History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 112

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 112

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William Betts, eldest son of Stephen and Hannah, inherited the homestead and lived thereon until about 1858. He died at the residence of his daughter, Sarah B. Mich- ener, in New Hope, May, 1875. He mar- ried in 1816, Ruth Simpson, born 4 mno. 3, 1795. died 3 mo. 16, 1857, daughter of David and Agnes (Wiggins) Simpson, of Solebury, and had by her seven children; Sarah, married Hugh Michener : William: Samuel; J. Simpson : Edward, died a young man ; David. died young; and Stephen.

William Betts, eldest son of William and

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

Ruth (Simpson) Betts, was the father of the subject of this sketch. He was born January 24, 1824, on the old homestead in Solebury, and spent his whole life there, dying November 28, 1895. He married Emily Walton, daughter of Jonathan and Jane Walton, of Buckingham, where Emily was born February 11, 1835. She died September 11, 1895, two months prior to her husband. They were the parents of four children; Edward, deceased; Anna J., wife of John W. Bradshaw; C. Watson; and Ruth, wife of Edward Livezey. The family were members of the Society of Friends from the time of their arrival in Bucks county.

C. WATSON BETTS was born on the old homestead in Solebury, and acquired his education at the public schools. At the age of eighteen years he apprenticed him- self to the miller's trade under his uncle J. Simpson Betts, at New Hope, where he has since resided. At the end of three years he took charge of the mill, and continued to manage it for his uncle until the death of the latter, in February, 1900, and for his successor Isaac WV. Holcombe, until July 2, 1900. On the latter date he was appointed postmaster of New Hope, and, resigning his position in the mill, took charge of the office, which he has since filled. In poli- tics he is a Republican, but has never held other than local elective offices, filling the position of auditor and other local posi- tions in New Hope borough. He is a · member of Unity Lodge, No. 300, I. O. O. F., of New Hope; and Lone Star Lodge, No. 16, K. of P., Lambertville, New Jersey. Mr. Betts married November 24, 1888, Emma E. Hough, daughter of John Hough, of Solebury. They are the parents of two children-Alice H., and Emma Francis, who reside at home.

CHARLES WEST HANCOCK. Among the retired business men who have found congenial homes in Bucks county, though born without her borders, and have become identified with and interested in the affairs of their adopted county and town, is Charles West Hancock, of Langhorne, a native of Philadelphia, where he was born June 19, 1835, of distinguished English ancestry.

John Hancock, the paternal ancestor of the subject of this sketch, was a native of London, England, and came to Fen- wick's colony, Salem county, West New Jersey, by way of Maryland, in the "Willing Mind," arriving in New Jersey 10 mo. 25. 1679, according to an account given by himself and transcribed upon the records of Salem Monthly Meeting of Friends. His father. William Hancock, seems to have preceded him to New Jersey, as one thousand acres were allotted to him on Alloway's Creek, and surveyed in 1676 by Richard Hancock by order of Fenwick. John Hancock inherited five hundred acres

of this land on the south side of the creek, while his brother, inheriting the personal estate of his father, settled at Elsinboro. John Hancock built in the year 1708 a bridge over Alloway's Creek that has given the name to the present town of Hancock's Bridge. His son William built in 1734 the brick house, now historic as the scene of the massacre of American militia and defenceless noncombatants by the British soldiers under Colonel Mawhood in 1778. William Hancock, then seventy-eight years old, was mortally wounded and died a few days later in the house of his brother-in- law, Joshua Thompson. Both John and William Hancock were prominent in the affairs of the colony and province, the latter being a member of assembly for upwards of twenty years and a justice of the courts of Salem county for a longer period, holding that position at the time of his death. John Hancock married Mary Champney, daughter of Nathaniel and. Elizabeth. She was also a native of Lon- don, and came to New Jersey with her mother in the ship "Henry" in 1681. John and Mary (Champney) Hancock were the parents of ten children : John, William, Elizabeth, Mary, Sarah, Nathaniel, Edward, Joseph, Jonathan and Samuel. John Han- cock, Sr., died in the year 1725.

Samuel Hancock married 4mo. 26, 1727, Rebecca Fogg, and had several children, among them a son Samuel, born 8 mo. 28, 1738, who on arriving at manhood married Rachel Bradway, born II mo. 17, 1738. Samuel Hancock, son of Samuel and Rachel, born 3 mo. 25, 1772, was the grand- father of the subject of this sketch. He married Hannah Pancoast.

Joseph Lee Hancock, son of Samuel and Hannah (Pancoast) Hancock, was born at Hancock's Bridge, Salem county, New Jersey, I mo. 6, 1806, and died in Phila- delphia 6 mo. 5, 1878. He was a promi- nent and influential man in Philadelphia, serving a term in the state legislature and filling the office of school director for several years. He moved to Philadelphia at an early age, and pursued various occu- pations. In 1845 he settled in West Phila- delphia and became actively identified with its development and growth. He married in 2 mo., 1832, Susanna Pryor Bacon, born in Philadelphia, 2 mo. 22, 1810, died there 3 mo. 19, 1878, daughter of David and Margaret E. (Pryor) Bacon, and grand- daughter of Joseph and Sarah ( West) Bacon of Philadelphia. On the paternal side she was a descendant of an early set- tler in Salem county, New Jersey, and on the maternal side from early Quaker set- tlers of Chester county, Pennsylvania, her mother, Margaret Edge Pryor, being a daughter of Thomas W. and Susanna (Edge) Pryor. and granddaughter of Jacob Edge and Margaret Paul, and great- granddaughter of Robert. son of John ap Thomas and Ellen Jones. Anna Bacon, a sister of Mrs. Hancock, married Mitchell Watson, late of Langhorne. Joseph Lee,

Charles We Hancock

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

and Susanna Pryor (Bacon) Hancock were the parents of six children: I. Margaret Bacon, born 9 mo. 16, 1833; married Wil- liam B. Livezey, January 6, 1876, and died November 13, 1895, without. issue. 2. Charles West (the subject), born 6 mo. 19, 1835. 3. George W., born 3 mo. 2, 1837, died March 22, 1903; married Eliza- beth James, May 7, 1862; issue, Henry J., born August 18, 1865; Walter W., born October 21, 1870; George B., born Decem- ber 17, 1867; Clement who died in in- fancy. 4. Albert, born II mo. 21, 1838, died February 14, 1891 ; married Josephine Kimes, April 12, 1871; issue, Francis Bacon and Katie K. 5. Franklin died in infancy. 6. Mary Anna, born 10 mo. 14, 1848, died December 20, 1886; married Charles A Dixon, September 15, 1869; issue, Edward C. and Susannah H.

Charles West Hancock was educated in the schools of Philadelphia, and on Feb- ruary 22, 1852, entered the employ of Jenks & Ogden, wholesale druggists in Phila- delphia, where he proceeded to learn the business. He also attended the Philadel- phia College of Pharmacy, and graduated there in March of 1857. On completing his education he went to Trenton, New Jersey, where he passed a year. Returning to Philadelphia he purchased the drug store of his former preceptor, and in 1861 sold it to advantage. He then removed to West Philadelphia and built up a large and profit- able business in an establishment he con- tinued to rent until 1876. In that year he purchased a piece of ground and erected thereon a place in which to carry on his business, and a commodious residence. His business continued to increase with the growth of the section of the city in which he was settled. He had the entire confidence of his profession and was well known to be accurate and highly edu- cated. In September, 1895. he retired from active business and moved to Langhorne, Bucks county, where he enjoys the advan- tage and luxuries incident to the career of a successful business man. He enjoys also the warm esteem and the highest respect of his fellowtownsmen, who have testified their appreciation of them by electing him to the town council, the presidency of the board of health, and a number of local offices.

Dr. Hancock is a distinguished and prominent member of the Masonic fratern- ity, a member of Newtown Lodge, No. 427 ; Temple Chapter, No. 248; Philadel- phia Commandery, No. 2; and is a thirty- second degree member of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. He is also a mem- ber of Hamilton Lodge, No. 596, and Logan Encampment, No. 83, I. O. O. F .; of Mantua Council, No. 22, O. U. A. M .; and Mantua Degree Council, of Mohave Tribe, No. 320, I. O. R. M .; Wenona Council, No. I. Degree of Pocahontas ; William Penn Division, No. 143. Sons of Temperance; and is a past grand chaplain of the grand division of the Sons of Tem-

perance of Pennsylvania, and also its grand treasurer. He has been for fifteen years a member of the board of managers of the Odd Fellows' Home. and was for a time treasurer of that institution. He is a past officer of all the foregoing organizations except Newtown Lodge, Temple Chapter, Philadelphia Commandery and the Scottish Rite bodies. He is a life member of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, a mem- ber of the State Pharmaceutical Associa- tion, and a life member of the American Pharmaceutical Association. Dr. Hancock has been an extensive traveler both in Europe and his native country. In politics he is a Republican.

CAPTAIN HENRY Y. PICKERING. Among the first of the gallant boys in blue to respond to the call of his country when the bombardment of Fort Sumter surprised and shocked the people of his native state, was Captain Henry Y. Pick- ering, of Lower Makefield township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania.

He was born in Buckingham town- ship, April 20, 1831, and came of the Quaker, non-combatant stock, being son of Yeamans and Rachel (Beans) Picker- ing, and great-great-grandson of Samuel Pickering, of Solebury, who married Mary Scarborough in 1712, and settled on part of the land of his father-in-law, John Scarborough, in Solebury, where he died 8 mo. 10, 1727. The children of Samuel and Mary Scarborough Picker- ing were: John, born 1714, died 2 mo. I, 1787, married 1745, Hannah Dawes; Isaac, born 12 mo. 23, 1716, married 1738, Sarah Lupton; Samuel, born 1718, mar- ried 1747, Grace Stackhouse ; William, born 1720, removed to Virginia; and Grace, who married William Lupton. John, the eldest son, settled on a portion of the Solebury homestead and had the following children : John, born 7 mo. 27, 1748, married Rachel Duer, in 1771; Jesse, born 12 mo. 10, 1751, married 1774, Ann Kemble; Hannah, mar- ried Jonathan Johnson, and removed to Lancaster county; Hannah Dawes Picker- ing, died 1796.

John Pickering and Rachel Duer, grand- parents of Captain Pickering, were the par- ents of seven children; Joseph, married Ann Watson, and removed to Chester county, Pennsylvania; Benjamin, who re- moved to Elmira, New York; Phineas, who removed to North Carlonia, John, who was blind; William, who married Tabitha Croasdale, and removed to Stroudsburg. Pennsylvania; Yeamans, married Rachel Beans; Stacy, married Rachel Philips ; and Mercy, who married Robert Paist.

Yeamans Pickering, father of the sub- ject of this sketch, was a carpenter, though he carried on farming in connection with his trade. On his marriage with Rachel Beans he settled in Upper Makefield town- ship, but having purchased a small farm

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

in Buckingham he removed thereon three years later. In 1826 he sold his farm and removed to the village of Greenville, where his son Yeamans Henry, as the Captain was first known, was born .April 20, 1831. The other children were: Mary; Hannah, married John Roberts; Rachel D., Timothy, Phineas, and Thomas Elwood. In 1840 Yeamans Pickering removed with his fam- ily to Lower Makefield township, where he remained until 1861, when he removed to Newtown borough. He died in New- town, October 1, 1862.

The boyhood days of Captain Pickering were spent on his father's farm in Lower Makefield. When the war alarm sounded in April, 1861, he at once enlisted in Com- pany F, Twenty-fifth Regiment Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, Captain Henry M'Cor- mick, and was mustered into service May 2, 1861, for three months. The Twenty- fifth was one of the first five regiments of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and the first to report for service at Washington. It was kept on duty at the Capital until June 28, 1861, when five companies, including com- pany F, were ordered to join Colonel Charles P. Stone at Rockville, Maryland. They participated in the skirmish at Har- per's Ferry, and suffered the hardships of Camp Misery. They were finally assigned to the Seventh Brigade, Third Division, under General Robert Patterson, and marched to Bunker Hill, July 15th. On the termination of their terms of service they were highly praised by their command- ing general. They were mustered out of service at Harrisburg, July 26, 1861.

Returning to Bucks county, Private Pick- ering at once enlisted in the One Hundred and Fourth Regiment, then being recruited at Doylestown by Colonel W. W. H. Davis, and was commissioned captain of Company K, September 20, 1861. With his regi- ment he served in the Army of the Potomac, at the siege of Yorktown, the battles and skirmishes on the Chickahominy, at Fair Oaks, James River, White Oak Swamp, Carter's Hill, and Malvern Hill, where, as is well known, the One Hundred and Fourth was always in the thickest of the fight. When the regiment was trans- ferred to Carolinas, Captain Pickering was appointed Inspecting Officer of Davis' Brigade, at the siege of Charleston, and, when Colonel Davis was placed in command of all the United States forces on Morris Island, General Gilmore ap- pointed Captain Pickering inspector of all the forces on the Island. When General Davis was ordered to the command of the forces at Hilton Head. Captain Pickering was retained upon his staff. He earned and retained the reputation of a good officer and a brave soldier.

Just prior to the breaking out of the war, Captain Pickering had studied den- tistry at Newtown, with Dr. Trego, and on his return from the war he removed to Erie, Pennsylvania, and began the pras- tice of his profession. When the oil fever

broke out, Captain Pickering contracted the disease and went to Titusville, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and engaged in the refining of crude oil. He was the head of the firm of Pickering, Chambers & Co., and known as the Keystone Refinery, all the members of the firm being brothers-in-law. Being early on the ground, and of shrewd business capabilities, he amassed a comfort- able fortune. Becoming somewhat broken in health, he returned to Bucks county and located at Langhorne in 1890. He died May 24, 1892, aged sixty-one years.

He was married October 16, 1861, to Anna J., daughter of John and Mary (Hough) Barnsley, now living in Newtown borough. Their children are: Russel, of Newtown; and Mary, wife of Major Charles Stuart Spong, of the English army, now stationed at Cario, Egypt.

PETER L. KREISS, M. D., of South Perkasie, was born in Lower Salford town- ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, November 12, 1857, and is a son of Peter and Elizabeth (Leindecker) Kreiss, both natives of Germany, who emigrated to America soon after their marriage and set- tled in Lower Salford township. Peter Kriess, Sr., died in Lower Salford when Dr. Kriess was a child, leaving four young children, viz: Henry L., of Allentown, Pennsylvania, who married Catharine Kline, of Lower Salford; Mary L., of Schwenksville, Montgomery county; Will- iam, since deceased; and Peter L., the sub- ject of this sketch. Elizabeth Kreiss, the widow of Peter, married (second) Joseph Steigner, of Kulpsville, Montgomery coun- ty, who is still living in Montgomery count- ty, with a daughter by a former marriage. During the later years of her life Mrs. Steigner and her husband resided with her son, Dr. Peter L. Kreiss, at South Perka- sie, where the former died in 1903 at the age of eighty-three years.

Dr. Kreiss, after the death of his father, was reared at Silverdale, Bucks county, in the family of Christian Moyer. He worked on the farm for Mr. Moyer until eighteen years of age, and then entered the general merchandise store of Jacob C. Wismer, at Silverdale, as a clerk, where he remain- ed for three years. Choosing the medical profession as lus life work, he entered Hahnemann Medical College of Philadel- phia, from which he graduated in 1881, and on April I, of that year located at Sil- verdale and began the practice of medicine. After two years' practice at Silverdale he removed to Florida, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he practiced until February, 1886, when he located at Man- heim in the same county, where he followed his chosen profession until April, 1891, when he removed to South Perkasie. Bucks county, where he purchased a small farm of Frank Wolfinger, and has since followed

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

his profession with success. In religion he is a member of the Church of United Brethren, and politically is a Republican. Dr. Kreiss married, September 11, 1880, Lizzie Detweiler, daughter of Dr. Isaac and Lizzie (Swartley) Detweiler, and is a de- scendant of early German settlers in Bucks county on both the paternal and maternal side, and they are the parents of three chut- dren: Isaac D., Joseph D., and Sallie D. (See Isaac Detweiler, in this work).

WILLIAM E. WILSON. The American progenitor of the branch of the Wilson family to which belongs William E. Wil- son, of Mechanicsville, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, came from the county of Cumberland, England, about 1688. The following is an exact copy of the certificate produced by him and recorded upon the books of Chesterfield Monthly Meeting, Burlington county, New Jersey :

Whereas Steeven Wilson of Eglishfields, in ye Parish of Bagham & County of Cum- berland, haveing a purpose in his mynd to goe to Pensilvania to settle himselfe there in some employmt of honest Labour in yt. Country,

Therefore this is to certifye and alsoe - to satisfye ffriends or any other people there in that Island that may employe ye said Steeven Wilson that he hath not come away or left his owne Country for any misdemeanor or miscarriage or matter of dishonestye of any kind that wee knowe of never since he owned ye Truth but hath walked pretty orderly for severall yeares amongst us, only that it is his owne free will purpose & resolution to settle him- selfe in that Plantation being a single man. John Banches, Richard Richison,

Philip Burnyeatt, Jerem : Bowman,

Christ. Wilson, John Serugham,

James Dickenson, Jeré : Spencer,

Jolın Robinson, Peter Hudson,

Richard Head, Jon : Spencer.

The above certificate is without date, but we find from other sources that Stepit- en Wilson was in the neighborhood prior to 1690. In that year he was one of the carpenters who had charge of the building of the meeting house at Falls, Bucks coun- ty. He married in 6 mo. 1692, Sarah Baker, daughter of Henry Baker, who was born at West Darby, Lancashire England, 8 mo. 18, 1672. Henry Baker, father of Sarah Wilson, came to Bucks county in 1684 and became a very prominent man, serving as justice and member of the colonial assem- bly for many years. Stephen Wilson from , the date of his marriage was a member of Falls Meeting in Bucks county, though he continued to reside in New Jersey. He was one of the committee who had charge of the collection of money for the building of Buckingham meeting house in 1705. Dur-

ing the winter, when the river was impas- sable, permission was given the Friends on the other side to hold their meeting at the house of Stephen Wilson. He died in March, 1707, and his widow married, 8 110. 19, 1708, Isaac Milner. She died in 2 mo. 1715. The children of Stephen and Sarah ( Baker) Wilson were Stephen, Sa- rah, Mary, Rebecca, John and Samuel.

Samuel Wilson, youngest son of Stephen and Sarah, was born March 6, 1706. He married in 1729 Rebecca, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Oliver) Canby, and on June 4, 1730, purchased 310 acres of land in Buckingham, covering the present site of Mechanicsville, a portion of which is still occupied by his great-great-grandson, the subject of this sketch, having been in the family for 175 years. Thomas Canby, above referred to, was a son of Benjamin Canby, of Thorn, Yorkshire, and his moth- er was a sister to Henry Baker, above men- tioned, with whom Thomas came to this country in 1684. Like his uncle, he became a very prominent man in the community, serving several terms in the colonial assen- bly, and filling several other positions. He was also a minister among Friends. Sam- uel Wilson lived a long and useful life in Buckingham and reared a family of thir- teen children, the tenth of whom, Stephen, born 7 mo. 2, 1749, married Sarah Black- fan, and remained upon the homestead, a portion of which he inherited at his father's death in 1787. Both he and his wife died in April, 1818.

Samuel Wilson, fifth of the nine chil- dren of Stephen and Sarah, born 6 mo. 5, 1786, became the owner of the honc- stead and 222 acres. He married Hannah Longstreth, and had eight children, one of whom, Samuel, born in 1823, was the father of the subject of this sketch.

Samuel Wilson was reared on the Buck- ingham farm and acquired his education at the old Tyro Hall school, then quite an educational institution. He taught school for several years and was for a short time engaged in the mercantile business at New- town. He also traveled extensively in the interest of a newspaper, part of his route being through the southern states, where he witnessed some stirring scenes just prior to the civil war. In the spring of 1876 he began growing seeds for market in a small way, and, the business growing from year to year, he became an extensive seed grower, shipping seed to all parts of the world, and doing a large business for about. twenty years. He died in 1897. He mar- ried in 1852 Maria Webster, nee Burger, by whom he had the following children : Samuel Howard, a physician at Mechan- icsville; William Edmund, the subject of this sketch; and MI. Elizabeth, who resides with her brother William. Samuel Wi son was a prominent and esteemed citizen. He was a member of the orthodox branch of the Society of Friends. In politics he was a Republican, but never sought or held

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

other than local office, filling the office of school director for nine years. His wife was a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Schoch) Burger, and was born in Phila- delphia in 1819, and died in Buckingham in 1893. Her father was a jeweler in New York city for a number of years and after coming to Buckingham lived a retired life.

William Edmund Wilson, second son of Samuel and Maria (Burger) Wilson, wa- born on the old Wilson homestead at Me- chanicsville, October 23, 1856. He acquir- ed his education at the Tyro Hall School and at the Doylestown English and Clas- sical Seminary. On leaving school he as- sisted his father in the seed business, and after a few years took an interest in the seed growing, part of the farm being al- lotted to him for that purpose. He later filled the position of postmaster at Me- chanicsville for seven years. After his mother's death he purchased the present farm of fifty-three acres of his father, and is a practical and enterprising farmer. He is a member of Doylestown Presbyterian church, in which he has been an elder for several years. In politics he is a Repub- lican. He is a member of Doylestown Lodge, No. 245, F. and A. M., and Doyles- town Chapter, R. A. M. Mr. Wilson mar- ried, October 19, 1898, Fannie Watson, daughter of Henry and Emeline (Rich) Watson, of Buckingham, an account of whose ancestry is given in this work in the sketch of her brother, William Watson. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have no children.

ALLEN ROBERT MITCHELL. of Langhorne, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, is a representative in the seventh generation of a family that have resided in that vicinity since 1699. He was born in Middle- town township, Bucks county. August 22. 1852, and is a son of the late Gove and Catharine Mather (Croasdale) Mitchell.

The first American ancestor of this fam- ily was Henry Mitchell, of Marsden Lanes. Lancashire, England, who was married May 6, 1675, to Elizabeth Foulds, at the house of Stephen Saeger, Marsden Lanes, under the auspices of Marsden Monthly Meeting of Friends. On 12 mo. (February) 16, 1698-9. a certificate was granted by Mars- den Meeting to Henry Mitchell, his wife Elizabeth, and their three children, Henry, Richard and Margaret, to Friends in Penn- sylvania. They sailed in the "Brittanica." with a number of other Friends on their way to Penn's colony, and Elizabeth and the children arrived in the Delaware river 6 mo. (August ) 25. 1699, Henry, the father. having died on the voyage. Elizabeth sur- vived but two months after her arrival. dying 8 mo. 10, 1699. The certificate was read and accepted at Middletown Meet- ing 10 mo. 7. 1699, and the children taken under the care of that meeting. Richard Mitchell, with the approval of the mect-

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History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 112

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