USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. I > Part 10
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13 Surveyor-General Fasthurn surveyed the manor of Pennsbury, for the heirs .: William Penn, 1733, when it contained 5,832 acres, exclusive of the 6 per cent. reserve !! for roads.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
who owned five hundred acres of the manor land, died about 1792, when it was advertised at public sale, July 31, 1793.
One member of Phineas Pemberton's household was Mary Becket. a young English girl said to have been a descendant of the Pereys of Northum- berland. When her mother married Becket she was a ward in Chancery, and they had to fly to the continent, where he was killed in the religious war in Germany. Mary was their only child. Eleanor Becket, whose maiden name was Horner. subsequently married Robert Haydock, 11: a prominent minister among Friends of Warrington. Lancastershire. Mary Becket made her appear- ance in the Falls, 1684. her name appearing on the passenger list of the ship Vine irm Liverpool. which arrived at Philadelphia the 17th of 7th month. Her imme- diate party consisted of Henry Baker, his wife Margaret. their four daughters, two sons and servants. They came from Walton, Lancastershire. Robert Haydock, writing to Phineas Pemberton under date of the 7th of 4th month, 1684, says : "Along with the bearer hereof cometh daughter Mary, and by ve contents of ye enclosed to thy father, which, on purpose I leave unsealed, thou may understand. To your care we commit." &c. &c. In all her letters from Haydock or his wife to Mary Becket she is addressed as "daughter." and in hers to them she calls them "father and mother.""+ She continued to reside in Pemberton's family until she was married at Falls meeting, 4th of 8th month, tx)1. to Samuel Bowne, son of John Bowne. Long Island. well known to stud- ents of Colonial history. and then went to live with her husband at Flushing. She called one, of her daughters Eleanor, after her mother. 1412
1312 The following purports to be a copy of one of Samuel Bowne's letters to Mary Becket while courting ber, sent us by Miss Parsons, Flushing. Long Island :
"Flushing, 6th mo .. 1691.
"Dear Miss B .- My very dear and constant love salutes thee in yt with which my love was at first united to thee even the love of God: blessed truth in which my soul destres above all things, that we may grow and increase, which will produce our eternal comfort. Dear love, these few lines may inform thee that I am lately returned home, where we are all well. blessed be the Lord for it. Much exercise about the concern we have taken in hand and no, dear heart, my earnest desire it is, yt we may have our eyes to the Lord and seek him for counsel that He may direct us in this weighty concern. and 1 am satisfied that if it be his will to accomplish it he in his own time will make way for the same, so my desire is it that ve may be recommended to the will of the Lord; then may we expect the end thereof will redound to his glory and our comfort forevermore. Dear heart. I have not heard, certainly, but live in great hope that it hath pleased the Lord * health to our dear friend and elder, brother P. P., to whom with his dear wife remember my very kind love, for I often think upon you all with true brotherly love as being children of one father : so dear Mary, it was not in my heart to write large, but to give the-e few line. at present. 1 do expect my father and I may come about the latter end of this month. My dear, I could be very glad to hear from thee, but not willing to press the trouble upon thee to write, so I must take leave and bid farewell : my dear. farewell.
(Signed ) : "SAMUEL BOWNE."
14 lf Mary Becket were the daughter of her mother's first marriage, it would signify nothing that she and her second husband called her "daughter," and she called them "father" and "mother."
1.412 Under date of 1608. William Stout. Lancashire, in his autobiography. p. 50, says : "In this year Robert Haydock, Liverpool. freighted a ship for Philadelphia to take in such passengers as were disposed to go to settle in Pennsylvania, etc." Was this Robert
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Enough has been said of Mary Becket to show that a web of romance is woven around her life. Who can unravel it? We lay no claim to it. Tha: there was an English girl of this name living in the family of Phineas Pember- ton, who married Samuel Bowne, and has numerous descendants in Penn- sylvania and New York of the highest respectability is unquestioned, but we know little more. If not a descendant of the Percys, who was she? Mr. Thomas Stewardson, Chestnut Hill, a descendant of our heroine, wrote us, in response to our inquiry :
"The origin of the curious myth that made a 'lady' of the poor mother- less child, is, I suspect, to be found in a confusion between her and another Mary ( Horner. I rather think), many of whose descendants are also descend- ants of Mary Becket. This other Mary did possess a considerable estate, while the Becket child was penniless. I found that for several generations, nobody had ever attributed wealth to M. B., but that some ladies who were looking over family letters at the old Bowne home, Flushing, got the two names mixed. and wrote to their relatives, in Philadelphia, that Mary Becket had been an heiress. The Horners came from Yorkshire, and I once began a search for this Mary and her guardian, and did actually find an Eleanor Percy, whose period would have fitted well enough with that of Mary Horner ( I am not sure of the name now), but I tired of the job, and have never taken it up since."
When the surveyor came to lay out the Manor of Pennsbury, some of the grants of the Duke of York interfering with its limit. the owner consented to have the lines straightened. and, in consideration. William Penn. Septem- ber 30. 1682. ordered a tract of 120 acres to be laid off, for the use of the town- ship, near its centre. In 1784, the County Commissioners sold 20 acres of this land for taxes. In 1807. the Legislature authorized the inhabitants to sell, or lease. the remainder, the proceeds to be applied to the education of poor children, and the fund to be managed by six trustees, two elected cach year. The trustees named in the act were Mahlon Milnor, Charles Brown. Daniel Lovet, John Carlisle and William Warner. "The timber, or common." as it was called. was divided into 21 lots and leased by public outcry to the highest bidder, from twenty-five cents to one dollar per acre.13 In 180g "the Barnes's" brought suit to try the title, which cost the township $146.90 to defend. When the common school system was organized. the rents were paid into the school fund. The legislature. in 1864. authorized the common to he sold at public sale, and the proceeds of it now yield about $300 annually. Falls has always been liberal in supporting her poor. and has spent as much as $1.200 in a single year for this purpose. She was likewise among the carliest to provide for the education of poor children. She has yearly con- tributed a considerable sum to the public school fund. over and above that raised by taxation, and the revenue arising from the sale of the common. For all publie purposes the inhabitants have been liberal givers, and. as long ago as ISOI. the duplicate shows that $1,284.79 were raised for road-tax. Among the charities of Falls is a publie burying-ground, purchased by sub- scription, 1813. of David Brown, for $118.80, containing three-quarters of an acre. It was placed in the care of the trustees of the free school, and ordered to be divided into three parts, "for the white inhabitants;" for "the people
blaydock the same, or any relation to the Robert Haydock who married Mary Becket's mother ?
15 The survey made in 1708, gives the contents 1053x acres.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Andrew Crozier had charge of
of color," and the third part "for strangers." the grounds and digged the graves in 1817. Ten lots were leased in 1826. at prices ranging from $1.07 to $2.0; the lot.
The earliest established ferry in the county was in this township, across the Delaware just below where Morrisville stands. After the arrival of William Penn it was regulated by law, by Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 1# 1726 the Legislature of New Jersey granted the exclusive use of the east- eru bank, for ferry purposes, to James Trent, two miles above and two miles below the falls. The upper ferry was at the foot of Calhoun street, and in use to 1857. The lower ferry was used until the bridge was built, in 1804. The large brick ferry house is still standing near the river. About 1720 a ferry was established at Joseph Kirkbride's landing opposite Borden- town. The lower ferry at the falls was called "Blazing Star Ferry." There was an effort to establish "Harvey's ferry" across the Delaware, in Falls, about 1770, and to have a road opened from the post-road to it, through the land of Thomas Harvey, but was probably not successful. The oldest act for a ferry at the falls, that we have seen, is dated 1718, but the Upland court established a ferry there as early as 1675.16
Referring again to the name of Crozier, we find it is spelled Crozier and Crozer, but we do not know which is the proper way of spelling it. In the Morton lot. St. James graveyard, Bristol, are interred the remains of Andrew Crozer, who died, 1776, Mary, his wife, who died. 1783. and their son Samuel and his children. They were of the same family as the Croziers mentioned above.
In the spring of 1712, Joseph Satterthwait and Hannah Albertson sus- tained a loss of £500 by a fire and the council gave them license to ask charity of the public to replace it. This was one of the earliest fires recorded in the county.
The Croziers, who came into the township at a later day than the pioneer settlers, are descended from Huguenot ancestors brought up in the Presby- terian faith. They immigrated from France to Scotland about 1700: thence to county Antrim, Ireland, and, about 1723, five brothers came to America. Andrew, Robert, James, John and Samuel. Andrew, the immediate head of the Bucks county family, settled near Columbus, New Jersey, where he married Jane Richardson. about 1744. He removed to Falls, in 1758, and settled on a farm on the north side of Welcome. now Scotts creek. where he died in 1776, and his wife, 1783. They had nine children, the eldest, Robert, inheriting the manor farm, whose grandson, William P., became the owner. Robert Crozier, the grandson of the first Andrew, made Morrisville his home. The descendants have intermarried with a number of Bucks county families. Of the other brothers who came to America. Robert settled in Philadelphia, and James, John and Samuel in Delaware county, where John P .. a grandson of James, died in recent years at the age of seventy-five. The family furnished four soldiers
16 There was a "Hopkinson Ferry" on the Delaware, probably in Falls township. but we can not vouch for it. Our attention was directed to it by an extract from a letter. 4th month, 6th, 1820, giving account of an accident that happened to a party of four while crossing the river on the ice, in a carriage, and breaking through. Two were drowned, Esther Collins and Aun Edwards, and Henry Stocker and wife were saved. The letter we speak of was written by the widow of Stecker, and as may be imagined, a very pathetic cne. This is the first and only time we have heard of a ferry of this name on the Delaware.
.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
to the Federal Army in the Civil War ; J. Howard Cox served in the 214th Penin- sylvania regiment : William Morton in an Illinois regiment : John B. Bunting. 34th Ohio, and William C. Crozier in the 104th Pennsylvania. The first Au- drew left a large number of descendants.
The Kirkbride family is one of the oldest in the township. As we have recorded elsewhere, the first ancestor was Joseph," who came to the county in 1682 at the age of twenty ; married in 1683, and in 1687 bought five hundre! acres in Falls of Thomas Atkinson for £35. His wife was a daughter of Mahlon Stacy, the proprietor of the site of Trenton. He became a minister among Friends ; was an active surveyor and business man, and at his death left thirteen thousand four hundred and thirty-nine acres to be divided among his children. His wife received twelve hundred acres from the will of her brother Mahlon, who died in 1731. His son Joseph got his three negroes, Isaac. Coffee and Tehmacl. The homestead farm in Falls, one hundred and one acres and forty-six perches, remained in the family until 1873, when it was sold a: public sale to Mahlon Moon, for $210 per acre. A small dwelling, with cellar underneath, used as a tool and wood-house, stands on the tract, a monument of "ye olden time." and is said to have been built by the first purchaser of the land.
George Brown, or Browne. as the name was originally spelled, of Leices- tershire, England, was an early settler in Falls township, landing at New Castle 1679, three years prior to Penn. He purchased of Sir Edmund Andros, a tract on the Delaware joining Penn's Manor as is shown by Holmne's map, andI it has remained in possession of the family to the present time. He was ac- companied by his intended wife to whom he was married on their arrival. The wife was also from Leicestershire ; both were members of the Church of Eng- land, but joined the Society of Friends and became active in Falls Monthly Meeting. George Brown, being a man of strong and cultivated mind, wielled considerable influence in the Colony from the first. He was a Justice of the 'Peace, 1680. He had a family of fourteen children, and died in 1726, at the age of 82. His son Sammel married Ann Clark, 1717, and died 1709. at 74. He was a prominent member of the Assembly. Samuel's son, George, like- wise a member of Assembly, born 1720, was married twice, first to Martha Worrall. 1747, who died 1748. and then to Elizabeth Field, born 1725: the son John married An Field. also in the Assembly, both daughters of Ben- jamin Field. of Middletown. John and Ann Brown occupied a large farm near the present Tullytown, overlooking the Manor and the Delaware river. He was known as "Fox Hunter" John Brown. He kept a large pack of hounds and hunting horses after the custom of Englishmen of that day, and continued the practice until late in life. Hle carried a cane with a head made from a bone taken from the head of a favorite horse. He had a large family of children and died I mo. Ist., 1802, at 76. His family were also members of the Society of Friends, and his son John and grandson David were prominent in Falls Meet-
17 Dr. Thomas S. Kirkbride, a descendant of the Joseph Kirkbride above, born in Falls July 31. 1800. was connected with the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane upward- of forty years, and died there, 1883 He was graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Pentylvania, in 1832, and a month later was appointed a resident physician of the Friends' Asylum for the Insane at Frankfort. In ISpo, he was elected physician in chief and superintendent of Pennsylvania Hospital, just organized. He spent his life there and made it useful to humanity.
1 .
JACOB BROWN COMMANDING GENERAL, UNITED STATES ARMY.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
1
ing. The latter was 27 years treasurer of the "Bucks County Contributie. ship." He was the father of General Jacob Brown, commanding general of !! . United States Army, and removed to Jefferson county, New York, with !. . family.
General Jacob Brown was born in the house lately occupied by Willia. . Warner, about three and a half miles below Morrisville on the Delaware. Ma. 9. 1775. where his father lived until the general was grown, and they remove . to New York at the close of the century. After the war of 1812-15 had beg :::. and then but a plain citizen, he presented himself to General Armstrong. t! secretary of war. He said his name was Jacob Brown ; that he was a full-bl ... Bucks county Quaker, but had an inclination to enter the military service, which he would do if the secretary would give him the command of a brigade ; that !. knew nothing of military, but believed he possessed every other requisite ir a soldier and an officer. The secretary, without hesitation, offered him t. : command of a regiment, which he declined, saying : "I will be as good as n". word; give me a brigade, and you shall not be disgraced; but I will accep: nothing less." He afterward received the commission of brigadier-general fror: the Governor of New York, and with that, began his military career, rising. step by step, until he became commanding general of the United States Army. General Brown died at the city of Washington, February 24. 1828, and was buried in the-Congressional burying ground, where a monument was erectel to his memory, with the following inscription :
"Sacred to the memory of General Jacob Brown. He was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on the 9th of May, 1775, and died at the City of Wash- ington, commanding general of the Army ;
"Let him who e'er in after days Shall view this monument of praise. For honor heave the patriot sigh, And for his Country learn to die."
The father of General Brown died at Brownsville, New York. September 24. 1813. The widow of General Brown was a daughter of E. Williams, i Williamstown. New York, and died in the spring of 1878. at the age of 03. She retained her memory almost to the last.
About 1773 Anna Lee, with her embryo seet of Shakers, eight or ten in number, passed through Falls and stopped at the house of Jonathan Kirk- bride, while himself and wife were at Yearly Meeting at Philadelphia. The children, seeing a number of friendly-looking people ride up, invited them : spend the night. Anna took possession of a chamber and the others of the kitchen, where they commenced to iron a quantity of clothing from their saddle- bags. At a given signal all dropped their work, to the astonishment of the:r young hosts, and, falling into ranks, went round and round the room in nicas- ured tread, shouting
As David danced before the Lord, So will we, so will we; There was a woman sent from God, Her name is Anna Lee.
This was several times repeated during the evening. resuming their work niranwhile. The next morning they quietly rode away in single file.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
About 1790, the Reverend Peter Wilson, of Hightstown, New Jersey, or- ganized a small Baptist congregation in the Manor, but we do not know at what point, nor whether a house was ever erected. He supplied them several. wears. In 1798 the Rev. Alexander Magowan, licensed to preach in 1784, was called to the Manor, where he labored seven years and baptized one hundred and ten persons. When he left in 1805. the field appears to have been absorbed and nothing more is heard of the congregation. It was probably by the First Baptist church, of Trenton, which was organized about that time. The society owned a lot at Fallsington, but never built upon it. Mr. Magowan was killed in June, 1814. by the upsetting of his wagon, while on his way to Ohio.
The Falls Library Company was organized and the constitution adopted, November 26. 1800, but it was not incorporated until 1802. The constitution is signed by Daniel Trimble. Mahlon Kirkbride, John Mott. John Kirkbride, Stephen Comfort, and John Palmer, secretary. The first article of the consti- intion prohibits the introduction of any book into the library "which shall have lxen written with an intention to discredit the Christian religion, or bring into disrepute any society or denomination thereof." Among the earliest patrons of the library are found the names of Allen, Burton, Brown, Buckman, Carl- isle. Comfort, Clymer, Crozier, and Cadwallader. The number of volumes is nearly ten thousand. In 1874 Isaiah V. Williamson, a merchant of Philadel- phia, gave $5.000 to the library, and it received further assistance from his estate.
In Falls township are three old graveyards, one of which, the Pemberton graveyard, has become historie. It is situated near the bank of the Delaware, opposite the lower end of Biles's island, and in Penn's time was known as "The Point." where Henry Gibbs "the governor's carpenter." was buried in 1685. There appears not to have been more than twelve or fifteen persons buried there, and of all these only two stones could be found in modern times to tell who sleep beneath. They consisted of two pieces of slate, about ten by sixteen inches, and half an inch thick. On one were the letters P. P., and on the other Phe. P. The two graves are close together, and we have no doubt are the resting places of Phineas Pemberton and his first wife. Phoebe, the. daughter of James Harrison. Probably his immediate family were all buried in this yard. The Watson graveyard, on the road from Langhorne to Tully- town, about half a mile from Oxford Valley, is on the farin of Joseph H. Satter- thwait. It was given by the Watsons, large land-owners112 in that neighbor- hood in early times, as a public burial place, but no burials have taken place there for about half a century. It contains less than half an acre, and is surrounded by a strong stone wall. The little yard is nearly filled with graves, mostly without stones. The oldest date is 1732. It is held in trust by the Friends, who keep it in repair. There was formerly a graveyard two miles from Tully- town on the same road, on what is known as the "old Burton tract," in which slaves were buried. A road has run through it for more than half a century.
The old Cooper homestead. on the Trenton turnpike, half a mile above Tullytown, was built by Thomas, son of Samuel Cooper, of Philadelphia, 1789. the timbers being sent up in a sloop to Scott's wharf. He died at the age of 45. leaving four sons and one daughter. His son Thomas lived 69 years at the homestead. and died there, 1806, at the age of 72. He raised eleven children, and on the 15th of February, each year, the eight survivors had a reunion at
17 12 Thomas Watson owned a tract of three hundred and fifty-seven acres in Falls, by the re-survey.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
their mother's home, Bristol, for many years. During the war of 1812 Thomas Cooper" hauled his wheat to New Brunswick, and got $3.00 a bushel for it. He was the grandfather of John S. Cooper, Philadelphia. This family claim de- scent from William Cooper, "Pine Point," from whom J. Fenimore Cooper, the great novelist. descended.
A century and half ago a considerable trade in boards, shingles, lime, etc .. was carried on with Bordentown, through Falls. They were brought down on this side from some twenty-five miles above, and crossed over at the Borden- town ferry, which was then reached by a private road through the fields from the River road. In 1761 it was made a public road on petition of the inhabit- ants.
Falls township was the birthplace of Charles Ellet, Jr., one of the most distinguished Federal officers in the Civil War. He was born January 1. 1810: adopted the profession of engineer. and went to France at the age of nineteen with a letter to Lafayette. He finished his education in Paris, and afterward traveled over Europe on foot, studying bridges, canals and other improvements. He constructed several railroads, and the wire-suspension bridges at Fairmount, Niagara and Wheeling. He married a daughter of Judge Daniels, of Virginia. He was the first to recommend the use of steam-rams on the western waters, and proved their efficiency by destroying the enemy's fleet, May 12. 1862, at the cost of his life. He was buried from Independence Hall with civic and military honors. At his death his brother Alfred M. took command. and when he was given the Marine brigade, his nephew, Charles Rivers Ellet. succeeded to the Ram fleet. The latter died suddenly: 1863. Three other members of the family served with the Ram fleet. and behaved with con- spicuous gallantry, Lieutenant-colonel John A .. and Lieutenants Richard and Edward C. Ellet.
Joseph White. a distinguished minister among Friends, was born in this township. 1712. He became a minister at 20: traveled extensively and preached in this county, and, about 1758. made a religious visit to England. He re- moved to Lower Makefield toward the close of his life, and died there. 1777, from the effects of a paralytic stroke in Falls meeting while preaching on Sun- day. Richard Major. equally distinguished in the Baptist denomination, was horn in Falls. 1722. He was brought up a Presbyterian, but became a Baptist. 1744. Although without scholastic learning. his vigorous mind rose above all impediments, and he became an able and effective speaker. He removed to Loudon county. Virginia, 1966, where he labored in the ministry. and died at the age of 80. It is related. that on one occasion a man made a violent attack on him with a club, when Mr. Major, who possessed great presence of mind. said, in a solemn tone of voice. "Satan, I command thee to come out of the man." when the ruffian dropped his club. and became as quiet as a lamb.
In the first letter Penn wrote to Logan, after his return to England. 1701. is this paragraph: "There is a swamp between the falls and the meeting- house : I gave the Falls people, formerly, leave to cut the timber in it for their own use, which they have almost spoiled, cutting for sale. coopery, etc., which now, or in a little time, would be worth some thousands. Phineas Pemberton knows this business : let all be forbid to cut there any more, and learn who have been the waters of timber, that hereafter they may help to clear the rub- bish parts that may be fit for use, or give me tree for tree, when I or my order
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