Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Vol. I, Part 22

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed; Jordan, Wilfred, b. 1884, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York, NY : Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 710

USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Vol. I > Part 22

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Charles Parker Rawle, b. Oct. 8, 1872, d. Oct. 16, 1872;

Francis William Rawle, b. Sept. 22, 1873; educated at Phillips Academy, Exeter, and Williams College, Mass., and received degree of LL.B. in 1898 from both Harv. and Univ. of Pa .; was admitted to Philadelphia Bar, and is associated in the practice of his profession with his cousin William Brooke Rawle, in the "Rawle Law Offices," established in 1783. M. April 19, 1904, Harriet Weld Corning, dau. of Erastus Corning, Esq., of Albany, N. Y., and they have issue :- Francis William Rawle, Jr., b. March 16, 1905;

Edward Peace Rawle, b. May 4, 1876;

Edith Rawle, b. August 31, 1878;

Louisa Rawle, b. July 30, 1879.

FRANCIS RAWLE, b. Aug. 7. 1846; m. Margaretta C. Aertsen; of whom presently.

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FRANCIS RAWLE, youngest son of Francis William and Louisa ( Hall) Rawle, born at Freedom Forge, Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, August 7, 1846, entered Harvard University, and graduated with honors, class of 1869. The same year he entered the office of his cousin William Henry Rawle, of Philadelphia, as a student-at-law, spent the following year at Harvard Law School, where he re- ceived the degree of LL. B. in 1871, and November 11, 1871, was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar, where he has since practiced. In 1883 and again in 1897 he edited new editions of Bouvier's Law Dictionary, the standard work of its kind, much of which he rewrote. In his earlier professional life he wrote various articles for legal periodicals, and in 1885, prepared and read before the American Bar Association a paper on "Car Trust Securities".

In 1876 he became librarian of Library of the Law Association of Philadel- phia, succeeding John William Wallace, James T. Mitchell, now Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, Samuel Dickson and George Tucker Bispham. He held this position until 1894, building up the library into a foremost place among law libraries. In 1878, at the organization of American Bar Association at Saratoga Springs, he was elected Secretary of the Conference, and afterwards Treasurer of the Association, to which office he was re-elected every year thereafter until 1902, when he became president of the Association, for the year 1902-3, an office held by no one but for a single year. During these twenty-five years of service, and an additional year, he was also a member of the Executive Committee. He edited and prepared the annual reports of the Association for these twenty-six years.

In 1887, he was a delegate from the American Bar Association to the London Conference of the Association for the Reform and Codification of the Laws of Nations, and was made a member of its executive committee. In 1890, and again in 1896, he was elected Overseer of Harvard University, one of the gov- erning boards, serving from 1900 to 1902. In 1900, he attended the banquet given by the English Bar to the American Bar, and proposed the regular Toast to the Bench and Bar of England.

Francis Rawle married, November 25, 1873, Margaretta, daughter of James M. Aertsen, and his wife Harriet Romeyn Smith, daughter of Jonathan Smith and granddaughter of Col. Persifer Frazer.

Issue of Francis and Margaretta (Aertsen) Rawle :-

James Aertsen Rawle, b. Aug. 29, 1874, in Philadelphia; d. at Bay Head, N. J., Aug. 31, 1893; educated at Groton School, and at time of his death was a student at Harv., class of 1899;

Francis Rawle, b. Feb. 19, 1876; educated at Groton School and Harv. class of 1900; now residing in Philadelphia ;

Persifer Frazer Rawle, b. in Philadelphia, February 7, 1878, d. there, Feb. 22, 1882;

Russel Davenport Rawle, b. in Philadelphia, Feb. 15, 1882, d. at Cape May Point, N. J., Aug. 5, 1882 ;

Henry Rawle, (bapt. Harry Romeyn Rawle), b. in Philadelphia, Oct. 8, 1883 ; educated at Groton School; in 1901 became a midshipman in class of 1905, at the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. ; graduated there Feb. 1905, and was assigned to the battle- ship "West Virginia," afterwards to the "Connecticut;" resigned, Aug. 1906, and en- tered upon a manufacturing career in Philadelphia.

SAMUEL RAWLE, second son of Francis Rawle of Paramaribo, Surinam, South America, by his wife Margaret Fickes, an account of whom is given in the pre- ceding pages, was born at Paramaribo, about the year 1736. He married there,

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but the name of his wife is unknown to the writer of these lines. He had two children, Benjamin and Eleanor.

ELEANOR RAWLE, only daughter of Samuel Rawle, married, July 3, 1794, Anthony Chardon, of French extraction, and had eight children, viz. :-

Eleanor, m. George A. Bicknell, of Philadelphia, and had two daus .;

Hannah Chardon;

Anthony Chardon, Jr.

Francis Augustus Chardon, b. Nov. 6, 1800;

Samuel Rawle Chardon, b. Sept. 4, 1802; m. March 19, 1823, Eliza Kelly, dau. of John Kelly of Kelly's Landing, Salem Co., N. J .;

Adelaide Chardon, b. Aug. 8, 1807;

George William Chardon, b. Feb. 3, 1810;

MATILDA CHARDON, m. Sept. 26, 1833, William G. Heyl.

GEORGE A. HEYL, son of William G. and Matilda (Chardon) Heyl, m., Oct. 24, 1861, Kate Thomas Field, and had issue :

Juliet Field Heyl.

BENJAMIN RAWLE (son of Francis Rawle Junior and Martha Turner, emi- grant), m. Hannah, dau. of William Hudson (3d) of Philadelphia and Jane Evans, and had issue as follows :-

Robert Turner Rawle, d. s. p .; William Hudson Rawle, d. inf .;

Rebecca Rawle, m. Jacob Ridgway of Philadelphia, Merchant, and had :---

Susan Ridgway, m. (first) Thomas Roach; (second) J. Rhea Barton M. D. (his 2d wife) ; d. s. p .;

Phoebe Ann Ridgway, m. James Rush, M. D .; d. s. p., 1857;

Benjamin Ridgway, d. unm .;

John Jacob Ridgway of Paris, France, m. Elizabeth, dau. of Richard Willing of Philadelphia, Merchant, and had issue :---

Emily Ridgway m. Etienne, Marquis de Ganay of France, and had issue :- Marguerite Elizabeth de Ganay, m. Arthur O'Connor, and had issue :- Brigitte O'Connor ; Elizabeth O'Connor.

Charles Anne Jean Ridgway Marquis de Ganay m. Bertha and had issue; Jacques Andre Comte de Ganay m. Mdlle le Marois ;

Charlotte Gabrielle Madeleine de Ganay, m. Thierry Prince d'Henin ; Gerard de Ganay m. Jeanne Schneider ;

Guillaume Charles de Ganay.

Charles Henry Ridgway, m. Ellen Monroe, and has issue : Richard Willing Ridgway ; Charles Ridgway ; Daughter. Caroline Ridgway, d. unm.

BIDDLE FAMILY

WILLIAM BIDDLE, pioneer ancestor of the Biddle family of Philadelphia, was born near London, England, about 1630, left that city July, 1681, and came to New Jersey. He is said to have been an officer in the Parliamentary army during the civil war of England, but soon after its close joined the Society of Friends. His name appears among the list of persons imprisoned by Mayor Brown, 1660-1, for attending "non-conformist" meetings. The names of William, Esther and Thomas Biddle appear on another list of Quakers sent to Newgate prison. Esther Biddle, possibly his mother, an eminent Friend, suffered persecution for "Truth's sake" at various periods; Thomas Biddle was a cousin of William Biddle, and either accompanied or followed him to New Jersey and was mentioned in his will probated 1712, and has descendants in New Jersey. William Biddle married, at Bishopgate street Friends' Meeting, 12mo. 7, 1665, Sarah Kemp, born 1634, died in New Jersey, 2mo. 27, 1709, in her seventy-fifth year. Their children, all born at London, were as follows :-

Elizabeth, b. June 25, 1668, d. in childhood;

WILLIAM, b. Dec. 4, 1669, d. Mount Hope, N. J., 1743, m., 1695, Lydia Wardell; of whom presently ;

John, b. Dec. 27, 1670, d. in childhood;

Joseph, b. Feb. 6, 1672, d. in childhood;

Sarah, b. Dec. 2, 1678, d. Aug. 2, 1705, Phila., Pa., m. (first), Oct. 21, 1695, William Righton, and (second), March 14, 1703, Clement Plumstead of Phila. Left no issue.

William Biddle (I), purchased January 23, 1676, of William Penn, Gawen Lawrie, Nicholas Lucas and Edward Byllynge, a one-half share in the lands of West Jersey, and became therefore one of the Proprietaries of that Province. His later purchases, as shown by the early records of the Province, were as fol- lows : April 1, 1677, of Thomas Hutchinson et al., one-fourth share. April 29, 1678, of Nicholas Bell, one-sixth share. August 8, 1684, of Joseph Helmsley, one- fourth share. August 21, 1684, of Samuel Clay, one-sixth share. May 20, 1686, of Thomas Hutchinson, one-fourth share. November 10, 1691, of the Exrs. of Anna Salter, one-sixth share. Making in all one and three-quarter shares of the sixteen shares into which the province was divided, by the original purchasers, entitling him to 43,000 acres.

William Biddle and his family, which consisted of his wife Sarah and two children, William, aged eleven years, and Sarah, aged two and a half years, on their arrival in New Jersey, probably at once took up their residence at the site of the town of Burlington, where he occupied a house as late as September 26, 1682. December 17, 1682, there was surveyed to him in right of his purchase, by Thomas Revell, Surveyor General, the island called "Sepasswick" or "Sepassinck", later known as "Biddle's Island", in the Delaware, "over against Burlington", containing 278 acres, and, January 16, 1681-2, 500 acres on the Delaware, "over against Seppassinck Island." On this plantation, which he named "Mount Hope", he took up his residence, and it remained the home of his descendants for many generations. It was situated about midway between Burlington and Bordentown.

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He and his wife were prominent members of the Society of Friends, and Quar- terly Meetings of the Society were held at his house at "Mount Hope." He was a Justice of Burlington County from 1682 until his death; was one of the ten members of Governor's Council, 1682, re-elected 3mo. 15, 1683; one of trustees selected by the Proprietors to conduct the business of the Proprietorship, Feb- ruary 14, 1687, and regularly re-elected thereafter, serving as President of the Board of Trustees, 1706-7; Representative in General Assembly of the Province at Perth Amboy, 1703. He died at "Mount Hope" in 1712, leaving by will dated June 23, 1711, probated March 3, 1711-12, his plantation and island to his son William and his wife Lydia for life, then to their children, as well as 1,500 acres yet to be taken up in New Jersey.

WILLIAM BIDDLE, only surviving son of William and Sarah (Kemp) Biddle, was, like his father, prominent in the affairs of West Jersey ; he was appointed by the Council of Proprietors on November 2, 1703, to treat with the Indians for lands above the Falls, and at his father's death inherited 12,905 acres of land in the Lotting Purchase. He died intestate about 1743. He had married, about 1695, Lydia Wardell, granddaughter of Eliakim Wardell, who purchased lands at Nevesink of the Indians, in 1666, was Sheriff of Monmouth county, 1683, mem- ber of House of Deputies, 1688, and member General Assembly, 1692; great- granddaughter of Thomas Wardell, French Huguenot, who settled in New Eng- land about the middle of seventeenth century. She was a member of the Friends' Meeting at Shrewsbury.

Issue of William and Lydia (Wardell ) Biddle :-

WILLIAM, b. about 1697, d. Phila. 1756, m. April 3, 1730, Mary Scull, of whom pres- ently ;

Elizabeth ;

Sarah;

Penelope, m. Whitehead ;

Joseph, m. (first), Lydia Howard; (second), Sarah Rogers. Remained in N. J .; JOHN, b. 1707, m. March 3, 1736, Sarah Owen, of whom later.

WILLIAM BIDDLE, eldest son of William and Lydia (Wardell) Biddle of "Mount Hope", New Jersey, with his youngest brother John, removed to Phila- delphia prior to 1730, and engaged in mercantile business there. He met with many reverses financially, mainly through endorsements for friends ; and, though inheriting a large fortune, lost practically all of it prior to his death, 1756. He married, April 3, 1730, Mary, born Aug. 2, 1709, died May 9, 1789, daughter of Nicholas Scull, Surveyor General of Pennsylvania, by his wife, Abigail Heap.

Nicholas Scull was the eldest of six sons of Nicholas Scull who came to Penn- sylvania in the ship "Bristol Merchant," arriving at Chester, 9mo. 10, 1685, and is supposed to have been a native of Ireland. The progenitor of the family was Sir John Scull, a Norman, one of twelve Norman knights mentioned in Burke's "Landed Gentry", who accompanied Newmarch into North Wales, and eventually conquered that country. At an early period one branch of the family located in the Southeastern part of county Cork, Ireland, and gave the name to the town and parish of Scull, from whence Nicholas Scull Sr. is supposed to have accom- panied Major Jasper Farmer to Pennsylvania. Nicholas Scull, the Surveyor General, was born near Philadelphia, 1687. He is said to have been a pupil and assistant to Thomas Holm, Penn's first Surveyor General. He was at least

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engaged in surveying the wild lands on the frontiers of Pennsylvania at an early date, while still a very young man, and by frequent contact with the different Indian tribes, learned the language of a number of them, and frequently acted as interpreter and messenger in the early treaties negotiated with the aborigines by the Governors and Council. He and his brother John Scull were deputed by Council to deliver match coats and other presents to the Indians at Conestogo, and officiated as interpreters there May 26, 1728. In 1730, he was directed to proceed to the Minnisinks, in the present limits of Monroe county, to ascertain the extent and condition of the Holland settlement there and make report to the Council. He participated in the Indian Walk of 1737, and made a deposition in reference thereto and the attitude of the Indians in reference to it, before the Provincial Council twenty years later, January 25, 1757. He was elected Sheriff of Philadelphia, 1744, and re-commissioned 1745-6. January 10, 1748, he suc- ceeded William Parsons as Surveyor General of the Province and filled that position until his death, 1761. A large number of his surveys are on file in the Archives of the State, and he executed a number of maps of the new country laid out by him. He is buried in the family burying ground near Scheetz's Mill, White Marsh. He married, 1708, Abigail Heap, who died May 21, 1753, aged sixty-five years. They had issue :-

MARY, b. Aug. 2, 1709, d. May 9, 1789, m. William Biddle ; Nicholas, b. Oct. 26, 1711, m. Oct. 17, 1732, Rebecca Thompson ; Elizabeth, b. April 2, 1714;

Edward, b. Oct. 26, 1716, lived at Reading, Berks county, Pa .;

Jasper, b. Dec. 3, 1718, also lived at Reading; John, b. Jan. 28, 1721, d. March 21, 1769;

Abigail, b. Dec. 28, 1724, m. - Biddle;

Ann, b. Nov. 13, 1727;

James, b. Nov. 22, 1730.

MARY SCULL BIDDLE, left a widow in 1756, with six children, the youngest not four years of age, and without any fortune, with the assistance of her eldest son James, already grown to manhood, and her fourth child, Edward, who was eighteen years of age at his father's death, succeeded in educating her children in a manner befitting the high and honorable positions they were destined to fill, and lived to see them hold positions of trust and honor that have made their name an honored one in the Commonwealth which they aided so materially in founding. She died at the residence of her son James Biddle Esq., in Philadelphia, May 9, 1789, in her eighty-first year.

Issue of William and Mary (Scull) Biddle :-

JAMES, b. Feb. 18, 1731, d. June 15, 1797, m. Frances Marks;

Nicholas, b. 1733, d. inf .;

LYDIA, b. 1734, m. Capt. William McFunn, of the Royal Navy ;

JOHN, b. 1736, d. in Nova Scotia, m. Sophia Boone;

EDWARD, b. 1738, d. Sept., 1779, m. Elizabeth Ross;

CHARLES, b. Dec. 24, 1745, d. 1821, m. Hannah Shepard ;

Abigail, b. 1747, d. 1765;

Mary, b. 1749, d. inf .;

NICHOLAS, b. 1750, killed at loss of the "Randolph," Feb. 1778; of whom later;

Thomas, b. 1752, removed to Georgetown, S. C .; studied medicine with Dr. Thomas Bond, took degree of M. D. at the university, and located at Georgetown, S. C.

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BIDDLE

JAMES BIDDLE, eldest son of William and Mary (Scull) Biddle, born February 18, 1731, studied law with John Ross at Philadelphia, and located in Reading, Berks county, practicing law in the counties of Berks, Lancaster and Northamp- ton. Removed to Philadelphia 1750, and became Deputy Prothonotary, and later Deputy Judge of Admiralty Court. In December, 1776, he returned to Reading, and took up the practice of law. In 1788, was commissioned Prothonotary of Philadelphia Courts, and returned to that city, where he resided the remainder of his life. He was commissioned President Judge of the First Judicial District, 1791, and filled that position until his death, June 15, 1797. He was a man uni- versally loved and respected by all with whom he came into close acquaintance. He married, June 30, 1753, Frances Marks, and had issue :-

Joseph, lost at sea 1780; William, lost at sea in 1780; Marks John, b. 1765, m. 1793, Jane Dundas; Lydia, m. James Collins; Elizabeth, m. George Eckert.

Of the above children, Marks John Biddle commenced the practice of law at Reading, Berks county, Pennsylvania, 1788, and became a prominent lawyer there, was member of State Senate and Prothonotary of the county. He married Jane Dundas, 1793, and they had issue :-

James Dundas Biddle, d. 1822, m. 1815, Frances Wood ;

Hannah Biddle, m. first, Jonathan D. Good, and second, Abraham Adams; Frances Dundas Biddle, m. Joseph Priestly ; Lydia Biddle, m. Judge David F. Gordon, of Berks county ;

Elizabeth Biddle, m. Edward Anderson, and d. 1876;

Jane Dundas Biddle, d. unm. 1849; Ann Biddle, d. unm. 1882.

LYDIA BIDDLE, eldest daughter of William and Mary (Scull) Biddle, married, December 3, 1752, Capt. William McFunn, of the Royal Navy, and later Gover- nor of the Island of Antigua, West Indies. He died, 1767-8, leaving two children ; Mary, who married Collison Read of New Jersey, and William, who, at the wish of his uncle Edward Biddle, changed his name after the death of his father to William McFunn Biddle. He married, 1797, Lydia Spencer, who removed to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1827, and died there 1858, aged ninety-two years.

Issue of William McFunn and Lydia (Spencer) Biddle :-

Lydia Spencer Biddle, m. Samuel Baird: Valeria Biddle, m. Charles B. Penrose; William McFunn Biddle, Jr., m. Julian Montgomery ; Mary E. D. Biddle, m. Major George Blaney, U. S. A .;

Edward Biddle, m. Julia H. Watts, and had issue, David W., Lydia Spencer, Charles Penrose, Frederick W., Edward W., and William McFunn.

JOHN BIDDLE, second surviving son of William and Mary (Scull) Biddle, was Deputy Quartermaster in the Provincial army, in Gen. Forbes' campaign against Fort Du Quesne, and was later appointed Collector of Excise in Berks county. He was a royalist during the Revolution, sought refuge with the British Army at New York, 1777-8, and later fled to Nova Scotia, where he died. His prop-

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erty in Pennsylvania was confiscated. His family returned to Berks county, Pennsylvania, after his death.

EDWARD BIDDLE, third son of William and Mary (Scull) Biddle, entered the Provincial army at the age of sixteen, and was commissioned Ensign of Lieut. Col. Weiser's company, December 3, 1757, promoted to Lieutenant February I, 1759, and Captain in Col. Hugh Mercer's Battalion February 24, 1760. He was at the capture of both Fort DuQuesne and Fort Niagara. He resigned from the army, and studying law, established himself at Reading. Was member of Assem- bly 1767-75, and Speaker of the House, 1774. He was a representative from Berks to Provincial Conventions of July 15, 1774; January 23, 1775; its repre- sentative in the first Continental Congress; Member of Committee of Safety, June 30, 1775, to July 22, 1776, and again a representative in the Assembly, 1778. An accident met with, January 23, 1775, disabled him and made him an invalid for life, and though he lived for nearly five years later, the patriot cause was deprived of the ardent and intelligent service he had rendered it at the outset. He died at the residence of his daughter Catharine, wife of George Lux, Baltimore, Maryland, September 5, 1779. His last public service being as one of a committee of four appointed February 5, 1779, to bring in a bill for abolishing slavery in Pennsylvania. He married, 1761, Elizabeth, daughter of John Ross, Esq., and they had issue :-

Catharine, m. George Lux, of Baltimore;

Abigail, m. Dr. Falls, of Maryland.

CHARLES BIDDLE, fourth surviving son of William and Mary (Scull) Biddle, born in Philadelphia December 24. 1745, was but eleven years of age at the death of his father. At the age of fourteen years he was apprenticed to William Ball, a merchant of Philadelphia, to learn the mercantile business, but left there three years later and took to a seafaring life, his first voyage being with Capt. Robert Grant, with whom he sailed on a voyage to Spain, May 10, 1763. In the spring of 1764 he was appointed second mate of a ship built for his brother-in-law Capt. William McFunn, and sailed several trips under him to the West Indies and other points. In June, 1767, he purchased a ship with the assistance of his brother James, and sailed as captain, following the sea in that capacity until May 4, 1775. When it became evident that war with the mother country was inevitable, Capt. Biddle returned to Philadelphia, determined to cast his lot with his country, for better or for worse. He sailed in the "Chance," with Capt. John Craig, for France, for a cargo of ammunition and arms for the use of the patriot army, but returned by way of West Indies with Capt. Mason. In January, 1776, he joined Capt. Cowpertwaite's company of the "Quaker Light Infantry," and when Capt. Cowpertwaite offered his company to serve as marines on board the barges sent down the river to capture the British vessel Roebuck reported to be aground on the Brandywine shoals; though his offer was not accepted, Capt. Biddle and several others, learning that men were needed "before the mast" volunteered for that service and accompanied the expedition as ordinary seamen. In August, 1776, he went out with the "Quaker Light Infantry", marching with them to New Brunswick as acting sergeant, and receiving intelligence from Gen. Mercer that an attack was to be made on the Hessians on Staten Island, they marched to Elizabethtown Point to participate in the attack. 'A storm prevented

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the attack, and the balance of the term of their enlistment was spent with the "Flying Camp" at the Point. Returning to Philadelphia, he sailed in the "Grey- hound," for Port au Prince, but was taken with all on board by the "Antelope" and held prisoner several months. Finally effecting his escape to Jamaica, he assisted in fitting out a brig, loaded with salt for Nicola Mole, where he remained some time and then purchased a half interest in a vessel called "The Three Sisters," with Bristol Brown of Virginia, and sailed with her to North Carolina, landing at Beaufort, where he met for the first time his future wife Hannah Shepard. Loading the vessel for return to Brown, at the Mole, he set out for Philadelphia by way of Portsmouth and Baltimore, arriving at Philadelphia, June, 1777, and finding his mother and family had removed to Reading, visited them there. On July 1, 1777, he set off again for Charleston, South Carolina, to visit his brother Nicholas, in command of the unfortunate "Randolph,"'in which he lost his life some months later. After spending some time with his brother he went to Beaufort to rejoin the "Three Sisters," but, learning that she had been captured by the British, returned to Philadelphia. He was at Baltimore when the British fleet appeared in the bay on its way to Philadelphia. After a short time spent in Reading he returned to Philadelphia, and entered on board an armed brig, and after the battle of Brandywine, sailed up the Delaware with a large number of fugitives from Philadelphia on board, and lay for some time near Bordentown. The day after the battle of Germantown he again went to Reading and after two days spent with the army, went to Charleston, and was appointed to the command of the "Volunteer", which was to sail with the "Ran- dolph", under the command of his brother Nicholas, to attack two British frigates off the bar. Delay in manning the "Volunteer" induced him to volunteer on board the "Randolph" for the expedition, but the frigates having sailed away before the expedition got started, Charles Biddle returned to Newbern to take command of a vessel called the "Cornelia," then being fitted out. While manning the "Cornelia" and drilling the men for service on her, he heard of the loss of the "Randolph" and the death of his distinguished brother Nicholas. Sailed with the "Cornelia", September, 1778, and returned to Beaufort with her November, 1778. Was married there, November 25, 1778, to Hannah Shepard, and made his home at Newbern and Beaufort until June 1, 1780, his eldest son Nicholas, who died in infancy, being born there October, 1779. He made one trip to sea in August, 1779, but the greater part of a year and a half was spent at Newbern, where he took an active part in the organization of the militia for defense of the coast and in the erection of fortifications. He was elected to General Assembly of North Carolina and took an active part in that body. He left Newbern on June I, 1780, for Philadelphia, intending to return in five or six months, but remained in Pennsylvania the remainder of his life. After spending the summer at Reading, he went to sea again on November 15, 1781, with his old shipmate Capt. Decatur, but was captured, off the capes of Virginia, by the British brig "Chatham," and being exchanged soon after, returned to Philadelphia, January 31, 1782. The next two years were occupied with various sea ventures, and in October, 1784, he was elected a member of Supreme Executive Council, and a year later was elected Vice-president of the Council, and Benjamin Franklin, then just returned from France, was elected president, but, seldom attending, Capt. Biddle was during the next two years, for the greater part of the time, presiding officer of

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Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Vol. I, Part 22

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed; Jordan, Wilfred, b. 1884, ed Publication date: 1911 Publisher: New York, NY : Lewis Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 710

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed; Jordan, Wilfred, b. 1884, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York, NY : Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 710