USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. I > Part 8
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
the words of some whose deeds are recorded. I must also give my sincere thanks to all who have aided me in my work, but more especially to Ethan Allen Weaver, secretary of the Pennsyl- vania Society, Sons of the Revolution, are my thanks due.
It is my heart's desire that my children may emulate the patriotic example of their ancestors who testified to their belief with their blood ; and that the same love of country and forgetfulness of self may animate them that kept alive the flame of patriotism at Valley Forge, where at least one whose blood flows in their veins, passed the win- ter with his starving companions. In this spirit this work was begun, and, if I have attained my object, I shall consider that my labor was not in vain.
I shall first give the genealogical record of Thomas Stewart, the father of John Stewart, and grandfather of Clement Stewart.
Charles Stewart in 1720 came to this country from Scotland and bought a farm near Red Hill, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. This Charles Stew- art was a captain in the provincial troops in the French and Indian War, in Colonel Grayden's Regiment. See vol. 2, page 433, second series Pennsylvania Archives; also history of Bucks county, Pennsylvania. . He was born in Scotland, March II, 1691, and died at Red Hill, May 13, 1764. He had two sons-Charles, born in Scot- land, May 9, 1716, died at Doylestown, June II, 1789 ; and George, born May 1, 1724, died at Red Hill, December, 1759. Robert Stewart, son of Charles Stewart, and grandson of Charles Stew- art, the provincial captain, was born June 9, 1733 ; died July 22, 1809. He resided at the time of his death and for some years previous in Warren county, then Sussex county, New Jersey. He had also lived for many years in Tinicum township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he owned a large farm. He was an elector, October 9, 1753, to the general assembly of the province of New Jersey. Robert Stewart left two sons, Thomas and Robert, and two daughters, Margaret, wife of Thomas Kennedy, and Sarah, wife of William Kennedy. Sarah, wife of Robert, Senior, died April 25, 1794.
Thomas Stewart was born March 19, 1752. He died at his home near Stewartsville, New Jersey, December 31, 1836. He married Rachel Dewees, daughter of William Dewees, of Mont- gomery county, Pennsylvania, March 19, 1778. For some time he resided in Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, but in the spring of 1793 removed to Greenwich township, Warren county, New Jer- sey, where he purchased 360 acres of land, upon which he resided the remainder of his life. He was a man favorably known and esteemed.
He was justice of the peace for several years. For five years he was judge of the court of com- mon pleas of Sussex county, prior to the organi- zation of Warren county. At the establishment of the inferior court, held February 8, 1825, for Warren county, he presided. At the first court of oyer and terminer, held for Warren county the first Tuesday of June, 1825 (Charles Ewing, pre- siding judge), he was on the bench. He died at the age of eighty-four, and left his large estate to his seven sons and two daughters. His chil- dren were Robert, who moved to De Pere, Wis- consin ; Rachel, who married Morgan Long ; Sam- uel, who died in Greenwich, New Jersey ; Will- iam, who was one of the judges of the court of common pleas, appointed by Governor Randolph ; Thomas F., who died in Phillipsburg, New Jer- sey; Sarah, wife of Joseph Carpenter ; Jesse, who died at Belvidere, New Jersey ; James, who died at Washington, New Jersey; John, merchant, manufacturer and bank president.
Although Thomas Stewart, my grandfather, was always engaged in his professional duties, and led a very busy life after the war, still his life was not without its romance. I have been so fortunate as to have heard the story of his meet- ing the lady who afterwards became his wife, from two persons who are still living. Their ac- count agreed in every particular with the story as told me by my father many years ago.
Thomas Stewart, then a lieutenant in the con- tinental army, passed the winter of 1777 and 1778 at Valley Forge. Part of the time he acted as secretary of General Washington. During the winter a troop of British cavalry came up from Philadelphia with the intention of raiding the
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
manor house of William Dewees near Valley Forge. Fortunately their approach was made known to General Washington, who sent Lieu- tenant Stewart to defend the manor house. The approach of Stewart and his son frightened the British away before they had done any serious damage except the cutting open of all the feather beds in the house in their search for hidden silver, which fortunately was not there, but buried. This story was related to me by one to whom grand- father Stewart had told it. In confirmation of this story (in addition to which I ought to have said that grandmother Stewart had a feather bed made from the feathers gathered up after the British raid), Howard Wood, who is a lineal descendant of William Dewees, wrote me exactly the same account of the attack on the manor house, and also that one of his aunts had a feather bed made from the feathers gathered up after the raid. As the narrators of these stories were and are still unknown to each other, it would strongly confirm as fact that which coming from a single source might be regarded as merely doubtful. It was when he came to the relief of the manor house that Thomas Stewart first met Rachel Dewees, a young and very lovely girl not quite eighteen years old. It seems to have been a case of first love at first sight, as on the 19th of March, only a few months after, they were mar- ried. My father often told me that his father, Thomas Stewart, was very fond of telling one memorable incident which occurred when starting upon their wedding trip. After the wedding the bridal party, with a host of friends all on horse- back, started for the home of the groom in Bucks county. Soon after they set out they met Wash- ington with the body-guard. The General drew up his troop on each side of the road, then dis- mounted and congratulated Lieutenant Stewart and his bride, and also claimed the privilege of a kiss from the bride. I may also state here that the bride was well known to General Washington, as I am told by Mr. Howard Wood that he has many instances of the pleasant intercourse be- tween the Dewees family and General Washing- ton while the army was encamped at Valley Forge, near which the Dewees manor house is
situated. Valley Forge was owned at this time by Colonel William Dewees, a brother of Rachel Dewees, wife of Thomas Stewart.
Thomas Stewart was by profession a civil engineer, and after his removal from Bucks county, Pennsylvania, to Warren county, New Jersey, his time was wholly occupied in the ardu- ous duties of his profession. An aged resident of Waren county said to me, "Your grandfather, Thomas Stewart, not only surveyed most of the farms in Warren county, but also wrote the deeds of many of them." He was a beautiful penman, and his writing in his younger days was like cop- per plate. Thomas Stewart was full six feet in height, very broad across the shoulders, and his general weight was from 200 to 210 pounds. He was a dashing horseman and very fond of the saddle, in fact, as his profession required him to be almost continually along the country, I am told by my father that his father wore out a horse - each year. He never used a carriage until he- became very old, but always had the best saddle- horses he could procure for his exclusive use. Thomas Stewart is recorded as a past master of Olive Branch, F. and A. Masons, the first lodge instituted at the Forks of the Delaware. He was also one of the original founders of the company to build a bridge over the Delaware river from Easton to Phillipsburg, and was elected one of the trustees of the company. His life was a very busy one, and he seems to have been engaged in nearly every movement of any importance, and !: that he enjoyed the full confidence of his fellow men is shown by the numerous important offices. held by him in the gift of his people. He is buried in the churchyard of the Presbyterian church at Greenwich, Warren county, New Jer -- sey. He was an active member of that com- munion for many years.
For the Stewart coat-of-arms seee Burke's Peerage. It is the Shaw Stewart. For military record of Thomas Stewart, see volume 14, sec- ond series Pennsylvania Archives ; as private, see- page 162; as ensign, see page 186; as lieutenant,. see page 201.
My brother, Edward Farmer Stewart, who was sixteen years old when grandfather Thomas
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
Stewart died, tells me that grandfather often told him that he was in the battles of Princeton and Trenton. Mrs. Hetty Kennedy of Stewartsville, New Jersey, who was twenty-six years of age when grandfather Stewart died, has often de- scribed him to me. She says he was a tall, ele- gant looking man of a military bearing, and very quick in all his movements. He was also very de- cided, and his word was law in his household, but, withal, he was a man of most kindly and affectionate disposition, and loved and respected by the whole country side. She says he was a very striking figure on horseback, and a great lover of fine horses.
Mr. Samuel Drinkhouse, my father-in-law, also knew grandfather Stewart well, and, as he was thirty-two years old when grandfather Stew- art died, and as he knew him well for at least twelve years, his account is reliable. Mr. Drink- house says, "Your grandfather was a very hand- some man, and very courtly in his manners; he always wore small clothes and large buckles on his shoes." He was very intimate with many of the old inhabitants of Easton, and my father-in- law saw him frequently.
Since writing the above, I have learned more of the military record of Charles Stewart, of Red Hill, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He was a captain in the provincial troops in 1747 and 1748. See page 433, volume 2, second series, Pennsylvania Archives. He was also in active service in the provincial troops in 1756.
Charles Stewart, Jr., son of the provincial captain, was lieutenant in active service in Cap- tain Timothy Green's company in the second Pennsylvania Battalion, provincial troops, Lieu- tenant Colonel Asher Clayton, commander. He also served under Colonel Henry Bouquet, in the famous expedition against Fort Du Quesne. For his service, see page 526 and 527, volume second, Pennsylvania Archives, second series. Charles Stewart, Jr. was also judge in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, for many years, and sat once at least on the bench at Easton. See records of Northampton and Bucks counties courts. Also history of Northampton county.
FARMERORFAMILY OF FARMER. The wife of Thomas Stewart was Rachel Dewees, daughter of William Dewees and Rachel Farmer, his wife. Rachel Farmer was the daughter of Ed- ward Farmer and Rachel, maiden name unknown. It is of this ancestor of John Stewart that I will: now write of what I have heard from many sources.
Edward Farmer was the son of Major Jaspar Farmer, of the British army, and a resident of Cork, Ireland. Major Farmer purchased from Penn, by a patent dated January 31, 1683, two. tracts of land containing 5,000 acres, but when all arrangements had been completed for the voyage to America, Major Farmer died. Some records state that Major Jaspar and his son Jaspar, Jr. both died on the voyage, as the will of the former is dated 7th month 25th day, 1685, and was proved IIth month, 2d day, 1685, and letters of administration to the estate of Jaspar Farmer, Jr., were issued 19th day of 11th month, 1685. Both wills were offered for probate in Philadel- phia, on 9th month, 10th day, 1685. The British merchant vessel, John Stephens, commander, ar- rived in Philadelphia. Among the passengers' names are Jaspar Farmer, Sr., his family ; Mary Farmer, widow, Edward Farmer, Edward Botsford, Sarah Farmer, Robert Farmer, Cath- erine Farmer, Charles Farmer (eight souls). Jas- par Farmer, Jr.'s family : Thomas Farmer, Kath- erine Farmer (widow), Elizabeth Farmer, Kath- erine Farmer, Jr. (four souls). In addition to- the two widows of father and son ( Jaspar Sr. and Jaspar Jr.) and the ten members of the two fam- ilies, they were accompanied by nineteen servants. (See records of Historical Society of Pennsyl- vania ).
The overseer of the Farmers (John Scull), had arrived several months before, and had taken charge of the lands embracing all of Farmers or Whitmarsh township, Philadelphia county, south of the Skippack Road.
Edward Farmer (my ancestor) was born in 1672, and was fourteen years of age at the time of his arrival in America. There was an Indian village near the home of the Farmers, where
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
Edward acquired a knowledge of the Indian lan- guage, which served him well in after years, for in 1701 and 1712, he acted as interpreter for the provincial government. The widow of Jaspar Farmer, Sr. (i. e. Edward's mother), as legatee of her husband's estate, and Catherine, widow of Jaspar, Jr., made a partition by which 2,500 acres of land of the 5,000 purchase became in fee his property. The other half, 2,500 acres, after pass- ing through several hands became the property of Edward.
Prior to 1690, Edward's mother married a Mr. Billop, of Philadelphia, and she died shortly afterward.
Chief Justice Dr. Nicholas More wrote from Manor Moreland, September 13, 1686, to Will- iam Penn, then in England, that "Madame Farmer, Edward's mother, had found as good a limestone in the Schuylkill as any in the world." Probably the earliest limestone used in Pennsyl- vania came from here. The Whitemarsh lime is known to this day. In May, 1701, he was sent to the Lehigh river to ascertain the intentions of the Indians, and he frequently conferred with them at his own home, and at other places. On Septem- ber 2, 1701, he was commissioned one of the jus- tices of Philadelphia county, which position he held for over forty years. He was also a mem- ber of the Pennsylvania assembly from about 1710 to 1732, and for some time was commis- sioner of the county. His settlement at White- marsh was known as Farmerstown, and his grist- mill on the Wissahickon had an extended repu- tation as early as 1713. In 1710 he presented a lot on which St. Thomas's Protestant Episcopal church was erected. He died November 3, 1745, and is buried in St. Thomas's Protestant Episcopal churchyard, Whitemarsh, where a monument is erected to his memory. His wife was Rachel, maiden name unknown. His extensive estate was settled by his son, Joseph Farmer, and his sons- in-law, Peter and Joseph Robeson.
Descendants of Edward Farmer exist through intermarriage in the families of Robeson, Shoe- maker and others. Edward Farmer's will (in Philadelphia ) was signed July 18, 1745, and pro- 1
bated November 19, 1745. He devised his estate to his sons.
His son, Samuel.
His son, Richard.
His son, Joseph.
His son-in-law, Peter Robeson, who married Sarah.
His daughter, Mary.
His daughter, Elizabeth.
His daughter, Sarah, wife of Peter Robeson above.
His daughter Rachel, who married William Dewees, second. (He was son of William Dewees, first, and Anna Christianson, his wife).
His daughter, Katherine, who married Jona- than Robeson, nephew of Peter Robeson.
Jaspar Farmer died 1685. Married Mary, maiden name unknown.
Edward Farmer, born 1672, died 1745. Mar- ried Rachel.
William Dewees, Ist, born 1745. Married Anna Christianson.
Samuel, Richard and Joseph, and to his sons- in-law who married his daughter Sarah, and Will- iam Dewees (second), who married his daughter Rachel.
Rachel Farmer.
William Dewees second.
Thomas Dewees married a Potts.
Col. William Dewees (third) of Valley Forge married Sarah Potts.
Rachel Dewees born 1760, died 1816, married Thomas Stewart.
John Stewart, son of the above, married Eliza- beth Green.
The family of Farmer, or Farmar, held their estate of Easton Neston, Northampton county, England, in 1480. Richard Farmar excited the hostility of Henry VIII on account of his adher- ence to the Pope of Rome. His estates were confis- cated, but were partially restored by Edward VI, including the county mansion of Easton Neston. He married Anna, daughter of Sir William Browne. Their eldest son was John, knighted by Queen Mary in 1552. His eldest son was George, knighted in 1536. He entertained King
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
James at Easton Neston in 1603. The son of George and Mary Curson, his wife, was Robert, who went to Ireland in the army of Queen Eliza- beth. Received estates in Cork and Tipperary, Ireland, for service to the crown. Eldest son of this Robert was called Robert, and his eldest son, Major Jaspar Farmer. The eldest son of Senior George was Sir Hatton, his eldest son was Will- iam, his eldest son was William. The eldest son of William was Thomas, made Earl of Pomfret in 1721. Major Jaspar Farmar was also a son of Robert Farmar, and a brother of Sir Walter Farmar. Major Jaspar Farmer was the uncle of Lady Juliana Farmar. His son, that is, the son of Major Jaspar, was Edward, our ancestor, and was therefore the cousin of Lady Juliana Farmar, who married Thomas Penn.
Edward Farmar's daughter Rachel married William Dewees (second), their daughter Rachel Dewees married Thomas Stewart. Their son, John Stewart, married Elizabeth Green ; their son, Clement Stewart, married Harriet Heist Drink- house. Their children are Marie, Ralph Tindall, Clarence Dudley, and Rodney Long.
The town of Easton, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, was named after the country seat of Lord Pomfret, who was by birth a Farmar. As early as 1480 the Farmars were living at their country home at Easton Neston. Lady Juliana Farmar married Thomas Fenn, hence Thomas Penn, who ordered the plan of Easton, called many of the streets after names in the Farmar family-Second street was formerly Farmar street : Third street was Pomfret ; Fourth street was Hamilton, and Fifth was Juliana. North- ampton county was named after the county of the name in England, where was situated the country seat of Lord Pomfret.
The change of name from Farmer to Farmar was made by a younger branch of the family. My brother, Edward Farmar Stewart, of Easton, Pennsylvania, has a commentary on the Hebrews in which is the name of Edward Farmar, who formerly owned the book ; thence it passed to his daughter, Rachel Dewees, now Farmar, and then to Rachel Stewart, now Dewees ; thence to John Stewart, her son, and thence to Edward F., son
of John Stewart. The family of Farmar derives from one of the companions-in-arms of William the Conqueror, and was at a very early period seated on the lordship of Somerton, in Oxford- shire, England.
DEWEES FAMILY. This family is believed to be identical with the D'Ewees of French his- tory, and is of Huguenot descent. In 1742 Will- iam Dewees, Sr., owned and carried on one of the. paper mills in the neighborhood of Germantown,. Pennsylvania. He built a large stone mansion at Whitemarsh, and on the gable end can be seen the initials W. D. R.
William Dewees, Jr. married Anna Christian- sen. Their son, William Dewees (second), mar- ried Rachel, daughter of Edward Farmar. Their children were Thomas Dewees, Colonel William Dewees, and Rachel Dewees. Rachel married: Thomas Stewart, then a lieutenant in the contin- ental army. Colonel Dewees married (first) Miss Potts; second, Sarah Waters, and by her had Waters, Thomas W., George, William, and Anne. Colonel William Dewees owned the Valley Forge at the time of the revolution. This Colonel Will- iam Dewees was the brother of Rachel Stewart, nee Dewees, and was living with her brother at the time of the attack on the Manor House.
I copy the following from a letter to me from Howard Wood, grandson of Colonel William Dewees : "When Washington intrenched the army at Valley Forge, Colonel Dewees' family were re- siding there, and many instances have come to my notice of the intercourse of this family with the General and his wife during the terrible win- ter of 1777. The Valley Forge was burned by the British in September of that year. The proof that the Valley Forge belonged to Colonel De- wees is the following order from Washington, taken from the orderly book of General Irvine, April 29, 1778: "Complaint having been made by Mr. Dewees, proprietor of the Valley Forge that the soldiers pull down the houses and break up the timber of the buildings which is called Valley Forge:' the commander-in-chief strictly forbids all persons from damaging the said buildings and works, which he hopes will be particularly at-
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
tended to, especially when they consider the great loss that Mr. Dewees has already suffered, and the great waste our army has been under the necessity of committing upon the wood and other improvements."
Many years after the war, the family of Col- «onel Dewees through his son, William, a lawyer at Washington, D. C., presented a claim for indemnity. About the year 1820 government al- lowed them a sum not even equivalent to the interest on the amount of loss.
The Mansion House of the Iron Works is on the Chester county side of the Valley Creek, and stands about five hundred paces beyond the bridge. It is a fine large house, and shows un- mistakable signs of age, and it is certain that Col- onel Dewees's family resided there while the army was encamped at Valley Forge. In 1824 the works were discontinued, and nothing now re- mains but an immortal name.
BENJAMIN RUSH FIELD, M. D., of Eas- ton, Pennsylvania, physician and author, comes of a long line of honorable ancestry whose history is interwoven with that of England and the United States, and it is a noteworthy fact that among his ancestors in both lines were a num- ber of his own profession.
The ancient history of the Field family was exhaustively written by one of its members, the Rev. Henry M. Field, D. D., of New York City, (a brother of Cyrus W. Field, the projector of the first Atlantic telegraph cable), in a volume which he wrote and distributed privately. In this the author quoted Osgood Field, Esq., an American gentleman long resident in London, England, as follows :
"Hubertus de la Feld was in England within a year or two of the Conquest, and in all prob- ability came over with the Conqueror. He was of the family of the Counts de la Feld of Colmar, in Alsatia, on the German border of France, who trace back to the darkest period of the middle ages, about the sixth century. Probably not a dozen families in Europe can prove so high an antiquity. The ancestors of the English de la Felds had been seated at the Chateau de la Feld for centuries before, and so early as the gloom-
iest times that followed the fall of the Roman Empire. They held lands (according to the feudal system) probably granted to them for military services by William the Conqueror-the original spelling of the family name 'Feld' being derived from the verb to fell, field land being op- posed to wood land, and meaning land where the trees have been felled."
According to the authority above quoted, a branch of the family probably went from Saxony through France to England. The first appearance of the Field family without the prefix "de la," was in that part of the West Riding of Yorkshire which borders upon Lancashire. John Field, pa- ternal great-grandfather of Dr. B. Rush Field, said to have been a centenarian, went from Sax- ony to Yorkshire, England, taking with him his infant son Richard. Richard Field was brought up at Dudley Hill, Bradford, Yorkshire, and after graduating from the University of London, be- came a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. He spent the latter years of his life in America. His wife, Phœbe Cridland, was born in Leicester- shire, England ; her father was an extensive wool manufacturer. The Cridland family have held positions of trust in England, and several British consuls in America were of that stock.
Cridland Crocker Field, son of Richard and Phœbe (Cridland) Field, was born February 18, 1819, on board the American ship "Ann," upon which his parents came to this country. The birth occurred just as the vessel had come into Long Island waters, within the bounds of Queens county, and the captain wrapped a United States flag about the infant, who received from him his middle name, Crocker. The parents went to Northampton county, Pennsylvania, and thence to Philadelphia, where the father practiced med- icine in association with Dr. Physick, Dr. McClel- lan, and others. He also held close personal and professional relations with Professors William E. Horner, William Gibson, D. Hayes Agnew, and Samuel Gross. These gentlemen exercised a potent influence over young Field, who entered upon the study of medicine with all of them as his friends, and some of the number as his instruc- tors, notably Professor Horner, an accomplished
AS CENTRE SQUARE, EASTON, LOOKED FIFTY YEARS AGO. FROM A DRAWING MADE BY MRS. MCCARTNEY IN 1835.
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