USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. I > Part 24
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Warminster,1 the twin township of Southampton, lies immediately north- west and adjoining. The two elected but one constable and overscer for several years, and were not entirely separated in their municipal administration until about 1712. On the other three sides it is bounded by Northampton, Warwick and Warrington townships, and Montgomery county, from which it is separ- ated by public roads. Its boundaries are the same as when laid out and its area is 6,099 acres.
Warminster was one of the earliest townships settled, and judging from Holme's map, the greater part of the land was taken up in 1684, generally in large tracks.2 Some of these land-owners were not residents of the township at this time nor afterward. Of these was Jolin Rush, connected with the early Harts by marriage, who settled in Byberry, where he lived and died. He was the ancestor of all bearing this name in Pennsylvania. He commanded a troop of horse in Cronwell's army, and, after the war, married Susannah Lucas, of Oxfordshire, 1648. In 1660 he embraced the principles of the Friends, and,
I The name is probably a compound of war and minster, both of Saxon origin, the first meaning a fortress, the latter the church of a monastery. Warminster is a market town and parish in England, County Wilts, at the western extremity of Salisbury Plain, on the Willey, 21 miles W. N. W. of Salisbury. Population, 1851, 4,220.
2 Landholders in 1684: William and Mary Bingley, John Rush, Sr., John Hart, Nathaniel Allen, George Randall, James Potter, John Jones, Henry Comly, Sarah Wool- man. Henry English and Abel Noble.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
1682, immigrated to Pennsylvania with his wife and children. Himself and family became Keithians, 1691, and, in 1697, they joined the Baptists. John Rush died in 1699. He owned five hundred acres in Byberry, and the same quantity in Warminster.
John Ilart and John Rush were probably neighbors in England, botli com- ing from Oxfordshire, where Mr. Hart was born at the town of Witney, Novem- ber 16, 1651. Witney is situated on the Windrush river, five miles above its junction with the Isis, twenty-nine miles from Oxford. There was a town there at the time of the ancient Britains, and the population is now 3.000. The church dates back to the twelfth century, and is one of the handsomest of its class in England. For several centuries it was the seat of extensive blanket manufac- tories. Mr. Hart came to Pennsylvania in the latter part of the summer, or early fall of 1682, preceding William Penn a couple of months. The 11th of October. 1681, he purchased one thousand acres of the Proprietary for the con- sideration of £20", and, on his arrival, he located five hundred acres in Byberry and the same quantity in Warminster.' He settled on the banks of the Poquess- ing, in Byberry, Philadelphia county, and, 1683, married Susannah, the daughter of his friend. John Rush.3 Mr. Hart was a distinguished minister among Friends, but went off with George Keith, and subsequently became a Baptist. He preached to a small congregation at Jolin Swift's, in Southampton, where he laid the foundation of the Southampton Baptist church. About 1695, MIr. Hart removed from Byberry to his tract in Warminster between the Bristol and Street roads, adjoining Johnsville, where he lived the rest of his life, dying there, 1714. Proud says he was a man "of rank, character and reputation, and a great preacher." His eldest son, John Hart, married Eleanor Crispin, By- berry, 1708. On the maternal side she was the granddaughter of Thomas Holme, surveyor-general of the Province, while her paternal grandfather was William Crispin, a captain under Cromwell, and an officer in the fleet of Admiral Penn, his brother-in-law, and would have been the first chief justice had he lived to arrive. Jolin Hart's wife was a descendant, on the maternal side, of a sister of William Penn's mother, who was Margaret Jasper. daughter of a Rotterdam merchant. John and Eleanor Hart had a family of ten children, whose descendants number thousands, and are found in all the states south and west of Pennsylvania. Two of their sons reached positions of distinction ; Oliver, who studied theology with William Tennent at Freehold, New Jersey, and became a distinguished Baptist minister in South Carolina, and Joseph, of Warminster, this county, who was a colonel in the army of the Revolution, and filled many prominent places in civil life. The South Carolina
3 The author has the deed of William Penn to John Hart, executed 1681, at Worni- inghurst, conveying 1,000 acres to him.
4 Return of survey is dated May 2, 1709.
5 There has been some confusion as to Jolin Hart's wife, whether she was the daugh- ler of William or John Rush. That he married Susannah Rush there is no question. As John Rush was not married until 1648, he could hardly have a son old enough to have a daughter of marriageable age in 1683. The Rushes, father, son William and wife Aurelia. with three children, came over, 1682, doubtless at the same time as John Hart and may have come in the same ship, as they lived neighbors in Oxfordshire, and it is possible le may have courted his future wife on the voyage. Joseph C. Martindale, in his "History ci Byberry and Moreland," speaks of John. Rush as "an elderly Friend." As there is no evidence he brought a wife with him, she may have been dead. We get our information from the Hart family papers and believe it to be correct.
HART HOMESTEAD, WARMINSTER; BUILT 1750.
Committee of Safety appointed Oliver Hart, in conjunction with Hon. William Drayton, to visit the western part of that state to reconcile the inhabitants to the new order of things in the Revolution. A descendant of John Hart, Samuel Preston Moore, Richmond, Virginia, was surveyor-general of the Confederate army during the civil war, and his brother, Stephen West Moore, a graduate of West Point, was inspector-general of Louisiana, and both were officers of the United States army prior to the war. The Hart homestead in Warminster remained in the family one hundred and seventy years, descending from father to son. John Hart, the elder. was one of the first men in the state to write and publish a book. While living in Byberry, 1692, he and Thomas Budd published an "Essay on the Subject of Oaths." We have never seen a copy and do not know that one is in existence. The Hart tract, in recent years, in Warminster, was owned by the families of Wynkoop, Twining. Kirk, Hobensack and others. The Bingley tract lay in the southeast corner of the township, adjoining John Hart's five hundred acres, and probably extended southwest of the Street road. The village of Ivyland is built on the Hart tract. The Hart mansion. the second on the site, built by John Hart the second. 1750, is still standing and in good condition. On the west end is a date stone of the following shape and inscription. The initials stand for John and Eleanor Hart, and he undoubtedly built it, as he was there in until 1763. It was wainscoted H tration shows the present was built it was probably the I E hood. The mansion was Hart, son of Colonel Joseph- 1750 ory, and was built, 1817. on not owned by any member of
actual life, and did not die inside and the half-tone illus- appearance. At the time it best house in the neighbor- the home of Colonel John Hart of Revolutionary mem- the homestead tract, buit is the family. He was born April 0, 1787. died June 18. 1840. He was a prominent man, was a member of As- sembly, and served an enlistment in the war of 1812-15. Two of his sons served in the civil war ; James II .. a major in the First New Jersey Cavalry, was killed. and Thompson D., lientenant-colonel of the One Hundred and Fourth Penn- sylvania.
The following are the first three generations of the Hart family of War- minster, including the first two after their arrival in Pennsylvania : Christopher
1×1
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
and Mary Hart, of Witney, Oxfordshire, England, had issue, Jolin, born No- vember 16, 1651, died September, 1714; Robert, born August 1, 1655, Mary, born April 1, 1658, Joseph, born October 24, 1661.
Jolin Hart, eldest son of Christopher and Mary Hart, married Susanna !. Rush, and had issue :
John, born July 16, 1684, died March 23, 1763; Thomas; Joseph, died 1714; Josiah; Mary, died 1721.
John Hart, eldest son of John and Susannah, and Eleanor, his wife, had issue :
John, born September 10, 1709, died June II, 1743; Susannah, born April 20, 1711, died March 30, 1733; William, born March 7, 1713, died October o, 1714; Joseph, born September 1, 1715, died February 25, 1788; Silas, born May 5, 1718, died October 29, 1795; Lucretia, born July 22, 1720, died Deceni- ber 15, 1760; Oliver, born July 5, 1723, died December 31, 1795; Edith, born May 4, 1727, died March 27, 1805 ; Seth, born June II, 1731, died October 31, 1740; Olive, born July 3, 1734, died August 13, 1734.
Joseph Todd, one of the early settlers of Warminster, took up a tract of two hundred and twenty-four acres, and was conveyed to him by patent, 1701. It lay on the Street road where the York road intersects it. The consideration was f30 Ios. We know nothing of Joseph Todd, whence he came or whither he went, but his descendants are probably in the county. Since then the prop- erty has changed hands several times, and been considerably reduced in acreage. It was in the Todd family for sixty-eight years, they building a stone house on it 1719, two of the rooms remaining in good condition, with the date stone. The subsequent owners were Samuel Lloyd, 1769, consideration 1955 ; the Wal- tons, the Reverend John Magoffin, Thomas Dixey, $6,500, and after passing through several additional hands to J. Jolinson Beans, who sold it, 1897, to Edward W. Adams, of New York. The latter sold the property, 1900. to Richard H. Chapman, of Chestnut Hill. Mr. Chapman has entirely remodeled the old homestead, skilled architects converting it into an elegant, modern man- sion. The original building was erected, 1719, but by whom is not known. While owned by Mr. Magoffin, seventy-five years ago, he made some alterations. while the present owner has preserved some of the old walls and timbers. There are few superior dwellings in the county.
Bartholomew Longstreth."1, a Friend and a son of Christopher Longstretli, was born at Longstretli Dale, Yorkshire, England, August 24, 1679, and im- migrated to Pennsylvania, 1698. He purchased three hundred acres on Edge Hill, which he began to improve, but soon sold it with the intention of return- ing to England. Changing his mind he bought five hundred acres of Thomas Fairman, in Warminster, for £175, and came into the township, 1710. This tract lay in the square bounded by the Bristol, Street, Southern line, the town- ship and Johnsville roads. He added to his acres, and at his death, owned a little over one thousand. He immediately built a log home, and subsequently a stone one, the second in the neighborhood, the joist being sawed out on the premises with a whip saw. In 1727 he married Ann Dawson, Hathoro. then the Crooked Billet, his age forty-nine, she twenty-three, and after spending a useful, active life, died suddenly August 8, 1749, and was buried at Horsham.
514 It is said that Bartholomew Longstreth opened the road from the County Line across to the Street road, thence by his own land to the Bristol road. Subsequently, and while supervisor of Warminster, he opened the York road from the County Line to Hartville and down to Hatboro.
4
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Ilis widow married Robert Thompkins, Warrington. She died 1785. Bartholomew Longstreth had elever children, and at his death, left the homestead farm to Daniel, the eldest son living, born 1732. He occupied the father's place in society and was twice married, the first time to Grace Michener, the second to Martha Bye, Buckingham, 2d month, 28th, 1779. He had nine children by his first wife, and died, 1803. Rachel, daughter of Daniel Longstreth, married Thomas Ross, son of John Ross and Mary Duer, Solebury, and grandson of Thomas Ross, the Quaker preacher. Thomas Ross was a distinguished lawyer and was usually called "Lawyer Tom." He settled in West Chester, but practiced extensively through- out the eastern circuit. By his first wife. Rachel Longstreth, he had a daughter, Rachel, born 3d month, 23d, 1782, died 7th month, 6th, 1875. who married
LONGSTRETH HOMESTEAD.
Richard Maris. The late George G. Maris, Buckingham, was a son of this mar- riage. Lawyer Thomas Ross' second wife was Mary Thomas .. They had sev- eral children.
His son Joseph, born 1765, inherited the homestead, but, learning the hat- making business, followed it several years at the Crooked Billet. He married Sarah Thomas, 1797, had six children, and died in the house wherein he was born, 1840. Daniel, the eldest son of Joseph Longstreth, born 1800, and died 1846, was a man of culture and intelligence and a useful citizen. He was twice married, first to Elizabeth Lancaster, Philadelphia, 1827, and then to Hannah Townsend, 1832, and was the father of nine children. In 1840 he opened a boarding school in his own dwelling, which he conducted several years success- fully. A majority of his pupils were from adjoining counties, among them David M. Zook, Montgomery, brother of General Samuel Kosciusco Zook, who fell at the battle of Gettysburg. Daniel Longstreth's sister Anna, who subse- quently married Charles Rabb, kept a school for boys and girls in the homestead about the close of the 20's, and the atithor was one of her pupils. Daniel Long- streth, who devoted much of his time to surveying and conveyancing, had a good
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
knowledge of the sciences, wrote considerably for the county press, and died in the home of his ancestors March 30, 1846.542 Daniel Longstreth was quite a mechanic and methodical in his habits. He recorded, in a book kept for the purpose, the deaths of the neighborhood from 18IS to his own, 1,035 in all. Among them were Reverend Thomas B. Montanye, September 27, 1829. aged sixty; Thomas Purdy, Esquire, sheriff, November 10, 1844, aged forty-four ; Dr. Isaac Chapman, February 17, 1837, aged seventy-seven ; Dr. John Wilson. Buckingham, October 16, 1835. aged sixty-three ; Reverend Jacob Iarzelere, July 19, 1834. aged seventy : Enos Morris, Esquire, Newtown, February 18. 1831 ; Dr. John H. Hill, Hatboro, January 3, 1831. The Longstreths were ad- vanced farmers. Joseph using the first hay rake in the county, 1812-13. Daniel. the elder, used lime on his land about 1775. and Daniel's uncle, John, and great uncle, Joseph, were among the first to sow clover seed and plaster on it. Of his five children four, John, Samuel, Edward L. and Anna, live in Philadelphia." The old homestead, owned by five generations of Longstreths, passed out of the family many years ago. It was built at three periods : the middle part by Bartholomew, 1713, the east end by his son Daniel, 1750, and the west end by the same, 1766, by Philadelphia workmen, and when finished was considered the finest home in that section of country. The farm was sold to Isaac Rush Kirk, 1850, and was owned for several years by his widow. In 1873 she had the middle and eastern parts taken down, and erected a new dwelling on their site. The Longstreth family retain the metal-moulds in which Bartholomew run his pewter spoons like other farmers of the day, and also the iron old Jolin Dawson used to smooth beaver hats. Bartholomew Longstreth was a man of influence in his generation. The Longstreths owned land in other townships.
The land located by John Rush was probably not confirmed to him, or he may have sold it to Bingley, to whom it was patented, for the tract of the latter covered what is in Rush's name on Holme's map. Henry Comly, who came with wife and son from Bristol, England, 1682, located five hundred acres in the northwest corner of the township. between the county line and Street road. and adjoining Warrington. The grant was made to him by William Penn before leaving England. Comly died, 168.4, and his wife, who re-married, 1685, died 1689. His son Henry married Agnes Heaton, 1695, and soon after pur- chased five hundred acres in Moreland, near Smithfield, where he died, 1727. leaving eleven children. He is thought to have been the ancestor of all who bear the name of Comly in this state. Sarah Woolman's tract of two hundred and fifty acres joined that of Henry Comly, but we do not know when she came into
51/2 In a commonplace book, among the Longstreths' manuscripts, we find the fol- lowing stanza, one of several verses written after Daniel Longstreth's death, by Elizabeth Hutchinson, his wife's sister :
And dearest .Daniel, art thou gone To travel o'er the spangled lawn, With pleasure and delight ; Where one perpetual blaze of day Shines forth with undiminished ray Nor sees the fall of night.
6 Departed this life in Philadelphia. on the evening of the 7th of 3d month. 1833, Margaret Longstreth, at the advanced age of 9; years, 3 months and 14 days, having outlived the most of her contemporaries. She was the widow of Daniel Longstreth, War- minster, Bucks county.
.. ..
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
the township, but prior to 1684. Nathaniel Allen was also a large land-owner in Bristol township, but probably never lived in Warminster.
The Nobles were among the very earliest settlers in Bucks county. We find Richard NobleGh on the Delaware, 1675, where he held a local office under the Duke of York. He settled in Bristol township, and took up a tract of land on the river above the mouth of Neshaminy and was a surveyor. His son Abel was an original purchaser in Warminster, where he owned six hundred and ninety-five acres at the resurvey, 1702.6 2 The original Noble tract lay on both sides of the York road, that on the upper side running up the county line, not reaching the Street road, and that on the lower side extending down it to within half a mile of Johnsville. In 1743 Abel Noble conveyed one hundred and sixty- five acres to his son Joseph, who, in turn, sold it and a few acres'more, 1763, to Harman Yerkes, the first of that family in Warminster. Abel and Job Noble, sons of the first purchaser, were owners of considerable of the ancestral tract at that time. Job was a man of many peculiarities. He left the grain ungath- ered in the corners of his fields for the birds. At the family mansion, built in English style with hip-roof. on the site of the dwelling of the late Andrew Yerkes on the York road, he built a stone apiary with the back to the road, and intended to have cut upon it the ten commandments, but it was never done. The story is told of one of his Irish servants, who, discovering a tortoise in the field, ran breathless to the house and reported that he had found "a snake in a box," nor would he return to his work until some one went to "demolish the craiture." Noble died, 1775, leaving two daughters, one marrying a Gilbert, the other a Moland. A daughter of the Molands married a Wood, and their daughter was the wife of Barzilla Gregg, Doylestown, who was a well-known school teacher. Descendants of the Gilberts live in Philadelphia. Job Noble's father joined George Keith and became a Seventh Day Baptist. The remains of the Noble family burying-ground are below the York road, near the county line, on the Justice Mitchell farm on a knoll that overlooks a meadow in front. Half a dozen graves, with a few feet of the old wall, are all that mark the final resting place of these Warminster pioneers. The Nobles were related to the Long- streths.
John and Isaac Cadwallader were in the township quite early, and John bought two hundred and fifty acres on the county line. Isaac died, 1739. War- minster had a sprinkling of Hollanders at an early day, who probably came from Long or Staten Island instead of direct from Holland. Among them we find the Cravens, Vansants, Garrisons, Corsons and other families. The Cravens probably came first, and James was a owner of land in the township as early as 1685, for we find that the 9th of April, 1740, he paid to James Steel, receiver
614 He came from England in the Joseph and Mary, Captain Mathew Payne, the first vessel that landed passengers at Salem, New Jersey, May 13, 1675.
61/2 Abel Noble was a son of William and Frances Noble, of Bristol. England. In 1752 he owned 700 acres in Warminster the tract being cut by the York road and extending from the county line to the Street road. In 1750 Herman Yerkes bought land of the Nobles. Abel Noble married Mary Garrett, daughter of William and Ann Kirke Garrett. William Garrett lived at Ilarby. County Leicester, England, 1672-1684. In 1684-88 Abel Noble had land surveyed to him hetween Second and Third streets, Philadel- phia. ITe landed at Salem, N. J., 1675. May 13, and was the owner of lands in Bristol, near the confluence of Neshaminy and the Delaware. Mrs. Anna Longstreth Tilney.
Abel Noble's only daughter. Anna, married David Thomas, a blacksmith from Wales, who settled at Darby. Delaware county, and removed to Providence.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
of taxes for the Proprietaries, "four pounds, two shillings, and six-pence. in full for fifty-five years" quit-rent due on one hundred and fifty acres of land in Warminster. The Cravens were living in the township, 1712, and James and Thomas were there, 1730 and 1737. In 1726 one of the name came into War- minster from Richmond county, Staten Island. In January, 1725, he bought a farin of one hundred and fifty acres of William Stockdell, adjoining lands of Peter Chamberlain and Bartholomew Longstreth, for £290. Possession was given the Ist of June, 1726. The Corsous came from Long Island, the first of the name being Benjamin, whose receipt of July 1, 1723, states that he had re- ceived £7 6s. of one Wessells, "on account of Jacob Kraven." Harman Van sant was Brigadier-Inspector, 1821, afterward Brigadier-General, and died September 13, 1823, aged sixty-six years.
The Yerkes" family made their first appearance in Bucks county about one hundred and fifty years ago, settling in Warminster, where Herman, or Harman, bought one hundred and eighty-one acres of the Noble traet on the Street road.
About 1700, Anthony Yerkes, with wife Margaret, and sons Herman, Adolphus and John, came from Germany and settled on the Schuylkill. He was one of the Burgesses of Germantown, 1703 and 1709, bouglit of John Holme three hundred aeres at Shelmire's mills on the Pennypack, in the manor of Moreland, Philadelphia county, now Montgomery. After the death of his first wife, Anthony Yerkes married Sarah Eaton, widow of Rev. John Watts, who died June 27, 1725. Anthony Yerkes had three children, Herman, born 1689. died 1750-1, Adolphus, living, 1744, and John who probably died un- married. Herman, who doubtless came with his father from Germany, married Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. John Watts, February 11, 1711, becoming the son-in-law of his step-mother. They had ten children, and at the father's death, he divided eight hundred acres on the Pennypack among them. Silas sixth child, born February 15, 1725, died September 25, 1795. married Hannah, daughter of Thomas Dungan, Warminster, and for a time lived there. They had ten children, from one of which, the late William L. Elkins, of Philadelphia, was descended, and was buried at Southampton. His brother Herman born January 18, 1720, and died about 1800, was the first Yerkes to settle in Bucks county, about 1750. He married Mary Stroud, daughter of Edward Stroud. Whitemarsh, Montgomery county, March 26, 1750, who died in Warminster, 1770. All his children were by her. For his second wife, he married Mary Houghton, widow of Richard Clayton, New Britain, September 30, 1773, who died January, 1785. In her will she left money to build a wall around the Southampton graveyard which is still standing. For his third wife he married Elizabeth Ball. widow of John Tompkins, and died 1819. Herman had eight children, Elizabeth, Catharine. Edward, Sarah, Stephen, Mary, Harman and William. Elizabeth married John Hufdale, April 14. 1770, and has descendants in Western Pennsylvania. Catharine, born June 19. 1755, married Reading Ilowell, March 28, 1782, who was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, 1743, and died November 26, 1827, in Warminster. IIe was a noted engineer,
7 In Warminster, May 11, 1835, Isaac Cravens, aged 76. He was born on the prem- ises where he died and was a soldier of the Revolution. He was probably born and died on the farm. on the county line, where the British burned General Lacey's wounded, at the battle of the Crooked Billet.
8 The name is of German origin and has been variously spelled, Jerghes, Jerghas, Gerkes, Gerghes, Gergehas, Gerkes, Yerkas.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
and served in the Revolution as quartermaster of the Second Regiment, Hunter- don county militia. He was prominent in several walks of life; a commis- sioner to survey the Delaware and Lehigh rivers, projected the map of Penn- sylvania bears his name, 1792, surveyor of Philadelphia, 1804, to his death, and built the first railroad in the United States, 1809, from Leiper's quarries to Ridley Creek, Delaware county. Reading Howell and his wife Catharine Yerkes were the parents of eight children, of whom the youngest, Catharine Augusta, born August, 1800, married Brigadier General Thomas Flourney, United States Army, War 1812-15, of Augusta, Georgia, and died in Phila- clelphia, November 21, 1900, aged over one hundred years, the last of the family of that generation.
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