History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 110

Author: Davis, W. W. H. (William Watts Hart), 1820-1910; Ely, Warren S. (Warren Smedley), b. 1855; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1040

USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III > Part 110

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Hampton W. Rice was born on the old homestead, March 24, 1844, and was reared to the life of a farmer, acquiring his edu- cation at the public schools and at the Excelsor Normal School at Carversville. On attaining manhood he took charge of the home farm, which he acquired at the death of his father, and resided thereon until 1886, when he removed to Lumberton and engaged in the manufacture of fertilizers. In 1901 he sold out at Lumberton and re- moved to his present residence at Centre Hill, built by his uncle, Dr. Abraham Livezey, in 1850.

In politics Mr. Rice was a Republican and has always taken an active interest in politics. In 1895 he was elected a mem- ber of the legislature, and was re-elected in 1897. In 1899 he was elected to the state

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

senate. During his eight years of con- tinuous service in the two houses of the legislature he took an active part in legisla- tion, particularly in that relating to the interests of the farming community. He be- longed to the anti-Quay wing of the party, and helped to defeat the re-election of Mr. Quay to the United States senate in 1900. He was nominated for the assembly in 1903 by a fusion with the Democrats, but was defeated at the polls by a small majority. Mr. Rice has always taken an active in- terest in all that pertains to the best in- terests of the local community, has served as school director, and filled other local offices. He is one of the most active mein- bers of the Solebury Farmers' club. He is a member of Doylestown Lodge, No. 245, F. and A. M. and of Paunaucussing Lodge, K. of P., at Carversville. He and his fam- ily are members of the Society of Friends. He was married January II, 1881, to Emma L., daughter of Watson and Hannah ( Pres- ton) Kenderdine, of Solebury, both of whom are descendants of Welsh ancestors who came to this country in the seventeenth century. Mr. and Mrs. Rice have been the parents of three children, only one of whon survives-Marion, wife of George H. Ely, who has two children, Wilton G. and Helen M. Ely.

CAPTAIN THOMAS PRESTON CHAMBERS, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, son of Alexander and Frances Wayne Chambers, was born in Philadelphia, Feb- ruary 20, 1836. His life has been one of varied and constant activity ; he has been a pioneer in many branches of industry, and is today one of the leading and influen- tial citizens of the borough.

He received a good education in private schools, and in 1855 went West, where he remained two years exploring what was then an undeveloped country, returning again to his father's home in Newtown. In 1861 he enlisted in Company K, One Hundred and Fourth Regiment Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, (Captain H. Y. Picker- ing), Colonel W. W. H. Davis command- ing, becoming first sergeant, from which position he was promoted to quartermaster sergeant November 5, 1861. After serving a short time he was taken sick with small- pox, and was honorably discharged on ac- count of physicial disability, and was sent home. Upon his recovery he recruited a company of infantry of which he was chosen captain, to repel the invasion of Pennsyl- vania. He started with it to the front, but on reaching Harrisburg was notified that the enemy had retreated. After this he enlisted in the Twentieth Cavalry Regi- ment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, Colonel Jol n E. Wynkoop, for six months, was commissioned second lieutenant, and at the expiration of six months was mustered in for three years in the same regiment. Shortly before the close of the war Captain Chambers was taken ill with typhoid fever,

and was discharged on account of physical disability. Captain Chambers participated in the celebrated Hunter's raid in the Shen- andoah Valley, and numerous other import- ant engagements.

Soon after the close of the rebellion, de- velopments of oil along Oil Creek in the vicinity of Titusville, Pennsylvania, at- tracted the attention of all adventurous spirits. It was not long therefore before Captain Chambers entered the new field of industry, and established at Titusville one of the pioneer oil refineries of the region. In this venture he was joined by his two brothers-in-law, Dr., H. Y. Pickering, and Major Samuel Comfort. Succumbing to the inevitable, the refining business was eventually sold to the Standard Oil Com- pany, and Captain Chambers turned his at- tention to the production of crude petro- leum. He was the organizer of several large and successful oil companies, besides en- gaging in numerous private ventures in the petroleum industry. He was practically a resident of Titusville from 1869 to 1887, and then returned to the family home in Newtown township.

In 1898 he removed from there to the borough of Newtown, purchasing the Ewing property, which he has since made his home. He was the promoter and organizer of the Newtown Electric Street Railway Company, of which he has been the largest stockholder and president since its organ- ization. Soon afterwards he acquired the control of the Newtown, Langhorne & Bris- tol Trolley Street Railway Company, of which he had been a director from its or- ganization, (this was the first street rail- way built in Bucks county) and extended the line of trolleys to Doylestown. With his son Alexander, he has had the active management of the company from its open- ing for traffic February 26, 1899. In the autumn of 1899, while on a trip to Hon- duras, he became impressed with the nat- ural resources of this undeveloped country, and on his return organized the Ulua Com- mercial Company for the purpose of con- necting the Ulua River with Puerto Cortez by a system of canals opening for naviga- tion several hundreds of miles of the inte- rior, and establishing a line of steamers to carry the fruit, mineral and other products of the country to the seaboard. He was also one of the organizers of the Olancho Mineral Company, who are opening and operating gold mines in the interior of Honduras. Captain Chambers and his two sons have spent much of their time during the last years in Puerto Cortez, Honduras, in the management of these companies and the development of their resources.

Captain Chambers was married October 16, 1860, to Hannah H., daughter of John and Mary (Hough) Barnsley, whose ances- try is given on another page of this volume. Their children are: Mary B., Francis Wayne, married R. E. Hopkins, of Tarry- town, New York: Alexander : Helen T., married E. T. Roberts, of Titusville, Penn-

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

sylvania; Anna Pickering; John B., Eliza- beth C .; and Clarissa W.

Captain Chambers is well and favorably known in Bucks county, and is connected with many of the local institutions. ne and his family are members of the Epis- copal church. He is a member of Newtown Lodge, No. 427. F. and A. M., and of the Philadelphia Commandery of the Loyal Legion, and also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 427, New- town, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Chambers dates his ancestry on his father's side from William Chalmers, as the name was then spelled, who was born and lived in Perth, Scotland. His son Alex- ander Chambers, came to Philadelphia when a lad, and married Ann Fox, of that city, in 1746. He died in London, England, and is buried in St. Andrew's churchyard in that city. John Chambers, son of Alex- ander and Ann (Fox) Chambers, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, about 1746, and married there in 1770 Deborah Hall; he died April 3, 1776. George Chambers, son of John and Deborah Hall Chambers. was born in Philadelphia, August, 1774, and died June 7, 1814; he married Mary Pres- ton, August 1, 1796, and had six children. After the death of George Chambers his widow married Mr. Richard Harris, of England, and in 1827 moved from Phila- delphia to Newtown township, where they purchased a farm of one hundred acres. Mrs. Harris died in 1864.

Alexander Chambers, the father of the subject of this sketch, son of George and Mary Preston Chambers, was born in Philadelphia, June 4, 1808. On March 25, 1835, he married Frances Wayne, daughter of Caleb Parry and Mary Stokes Wayne. Caleb Parry Wayne was great-grandson of Captain Anthony Wayne, and a cousin of General Anthony Wayne, of Revolution- ary fame, also grandson of Captain David Parry, and a nephew of Colonel Caleb Parry, who fell in the battle of Long Isl- and in 1776. They had two sons, Thomas P. and Frances Wayne Chambers. Mr. Chambers was engaged in the mercantile business in Philadelphia until 1841, when with his family he moved to Newtown and purchased the farm of his mother, and be- came a prominent and active man in this community. He and his family attended the Protestant Episcopal Church at Now- town, where he was a vestryman until his death.

Alexander Chambers, son of Thomas P. and Hannah H. (Barnsley) Chambers, was born in Newtown, October 20, 1865. He was educated at the schools of Newtown, at Swarthmore College and Lehigh Univer- sity, but failing health prevented his grad- uation from the latter institution in the class of 1887. He was engaged in the oil business with the Tidewater Oil Com- pany of New York, until 1894, when he purchased the Agricultural Machine Works at Newtown, which he operated for sev- eral years in connection with the manu-

facture and sale of other machinery. He is general manager and treasurer of the Newtown Electric Street Railway Com- pany, and actively associated with its nian- agement. For the past several years much of his time has been spent in Honduras, where he is associated with his father and brother John in the management of the Ulua Commercial Company, and the Olan- cho Mineral Company. He is a member of Newtown Lodge, No. 427, F. and A. M., and a well known young business man of Newtown.

LEWIS KELLER, the enterprising and successful merchant of Bedminster, was born in Plumstead township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, December 26, 1852, being the eldest son of Abraham and Judith (Myers) Keller. He comes of good old Pennsylvania German stock who for five generations have been prominent in the affairs of the upper end of Bucks county. The pioneer an- cestor of the family was Heinrich Keller, who was born in Weierbach, Baden, Ger- many, January 9, 1708, son of Wilhelm and Gertraut Keller. His wife was Juliana Kleindinst, daughter of Peter and Anna Maria Kleindinst, the former an official of Weierbach, Baden. Julianna was born in 17II, and was married to Heinrich Keller, October 20, 1728. Heinrich Keller, with his wife Juliana and four young children, emi- grated to America in 1738 in the ship "Glasgow," arriving in Philadelphia on September 9, 1738. Their eldest child l'eter died within a week of their landing, and seven others were born to them in Penn- sylvania. Heinrich Keller was one of the organizers of Keller's Church in 1746, and was an elder there until his death on Octo- ber 18, 1782. He purchased large tracts of land in Bedminster and Haycock, which descended to his children and grandchil- dren. His children, as shown by the records of the church of which he was one of the founders, were; I. Johan Peter, born November 20, 1729, died September 15, 1738. 2. Johannes, born January 28, 1733, died 1792, married Maria Drach. 3. Anna Margaret, born June 2, 1735, married Feb- ruary 3. 1756, Solomon Gruver. 4. Maria Elizabeth, born November 19, 1737, mar- . ried October 8, 1756, Philip Stever. 5. Eliz. Barbara, born April 14, 1739; mar- ried, 1760, John Niemand, and in 1769" Michael Steinbach. 6. Anna Maria, born November 5. 1742, married April 24, 1770. Adam Litzenberger. 7. Johan Hendrick, born June 20. 1745; died in the year 1748. 8. Johan Peter, born July 13. 1747, was twice married and had many children. 9. Dorothea, born September 2, 1749. married Henry Steinbach. 10. Christopher, born December 15, 1751. died July 8, 1820-see forward. IT. Heinrich, born May 19, 1755. married Catharine Fox, and had many chil- dren.

Several of the sons and sons-in-law of Heinrich Keller were prominent in the Rev-

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

olutionary struggle, his eldest son, Colonel John Keller, being probably the most promi- nent of his nationality in the Bucks county. He was a member of colonial assembly in 1776, and in the same year a delegate to the first constitutional convention, and in 1773 was a member of the supreme executive council of Bucks county. In 1784 he was again returned as a member of the supreme executive council. At the organization of the Bucks county militia, in 1776. he was cimmissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Third Battalion, and in 1780 was assigned to the command of the Second Battalion. His battalion was in active service during the greater part of the war. His brothers Christopher and Henry, and his brother- m-law Philip Stever, were also in the serv- Ice, the first as an ensign in the Fourth Battalion, and the last as a captain under Colonel Keller.

Christopher Keller, the tenth child of Heinrich and Juliana, born December 15, 1751, died July 8, 1820, was the great- grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He was commissioned an ensign in 1776, and his company was assigned to the "Fly- ing Camp" and participated in the disas- trous campaign on Long Island, where so many Bucks countians lost their lives or became prisoners in the "floating hells" in New York harbor. He married, February 17, 1778, Margaret Trauch, who was born in 1759, and died February 1I, ISII. They were the parents of nine children, and have left numerous descendants. The children were: I. John, born June 12, 1781, died February 25, 1842, and had nine daughters and two sons; a son Robert and two daughters still survive. 2. Henry, born Sep- tember 28, 1783, died July 9, 1831. 3. Mich- ael, born December 9, 1786, died Novem- ber 25, 1853. 4. Elizabeth, born August 19, 1788. 5. Anna Catharine, born July 17, 1790. 6. Samuel, born April 20, 1792, died January 28, 1861. _7. Joseplı, born November 10, 1794, died February 14, 1877 ; See forward. 8. Sarah, born November 14, 1797. 9. Daniel, born April 10, 1802. . Joseph, the seventh child of Christopher and Margaret, born November 10, 1794, was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He lived all his life in Haycock township. He was a blacksmith and farm- er, an active and prominent man in the community, and was an elder of Keller's church. His wife was Anna Mary Affler- bach, who died in 1876; both are buried at Keller's church. They were the parents of nine children, three of whom are still liv- ing: 1. Ann Margaret, born November 23, 1822, died 1902; married John Shisler. 2. Abraham, born September 16, 1823, died December 23. 1880-see forward. 3. Cattı- arine, born November 8, 1825, deceased ; married Thomas Hulshizer. 4. Diana, born November 18, 1827; married Levi Stone. 5. Tobias, born March 3, 1830, died 1897 ; married a Miss Gerhart. 6. Joseph, born March 17, 1832, died 1898; married Lydia Afflerbach. 7. Sarah, born October 8, 1834;

married Jacob Hess; second, Samuel Dot- terer. 8. Maria, born February 17, 1837; married William Sames. 9. Abednego, born May 14, 1840, married Eliza Affler- bach, living in Haycock.

Abraham Keller, father of the subject of this sketch, was the eldest son of Jo- seph and Anna Mary (Afflerbach) Keller. He was born in Haycock township, and had only limited advantages in the way of education, but became an active and suc- cessful business man, and was an honored and respected man in the community in which he lived. He was a farmer in Plum- stead township for a number of years, and later in Bedminster. In 1870 he entered into partnership with J. H. Afflerbach, un- der the firm name of J. H. Afflerbach & Co., and the firm conducted the Bedminster store for three years, when Mr. Keller pur- chased the entire interest and took his son Lewis into the firm, under the firm name of Keller & Son. Two years later he re- tired from the firm and left its control to his sons Lewis and Joseph. He then pur- chased the hotel at Bedminster, and con- ducted it for ten years, after which he con- ducted a feed store and looked after his farm and other property. He was twice married, first on October 10, 1847, to Judith Myers, who was the mother of all his chil- dren. She was born February 3, 1829, and died December 23, 1880. On December 26, 1881, Mr. Keller married Susanna, widow of Franklin Stauffer, of Springfield, who survived him. Abraham and Judith Myers Keller were the parents of ten children: William, who died in infancy; Mary, born November 20, 1850, wife of H. S. Deaterly, Bedminster; Lewis, the subject of this sketch; Joseph, born November 17, 1854, living in Philadelphia; Amanda, born De- cember 23, 1856, died July 26, 1874; Su- sanna, born March 17, 1858, died October 3, 1866; Abraham M., born March 20, 1860, living in Doylestown; Catharine, born July 8, 1862; married first Harvey Shull, now wife of Clinton Lerch, of Tinicum; Mah- lon, born November 4, 1865, a justice of the peace and business man at Perkasie; Ira M., born June 8, 1868, died 1895.

Lewis Keller, the subject of this sketch, is one of the most successful and enterpris- ing merchants in Bucks county. He was reared on his father's farm and received his education at the common schools of the neighborhood. At the age of seventeen he entered the store of J. H. Afferbach & Co., at Bedminster, of which firm his father was a member, and three years later bought Mr. Afferbach's interest, and for two years was a member of the firm of Keller & Son. In 1875 his father retired from the firm and was succeeded by his second son, Jo- seph M., and the firm name was changed to Keller & Brother. In 1878 Joseph M. retired from the firm, since which time the business has been conducted by Lewis Kel- ler. He is a born merchant, and early realized the wants and needs of his cus-

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tomers and how to supply them, to the mut- ttel benefit of vendor and vendec. In a few years the business outgrew its modest quarters, and a new and much larger store was erected, including a large furniture warehouse. On October 1, 1887, his store buildings and recently erected dwelling were entirely consumed by fire, entailing a loss of nearly $10,000 above the insur- ance. Undaunted by this misfortune, Mr. Keller erected a new and larger store, now the largest in Bucks county, and consider- ably increased his stock, and by closely studying the needs of the community and the wants of his customers and giving all courteous treatment, has built up the larg- est general store business in the county ; demonstrating that a large business can be done out in the country away from rail- road centers. The result is due to the in- tegrity, industry and business ability of the genial proprietor.

Mr. Keller was married, December 23, 1876, to Emma J., daughter of Amos Har- pel, who was born February 5, 1856. They have four children: 1. Hiram, born Aug- ust 9, 1879, graduated in 1901 from Gettys- burg College with the degree of A. B., and in 1904 from the law department of the University of Pennsylvania with the de- gree of LL. B .; was registered as a sttt- dent in the law offices of Yerkes, Ross & Ross, and is now a member of the bars of Philadelphia and Bucks counties. 2. Erwin, born November 30, 1882, a student at the Pennsylvania State College. 3. Elsie, born October 24, 1890. 4. Norman Luther, born February 7, 1896, resides at home.

Mr. Keller has been postmaster of Bed- minster since 1875. He is a member of St. Mathew's Evangelical Lutheran church.

HENRY TOWNSEND DARLING- TON, for twenty-three years the editor of the Bucks County Intelligencer, was born at "Darnhall," Birmingham township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, September 17, 1832, and died at Doylestown, Bucks county, November 24, 1878. He was the son of Edward B. and Hannah ( Sharp- less) Darlington, and therefore descended from two old, prominent and influential families of eastern Pennsylvania. All his ancestors in America were members of the Society of Friends.

On the paternal side, the subject of this sketch is a descendant in the ninth genera- tion from Richland Darlington, of Darn- hall, Cheshire, England, and in the fifth generation from Abraham Darlington, who migrated from Cheshire in 1711, and settled in Aston township, Chester. (now Delaware) county, from whence he re- moved to Birmingham township, Chester county, in 1724. Abraham Darlington was a prominent and useful man in the com- munity. While ostensibly a farmer, he was a saddler by trade, and in later life de- voted much time to physic and surgery,

and became proficient in the treatment of disease and setting of broken bones. He was twice married, first in March, 1712, to Deborah Carter, and second in 1716, to Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Eliza- beth (Hooten) Hillborn, of Attleboro Bucks county, by whom he had three daughters and two sons. He died 2 mo. 9, 1776, and his wife I mo. 28, 1771.

Thomas Darlington, son of Abraham and Elizabeth, was born in Birmingham, in 1725. He married 4 mo. 25, 1754, Hannah, daughter of Edward and Hannah ( Pierce) Brinton, and settled in East Bradford, Chester county, where he was a promi- nent farmer. He died 12 mo. 17, 1808, and his widow 10 mo. 12, 18II. They were the parents of eleven children, nine sons and two daughters.

Edward, the eldest child of Thomas and Hannah (Brinton) Darlington, was born in East Bradford 6 mo. 3, 1755. On 3 mo. 8, 1781, he married Hannah, daughter of John and Joanna (England) Townsend, and settled on a farm of 282 acres in Birm- ingham, devised to him by his grandfather, Edward Brinton. He was an influential man and public-spirited citizen, a member of assembly for twelve years (1802-1814), and held many other positions of trust. He was one of the commissioners ap- pointed to provide for the maintenance of the poor of the county, and took a promi- nent part in all that pertained to the best interests of the community. He died 4 mo. 1, 1825, and his wife 8 mo. 9, 1826. They were the parents of six children : William, the celebrated botanist, born 1782, died 1863; Thomas, born 1784, died 1866, unmarried : Ziba, born 1788, died 1876; Samuel, born 1793, died 1794; Jane, born 1796, died 1817, unmarried; and Edward.

Edward Brinton Darlington, youngest son of Edward and Hannah (Townsend) Dar- lington, was born in Birmingham, 12 m10. 16, 1798, and died there 5 mo. 6, 1851. He married 3 mo. 23, 1831, Hannah, daughter of Nathan H. and Martha ( Price) Sharp- less. He was a farmer and a prominent and active citizen. His children were Hen- ry T., the subject of this sketch; Dillwyn, born 1834, died 1851; Martha, born 1837, married Henry Hulme, a native of France ; Emily P., married Brinton W. Woodward, of Lawrence, Kansas; Hannah, married John E. Huey; Thomas, married Jane S. Paschall; and Catharine, married Frank A. Faxon, of Kansas City, Missouri.

Henry T. Darlington was born on the farm in Birmingham named by his grand- father "Darnhall" from the residence of his ancestors in England, and the first seventeen years of his life were spent there- on. The greater part of his education was obtained at the public schools of his native county. He spent one year at a boarding school kept by Benjamin Price, and another at Anthony Bolmar's school at West Ches- ter. In 1849 he entered the office of the T'illage Record at West Chester as an apprentice under Henry S. Evans, and re-

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

mained there until he attained his major- ity. His father having died, he went back to the farm in 1853, and remained there two years. In 1855 he entered into part- nership with Enos Prizer, and purchased the Bucks County Intelligencer, of John S. Brown, and assumed control February 15 of that year. He was associated with Prizer under the firm name of Prizer & Darlington in the conduct of the paper un- til the death of the former, November 25, 1864, when he purchased the entire inter- est, and for the next twelve years conducted the paper alone. In 1876 the Intelligencer . was changed from a weekly to a semi- weekly, and Alfred Paschall, a cousin, was taken into the firm. A year later his broth- er, S. Edward Paschall, entered the part- nership.

Mr. Darlington, being a man of more than average moral tone, of untiring en- ergy, and by nature an exceptional journ- alist, raised the Intelligencer to the front rank of American country journalism. As an editor there was a dignity as well as a scope in his writing that is seldom seen in newspaper work. He was not excep- tionally well educated, but admirably fitted for his chosen profession. He was a man of and for the people, he loved the truth and hated a lie, and devoted the whole force of an earnest and noble life to the elevation and ennoblement of the profes- sion which was his pride. The Intelli- gencer under the management and control became a power in the community, and its circulation and influence was largely increased. Active in politics, yet never seeking office, he took a leading part as editor of the principal Republican paper in the county in moulding and solidifying pub- lic opinion and party policy. His newspaper was preeminently a county paper; it coun- seled always patriotic and intelligent action in politics, and constantly urged public in preference to private interests; it reflect- ed the soul of the man that devoted the best years of his life to it. During the twenty-three years of his life in Bucks county he was keenly alive to her best in- terests. As a journalist he labored inces- santly for the material interests of the coun- ty ; his whole heart was in his work. Intel- ligent, well read, thoroughly conversant with the political and social drift of the state and nation, and intensely practical in his ideas, he constantly urged Bucks county to perfect her own institutions and develop her resources, not only for her own welfare but that her influence might be felt beyond her limits.

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History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 110

Author: Davis, W. W. H. (William Watts Hart), 1820-1910; Ely, Warren S. (Warren Smedley), b. 1855; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921 Publication date: 1905 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1040

Author: Davis, W. W. H. (William Watts Hart), 1820-1910; Ely, Warren S. (Warren Smedley), b. 1855; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1040