USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Volume II > Part 52
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He died February 14, 1809, and letters of administration were granted 011 his estate to his son-in-law, John H. Worrell. He had on October 16, 1804, executed a paper revoking all former wills and directing that his estate should be divided in accordance with the intestate laws of the state of Pennsylvania. His wife, Hannah Morse, who was born in 1721, had died January 10, 1789, and both lie buried in the graveyard of Frankford Presbyterian Church.
Rudolph and Hannah (Morse) Neff had seven children, viz: Elizabeth, born November 8, 1752, died June 6, 1829, married, March 15, 1773, Adam Baker;
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Barbara, born February 2, 1754, married, July 18, 1779, Adam Stricker ; Han- nah, born May 6, 1759, married Philip Buckius; Mary, born January 26, 1762, died January 26, 1842, married John H. Worrell; Peter, of whom presently; Johannes, born September 22, 1766, died July 6, 1767; Samuel, born June 27, 1768, died July 4, 1839, married, February 3, 1787 Eleanor Helveston.
PETER NEFF, fifth child and eldest son of Rudolph and Hannah (Morse) Neff, born in Frankford, Philadelphia county, February 15, 1764, lived all his life there, dying August 14, 1804, five years before his father. He was a black- smith in early life, and became the owner of considerable real estate in the borough of Frankford, dying seized of seven lots on the Bristol road, in that borough, aggregating twenty-seven acres and twenty-five and seven-tenths perches on which were erected five houses and a blacksmith shop, and a lot of one and a quarter acres on the road from Frankford to Point-no-point, now Bridesburg, in the Northern Liberties of Philadelphia. At the time of his death he was engaged in building on one of his lots in Frankford a large stone house, which his widow finished, and which was still standing in 1886.
Peter Neff married, March 4, 1784, Rebecca Scout, who was born April 27, 1764, and who died March 23, 1834, daughter of Arie or Aaron Scout, of Gwynedd township, Philadelphia, now Montgomery county, who was ensign of the Seventh Company, Fourth Battalion, Philadelphia County Militia, com- manded by Colonel William Dean in 1777; and in 1780 ensign of the Seventh Company, First Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Smith, the former company being commanded by Captain John Mann, and the latter by Captain John Shelmire, both in the same regiment, under different regimental officers at the two periods above mentioned, and while under the command of Colonel William Dean, was first, in 1776, part of the volunteer militia known as Associators, and in 1778 was "in the service of the United States" at "Phila- delphia Barracks, December ye 22d, 1778".
Arie or Aaron Scout was the son of one of the Dutch settlers in Warminster township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, coming there from Long Island, about 1700, and the son located first just across the line in Gwynedd township, later in White Marsh, and finally in Hatfield township, all in the present limits of the county of Montgomery.
Rebecca Scout was the third of the ten children of Aaron Scout. On her marriage to Peter Neff, they took up their residence in one-half of his father's house in Frankford, later removing to one of the several houses acquired by Peter Neff in that borough. After the death of Peter Neff, and the completion of the house he was then building, the widow and children resided therein until their respective marriages, the widow continuing to reside there until her death in 1834, with her eldest daughter and son-in-law, Hannah and William Patter- son.
Peter and Rebecca (Scout) Neff had nine children, two of whom died in in- fancy. Hannah Neff, born June 8, 1787, died November 11, 1862, married Oc- tober 24, 1805, William Patterson, and resided in Frankford at the old home- stead. John Rudolph Neff, a further account of whom follows.
William Neff, born February 7, 1792, entered into partnership with his elder brother, John R. Neff, under the firm name of John R. & William Neff, in Phil- adelphia, in 1814, but soon after removed to Savannah, Georgia, where he con-
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ducted a branch establishment of the Philadelphia firm, until 1824, when with his younger brother, George W. Neff, he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and estab- lished another branch of the great mercantile firm of Neff Brothers, in which all four of the brothers, John R., of Philadelphia, Peter, of Baltimore, and the two Cincinnati brothers were interested. William Neff married Elizabeth Clif- ford Wayne. He died November 25, 1856.
Sarah Neff, born June 26, 1794, died June II, 1795.
Rebecca Neff, born May I, 1796, died August 24, 1885, married Reverend Thomas J. Biggs, pastor of the Frankford Presbyterian Church, founded by her grandfather and great-uncle, Rudolph and Jacob Neff.
Peter Neff, born March 31, 1798, became a member of the family mercantile firm of Neff Brothers, and for a time conducted the branch establishment at Baltimore, Maryland, but later removed to Louisville, Kentucky, and established another branch, under the firm name of Neff, Wanton & Company. He died July 20, 1879. He married Isabella (Freeman) Lamson.
George Washington Neff, born May 19, 1800, graduated at Princeton in 1818, studied law with Hon. Horace Binney, and was admitted to the Philadelphia bar. He, however, after about three years practice in Philadelphia, removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, as above related, with his elder brother, William Neff, and became a member of the firm of Neff Brothers, doing business in four large cit- ies. He died August 9, 1850. He married in Philadelphia, Maria, daughter of Ambrose White, Esq.
Mary Amanda Neff, born December 16, 1802, married Kirkbride Yardley, and died July 11, 1849.
Matilda Neff, born August 18, 1804, died September 1, 1804.
JOHN RUDOLPH NEFF, eldest son of Peter and Rebecca (Scout) Neff, was born January 12, 1789, in the brick house erected in Frankford, Philadelphia, by his grandfather, Rudolph Neff. He was but fifteen years of age at the death of his father, from whom and his grandfather who died four years later, he inherited a small estate and excellent business ability. He received an ex- cellent classical and business education, including two years at Princeton Col- lege, then known as the College of New Jersey, and entered the counting house of the Messrs. Israel, shipping merchants, Front Street, Philadelphia, where he acquired the thorough knowledge of the mercantile trade that later manifested itself in the establishment and successful maintenance of the immense business controlled by the firm and firms of which he was the head with the central office, under his control in Philadelphia and branches in the cities of Savannah, Geor- gia; Baltimore, Maryland; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Louisville, Kentucky, under the management of his brothers as above recited. After he had concluded the settlement of his father's estate, about 1814, taking into partnership his brother William, the only one then of age, under the firm name of John R. and William Neff, he commenced the wholesale and shipping business at No. 67 Water Street, Philadelphia, on the north side of Second Alley, above Arch Street, later re- moving to No. 37 North Water Street, below Arch, and almost immediately started a branch at Savannah, Georgia, in charge of his brother and partner, William Neff, to which was added the two other branches at Baltimore, Mary- land, and Cincinnati, Ohio, under the new firm name of Neff Brothers, in 1824. Subsequently the Philadelphia establishment was removed to No. 6 North Wharves.
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John R. Neff was one of the most successful American merchants of his day, and was actively associated with a number of financial and other enter- prises of his native city. He was a director of the Bank of the United States, the Philadelphia Saving Fund, and the Insurance Company of North Amer- ica. He was twice elected to the General Assembly of the state of Pennsyl- vania, "when that trust was honorable alike to the delegate and to his con- stituents". He served in both the Common and Select Councils of the City of Philadelphia, when the city was bounded on the north by Vine Street and on the south by Cedar Street, and was one of the Committee of Councils on the Girard Estate at the time Girard College was built. He became a mein- ber of the First Presbyterian Church, when it was located at Bank and Mar- ket Streets, and continued his membership there after its removal to Wash- ington Square. He was long a liberal contributor to the several benevolent as- sociations under the control of the Presbyterian Church, and to those outside the sect, the Provident Society, especially, being the recipient of liberal bene- factions and active support at his hands. He died July 21, 1863, and was bur- ied at Laurel Hill Cemetery.
John R. Neff married, September 23, 1817, Caroline, daughter of Charles Bird, a well-known merchant of Philadelphia, and resided for some years at 295 Market Street, later removing to No. 7, South Ninth Street. They had eight children : Jane Bird Neff, born August 17, 1818, died March 28, 1850, married, June 10, 1847, Cyrus M. Williams. William Peter Neff, born No- vember 14, 1819, died November 19, 1877, married, December 14, 1846, Nar- cissa Williams. Rebecca Neff, born January 1, 1821, died January 4, 1823. John Rudolph Neff, Jr., born April 10, 1824, died April 4, 1826. Charles Neff, born May 25, 1825, died September 20, 1871, married (first) June 19, 1849, Mary Seal; (second) April 19, 1859, Louisa Badger. George Washington Neff, born July 8, 1826, died September 27, 1832. James P. W. Neff, born September 4, 1827, died September 24, 1855. John Rudolph Neff, Jr., born October 2, 1828.
JOHN RUDOLPH NEFF, JR., youngest son of John Rudolph and Caroline (Bird) Neff, born in Philadelphia, October 2, 1828, died April 30, 1903. He married, May 6, 1852, Josephine M. Cilley, died September 22, 1909, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (Lee) Cilley, of Cincinnati, Ohio, the former a native of Nottingham, New Hampshire, and the latter of Saratoga, New York; grand- daughter of Jonathan and Dorcas (Butler) Cilley, of Nottingham, New Hamp- shire; great-granddaughter of Colonel Joseph and Sarah (Longfellow) Cilley, of Nottingham, New Hampshire; and great-great-granddaughter of Captain Joseph Cilley, of Hampton, New Hampshire, and his wife, Alice (Rawlins) Cilley, a native of Exeter, New Hampshire. Children of John R. and Joseph- ine M. Neff : Rudolph Lee Neff, born August 13, 1853; Narcissa Neff, born December 8, 1856; Sarah Josephine Neff, born October 16, 1861; Jonathan Cilley Neff, born August 22, 1866.
Colonel Joseph Cilley, great-grandfather of Josephine M. (Cilley) Neff, and great-great-grandfather of Jonathan C. Neff, was born in Nottingham, New Hampshire, in 1734, died there in August, 1799. He was captain of a company in the New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment, and participated in the "Lex- ington Alarm," in 1775. On May 20, 1775, he was commissioned major of the
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Second New Hampshire Regiment, and on January 1, 1776, major of the Eighth Regiment; lieutenant-colonel of the First Regiment, November 8, 1776; and colonel, February 22, 1777, all in the New Hampshire Line, Continental service, in which capacity he served until his retirement, January I, 1781 ; par- ticipating in the siege of Boston; at Ticonderoga, Bemis Heights, New York; Monmouth, New Jersey, and Stony Point. He was one of the original mem- bers of the New Hampshire State Society of the Cincinnati.
JONATHAN CILLEY NEFF, youngest son of John Rudolph Neff, Jr., and Jo- sephine M. (Cilley) Neff, was born in Philadelphia, August 22, 1866, and was educated in the Philadelphia high school. On January 1, 1884, he en- tered the employ of the Fidelity Trust Company of Philadelphia, with which he is still connected, now holding the position of assistant secretary of the institution. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and at present treas- urer of the Presbyterian Ministers' Fund. Mr. Neff is a descendant on both paternal and maternal lines from officers of the Continental forces during the Revolutionary war, and on April 21, 1892, was admitted a member of the Pennsylvania Society Sons of the Revolution. He married, December 27, 1884, Mary Bell Wampole, daughter of Holland Jackson and Annie Lucinda (Bow) Wampole, both of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and they have one child, Josephine Cilley Neff, born September 13, 1886.
WILLIAM STEWART WALLACE
WILLIAM STEWART WALLACE, of the Philadelphia bar, a member of the Pennsylvania Society Sons of the Revolution, is a descendant of a Scotch family, representatives of which migrated to Ulster, Ireland. Early in the eighteenth century the lineal ancestors of William S. Wallace joined the great army of Ulster Scots who between the years 1710 and 1750 migrated to Penn- sylvania. Robert and John Wallace, either brothers, or father and son, were landholders in the little Scotch-Irish colony on the banks of the Tohickon, in Tinicum township, Bucks county, at least as early as 1739, and as nearly all this colony was settled originally on land belonging to the Pennsylvania Land Company of London, and the Streiper Tract, long before any fee-title was vested in the real settlers, it is probable that they came to Pennsylvania, about 1720, with the first Scotch-Irish settlers on the Neshaminy and at Craig's in Northampton county, with whom the Tohickon settlers were more or less con- nected by ties of consanguinity.
Through the absence of authentic records it is impossible to determine wheth- er the second generation of the Bucks county Wallaces were descended from one or both of the Tinicum pioneers, Robert and John Wallace, but Robert was probably the patriarch of the whole family in Bucks. About the year 1750 we find a James Wallace in Tinicum, where he reared a large family, and Joseph, William, John, and James Wallace, in the Scotch-Irish settle- ments in Warwick and Warrington townships, Bucks county. Of these Jo- seph is thought to have been the father of John Wallace, born 1748, who was a soldier in Magaw's regiment of the Flying Camp, and captured at Fort Washington, having previously been a member of the Associated Companies of both New Britain and Warrington, and who after the war removed to near Lexington, Kentucky; his descendants later removed to Independence, Mis- souri, still having in their possession records pertaining to the residence of the family in Bucks county. William Wallace married the Widow Creighton, of Warrington, prior to 1750, and later in life removed with her and her chil- dren by her first husband to York county.
John Wallace, of Warwick, is thought to have been the father of James Wallace, of Warwick, with whom he resided; the latter being the great-great- grandfather of William S. Wallace.
Whether John Wallace, of Warwick, where his name appears on the tax lists about 1763 as "at James Wallace's", is identical with the John Wallace, of Tinicum, in 1739, cannot be certainly determined at this time, but they were probably the same. If this be true, he was probably the son and not the brother of Robert Wallace, of Tinicum, and a brother to James Wallace, of Tinicum, who died in 1765, and Joseph and William Wallace, of Warring- ton, all of whom would appear to have been a generation older than James Wallace, of Warwick, with whom John lived and where he died in 1777, in- testate, leaving a small estate that was administered by Isabel (Miller) Wal-
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lace, the widow of James Wallace, of Warwick, before mentioned, who died at about the same date. In support of the theory that John Wallace, of Tini- cum was identical with John Wallace, of Warwick, we find upon the records of the Common Pleas Court of Bucks county, numerous suits entered by John Wallace, between 1750 and 1755, against persons residing in both these com- munities.
James Wallace, of Warwick, was appointed by the Orphans' Court of Bucks county, in 1754, one of the guardians of the minor children of Robert Miller, deceased, one of whom (Isabel) he married in the same year, from which, when taken in connection with incidents of his later career, we infer that he was at this time a young man of possibly twenty-five years of age. From this date he spent the remainder of his life in Warwick township, where he be- came one of the most prominent and influential men of the community. For eight years after his marriage he likely lived on rented land, possibly on some of the numerous tracts in that vicinity belonging to his wife's relatives. In 1762 he purchased of his wife's cousins, Andrew and William Long, some three hundred acres of the plantation surrounding Neshaminy Presbyterian Church, and from which the original church lands were donated by his wife's grandfather in 1726, and lived thereon until his death in the autumn of 1777.
From the date of his first mention in the civil records of Bucks county in 1754, James Wallace was prominently identified with the affairs of the county, being frequently appointed on commissions to lay out important roads, as auditor in the settlement of estates, and many other of the positions of trust common in that day. In 1768 he was commissioned coroner of Bucks county, being the first of his race whose name appears on the roster of county officers, commissioned by the governor, holding this office for the largest period of any incumbent during the Colonial period. From the very beginning of the pro- tests against the infringement of the liberties of the American colonies by the British Ministry, James Wallace was one of the foremost Patriots of Bucks county. He was one of the deputies appointed at the meeting of the inhabitants of the county, held at Newtown, July 9, 1774, to represent the county in the meeting of Provincial deputies, held at Carpenter's Hall, Phila- delphia, July 15, 1774. His name heads the list of the Warwick Associators, organized August 21, 1775, and he was one of the most prominent and active members of the Bucks County Committee of Safety, from its organization; was chosen one of its Committee of Observation on December 15, 1774, and was present at every meeting of the committee thereafter. He was named with Joseph Hart, John Kidd and Henry Wynkoop, "as Delegates to meet in pro- vincial Convention, if any shall be found necessary," and with them repre- sented Bucks county at the Provincial Conference held at Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, June 18, 1775. At the meeting of the Committee of Safety by which they were appointed delegates to this June conference, the committee ap- proved the resolves of the convention held January 23, 1775, to which Bucks county sent no delegates, and "earnestly recommended them to the observation of the inhabitants of the county". These resolves were principally in refer- ence to the establishment of manufacturies, and the promotion of production of such goods and products as had heretofore been imported from Great Bri- tain. This meeting of the Bucks County Committee of Safety, of which James
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Wallace was one of the moving spirits, literally "crossed the Rubicon" in the matter of armed defense of their liberties, it being-
"Resolved unanimously, That notwithstanding the disapprobation we have hitherto shown in the prosecution of violent measures of opposition, arising from the Hopes and Expectations that the Humanity, Justice and magnanimity of the British Nation would not fail of affording us relief, being now convinced that all our most dutiful applications have hitherto been fruitless and vain, and that attempts are now making to carry the oppressive Acts of Parliament into execution by military force : We do therefore earnestly recommend to the people of this County to form themselves into Associations in their respective Townships, to improve themselves in the military art, that they may be rendered capable of affording their Country that aid which its particular necessities may at any time require".
At the meeting held November 23, 1775, "it being now near the expiration of one year since the present Committee was chosen" it was decided that each member should advertise in his township, an election of new members of the committee to be held December 17, 1775. At the next meeting, that of the new committee, December 26, James Wallace again appears as the representa- tive of Warwick township, and was selected with Joseph Hart, Samuel Yard- ley, Arthur Watts and Henry Wynkoop as a member of the Committee of Correspondence. As heretofore shown he was also a member of the Asso- ciators of his township, organized under the above resolve, his name heading the list of the company which he organized. At the meeting of the Commit- tee of Safety, held January 22, 1776, when the communications from the State Committee, in reference to the promotion of the manufacture of saltpetre were read, James Wallace was made chairman of the committee appointed to go to Philadelphia to be instructed in the method of its manufacture, and by the same resolution was named as the "Officer to receive the Saltpetre which shall be manufactured in this County". At the meeting held March 27, 1776, James Wallace and Henry Wynkoop were appointed to receive, on behalf of the Committee of Safety, the arms purchased of the Non-Associators, and send them to Philadelphia.
At the meeting of the Bucks County Committee of Safety held June 10. 1776, James Wallace was chosen one of the deputies to the Provincial Con- ference at Philadelphia, June 18, 1776, and he participated in the proceedings of that Conference, and was one of the committee appointed thereby to consid- er the proper time, place and manner of holding and regulating an election of deputies to a convention for framing a constitution for Pennsylvania, (the first Constitution of this Commonwealth) and to fix a day for the meeting of the deputies when elected, and was named with Henry Wynkoop and Joseph Hart one of the judges of the said election for Bucks county. On July 26, 1776, James Wallace was appointed one of the committee to collect and dis- tribute funds and supplies for the relief of "distressed families whose husbands are now in actual service", and the subsequent minutes of the Bucks County Committee of Safety, the original of which are now in the library of the Bucks County Historical Society, show his presence at the meetings and con- tinued activity, and intelligent service on its most important committees. A letter of Henry Wynkoop, his most prominent colleague in this patriotic work, to the general Committee of Safety at Philadelphia, mentions him as "a gen- tleman of property, strict honesty, and firm attachment to the Cause". He was commissioned on March 31, 1777, one of the justices of the Court of
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Common Pleas, Orphans' Court and Oyer and Terminer, etc., of Bucks coun- ty, by the Supreme Executive Council.
Whether or not James Wallace took any personal part in military opera- tions during the Revolution is not certainly known. During the encampment of Washington's army at Neshaminy, from August 10 to August 23, 1777, while awaiting news of the destination of Howe's fleet, which had sailed from Staten Island, the main part of the Patriot army was encamped on the farm of James Wallace. Since nothing is known of the career of James Wallace after this date until its termination by his death a few months later, it has been suggested as possible that he may have joined the army when it marched from Neshaminy to obstruct Howe's advance on Philadelphia, and lost his life in some of the sanguinary engagements that followed in September at Brandywine and at Germantown in October.
James Wallace married, in 1754, doubtless at Neshaminy Presbyterian Church of which he and his wife and her family were members, and he a trustee later, Isabel, daughter of Robert and Margaret (Graham) Miller, of Warrington, Bucks county, and granddaughter of William Miller, Sr., and Isabel, his wife, who were the first settlers on the land comprising and adjoining the site of Neshaminy Presbyterian Church of Warwick, Bucks county.
William Miller, the elder, was evidently the patriarch of the Scotch-Irish settlement on the Neshaminy. From the age given on their tombstones, still to be seen in Neshaminy churchyard, we learn that he was born in the year 1670 or 1671, being eighty-seven years of age at his death on February 27. 1758, and his wife at practically the same age at her death, December 26, 1757. Both are said to have been natives of Scotland. They were accom- panied to the Neshaminy by six children, three of them married daughters with their husbands. The date of their arrival is not positively known, as we have little record of them prior to the establishment of Neshaminy Church in 1726. However, on the records of Abington Presbyterian Church, we find the record of the baptism of a grandchild of William and Isabel Miller, in the following entry, "Margaret, ye daughter of Andrew Long, baptized, August ye 4th, 1722". And again on the records of Bensalem Church we find that, "October ye 3d 1725, Andrew Long and Ezabel his wife, had a daughter bap- tized named Ezabel", and "John Earle and Margaret his wife, had a daugh- ter baptized named Mary"; both Isabel Long and Margaret Earle being daugh- ters of William and Isabel Miller, as was also Mary, wife of James Curry, who we later find living in New Jersey. William Miller purchased four hun- dred acres of land of Jeremiah Langhorne and Joseph Kirkbride in 1726 and in the same year dedicated about one acre for the use of a church and grave- yard, which dedication is recited in his two wills on file in the register's office at Doylestown, by which he confirms it "to ye Presbyterian Congregation att Neshaminy Forever". The ancient church which once stood in the present graveyard has long since disappeared but the date stone can still be seen set in the graveyard wall along the Bristol Road, bearing the date 1727 and the initials "W. M." and "W. G.", the former standing for William Miller, evi- dently one of the first elders, and the latter doubtless for William Gray, an ancient elder of the Presbyterian Church, and probably the father of John Gray, later a prominent elder and trustee of Neshaminy Church. The sons
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