B. (Wil- liamson) Hawley, was born in Lionville, Chester county, Pennsylvania, July 14, 1836. His early hoyhood was passed in the public schools and in the coun- try store owned by his father. His further education was received in the schools of Jonathan Gause and Dr. Franklin Taylor, and at the West Chester Academy, then under the charge of Professor William F. Wyers, Mr. Haw- ley spent one year at each of these schools, and in the interim taught two years in the public schools. At the close of the term with Professor Wyers, the latter offered him the position of assistant teacher, which was accepted, and he remained in that institution until 1860, when he received the appointment of paying teller in the National Bank of Chester county, and at once entered upon the duties of that position. He was thus engaged during the early part of the
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civil war, when President Lincoln called for troops to repel the rebel army which, under General Lee, was advancing into Pennsylvania. His patriotism aroused, lie obtained permission from the board of directors to recruit a com- pany of soldiers to aid in the protection of the state. In ten days the required number of men, one hundred, were enlisted, met at Downingtown, and organ- ized by the election of Joseph W. Hawley as captain, Allen M. Davis as first lieutenant, and Charles W. Roberts as second lieutenant, and immediately afterward took train for Camp Curtin, at Harrisburg, where Captain Hawley and the other officers received their commissions August 12, 1862, from Gov- ernor A. G. Curtin.
Captain Hawley's company was one of the first ten to arrive at Harris- burg, and these were formed into the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regi- ment. Pennsylvania Volunteers. The regiment, under command of Captain Hawley, was transported to Washington, where it became a part of the Army of the Potomac, then in motion to meet General Lee's army moving northward. On August 16, Captain Hawley received from Governor Curtin his commis- sion as colonel, and he led his regiment into the battle of Antietam on Septem- ber 17, 1862, being placed in position at the extreme right of the line. By nine o'clock in the morning the regiment was under a heavy fire in what is known as the "Bloody Cornfield," where it lost many killed and wounded. Among the latter was Colonel Hawley, who received a bullet in his neck, and was carried off the field to the Miller house, but, as that building was within range of the enemy's heavy guns, the wounded were carried back into the woods and finally conveyed to Boonsboro. After being sufficiently recovered, Colonel Hawley was removed to his home in Lionville. The bullet still remains imbedded in one of the bones of his neck. Upon recovery, Colonel Hawley rejoined the regiment at Harper's Ferry, and served with it until it was honorably dis- charged, May 17, 1863.
Returning to his duties with the Bank of Chester county, Colonel Hawley remained but one day. when the governor of the state called for additional troops to repel a second invasion which General Lee was then projecting north- ward. In one day one thousand troops were raised in Chester county and for- warded to Harrisburg the same night. The Twenty-ninth Emergency Regi- ment was formed partly from Delaware county men, and on June 19. 1863. Colonel Hawley was again commissioned colonel. He was assigned to the command of a brigade consisting of his own and two New York regiments, and to him General Couch committed the protection of the bridges of the Penn- sylvania railroad against their threatened destruction. Upon the retreat of Lee from Gettysburg, Colonel Hawley was ordered to follow and harass his rear, and he moved with such celerity that he reached the Potomac the day previous to Lee's crossing, and his troops engaged in a slight skirmish at Clear Spring.
Returning to his home. Colonel Hawley resumed his duties in the bank, where he remained until January 1, 1864. On that date the First National Bank, of West Chester, was organized and, being offered a more liberal salary, he accepted a similar position in this. On February 1, he was invited to assist in the organization of the First National Bank, of Media, which was opened March 21, 1864, with Colonel Hawley as cashier, a position he held until the death of its president. Thomas J. Haldeman, in 1894, when Colonel Hawley was chosen to fill the vacant office. This he did to the great benefit of the in- stitution until his resignation from office October 1, 1906, since which time he has lived a retired life. The name of Colonel Hawley appears among the di- rectors of a number of other institutions, in all of which he has taken an active part. One of his favorite fields of usefulness is the House of Refuge, at Glen
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