History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 119

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 119

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Edward Woodman, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. was born in Chestertown, Maryland, on Christmas day, 1749. His parents were natives of England ; his father, a sea captain, died at sea before the birth of his only child, and the widow landed at Chestertown, where Edward was born. His mother died also while he was yet a child, and the orphan was left to the care of his guardian, William Clayton, of Chestertown. His guardian died when Ed- ward was in his thirteenth year, and he remained with the widow and family until fourteen years old. Mr. Clayton owned a coasting. vessel that traded between the Barbadoes and points on the American coast, and it was still owned and run by the widow and heirs. Witnessing its arrival and departure at Chestertown, young Woodman had felt for some time a longing for a life on the sea, and in. 1764, by the connivance of some of the crew, succeeded in secreting himself on board until the ves- sel was out at sea. He went with the ship to Barbadoes, after which they brought a cargo to some port in Virginia, where they took on a cargo of contraband goods for the use of the French, with whom England was then at war, and sailed for Halifax. Shortly after leaving the port they were captured by a vessel in charge of bucca- neers, or a species of pirates that were preying on the merchant vessels off the coast of Virginia and the Carolinas, and their cargo seized, and young Woodman was carried off by the pirates, with whom he was forced to remain for four years. While their ship was laid up for repairs in a North Carolina port hie succeeded in making his escape, and found employment among the planters near Hillsborough. North Carolina, where he remained until the breaking out of the Revolutionary war. At the first organization of the soldier yeo- manry he joined a military company under Colonel Caswell, and was drilled in the art of war as a mounted minute man. Early in 1776 Colonel Caswell summoned his men to join him at Fayette, North Carolina, and they hastily marched to join General Moore. who was ordered by the committee of safety

to intercept a force of fifteen hundred Tories under Brigadier General MacDonald and Major General MacCloud, who were marching to join Sir Henry Clinton's fleet at Wilmington. Col. Caswell and his com- mand met the Tories at Moore's Bridge, one day's march from Wilmington, and com- pletely routed them. From this time on Edward Woodman was with the American army. He assisted in building Fort Moul- trie, and in the defense of Charleston, after which his regiment was ordered to join General Washington near New York, and marched the whole distance, arriving in time to participate in the disastrous battle of Long Island. Private Woodman re- mained in the army until 1782, participating in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Ger- mantown and Brandywine, and other en- gagements, in all twenty-four battles, and suffered the hardships of the camp at Val- ley Forge. While at the latter place he was detailed to assist Abijah Stephens, a Quaker farmer residing near the camp, in caring for the sick and wounded. Friend Stephens possessing some skill at surgery and the concoction of simples, did much to relieve the suffering troops. Through this asso- ciation he became acquainted with the family of Friend Stephens, whose daugh- ter he eventually married. His first invita- tion to the Stephens home was due to the fact that he had known William Thomas, the brother of Mrs. Stephens, when a resi- dent of New Garden, North Carolina. Dur- ing one of the winters of Trooper Wood- man's service in the north, under General Sullivan, he was one of a small scouting party who were surprised and surrounded by British cavalry, and on -orders of the captain they scattered and ran each one for himself. Woodman escaped through the lines and after a night in the woods found shelter in a farm house with the family of an American soldier who was serving in a distant army. He was persuaded by the helpless women and children to remain with them until hostilities opened in the spring, and spent the remainder of the winter in cutting firewood and fencing and caring for the family, believing that his comrades thought him dead, and that he could be of more use there than in the winter quar- ters of his command. In the spring he rejoined his command, and, obtaining a personal interview with General Sullivan, told his story, and was received kindly. Hle served with the North Carolina Line until August. 1782, when, the term of his second enlistment having expired, he was, with a number of his old neighbors, hon- orably discharged, while in the neighbor- hood of New York, and they started on their homeward journey to North Carolina. Being badly worn out from the privations of the long war, and miserably clad. hav- ing received but two pairs of shoes in his seven years' service, he suggested that they go by the way of Valley Forge and rest for a time with their old friend Abijah Steph- ens. Arriving there they were warmly

Isaac N. Woodman .

A T-

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

welcomed and supplied with homespun clothing, and remained for some weeks in the neighborhood assisting the farmers in threshing wheat, that they might earn suffi- cient money to defray the expense of their homeward trip. When they were ready for their homeward trip, Mr. Woodman was taken sick with camp fever, and was left behind to be nursed back to health by the kindly Quakers. On his recovery he re- mained in the neighborhood and found em- ployment among the farmers. On January 1, 1789, he married Sarah Stephens, daugh- ter of his benefactor, Abijah Stephens. She was of Welsh origin, a descendant of Evan ap Evan, who was the original owner of the Valley Forge tract, on which she was born. Abijah Stephens conveyed to the which was in Tredyffryn township, Chester young couple thirty acres of land, part of county, and part in Upper Merion, Mont- gomery county, where they spent the re- mainder of their lives. Edward Woodman was killed by a fall from a mow in his barn, December 23, 1820, and he was buried at the Valley Friends' burying ground on his seventy-first birthday. Edward and Sarah (Stephens) Woodman were the parents of seven children: William, Ruth, Abisha, Rebecca, Henry, Edward and Mary.

Henry Woodman, the fifth child, was born December 20, 1795. He obtained the rudiments of an education in an old log school house near King of Prussia, and at the age of fourteen entered Benjamin Moore's boarding school, where he was taught surveying and the higher branches of mathematics. Two years later he began teaching school, which he followed for three years, and then went to Philadelphia, where he was employed for five years, and then returned home. On 9 mo. 12, 1827, he was married in Wrightstown Meeting House, Bucks county, to Mary Smith, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Worthington) Smith, and granddaughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Eastburn) Smith, who had settled on a five hundred acre farm in Buckingham, along the Wrightstown line, just east of Wycombe, part of which has remained the property of his descendants to. this day, and was the birthplace of the subject of this sketch. Henry Woodman had joined the Society of Friends prior to his marriage, and at the age of twenty-four entered the ministry and continued a recommended min- ister of Wrightstown Meeting during his long life. He followed surveying and con- veyancing in connection with farming. He was an intelligent and prominent man in the community, and a great friend of educa- tion ; was a member of the first board of public school directors of Buckingham, and served as its secretary for many years. He died on the old homestead in Buckingham December 24, 1879, at the age of eighty- four years. The children of Henry and Mary (Smith) Woodman were: Benjamin S .. born 8 mo. 22, 1828, residing in Middle- town, near Langhorne; Edward, born 8 mo. 19, 1830, died at the age of twenty-two

years; Mary S., born 3 mo. 29, 1833, un- married, residing at Rushland; Henry, Jr., born 8 mo. 16, 1835 (see forward) ; Will- iam, born 7 mo. 24, 1838, a merchant and postmaster at Buckinanville; Comly, born 12 mo. 30, 1840, a farmer in Buckingham; and Wilson M., born 10 mo. 3, 1845, resid- ing on a portion of the old homestead.

Henry Woodman, Jr., born on the old homestead in Buckingham, August 15, 1834, was educated in the public schools of the neighborhood. He was a man of quiet, studious habits, and a deep religious nature. He was reared on his mother's farm, and on his marriage purchased an adjoining farm, part of the original Smith homestead, and lived thereon until 1895, when he took up his residence with his son, Dr. Wood- man, at Morrisville, where he died in the spring of 1904. He was a school director of Buckingham township for sixteen years, ten of which he was secretary of the board. He was also a trustee of Wrightstown Friends' school, of which meeting he was a consistent member. In politics formerly a Republican, he was for the past ten years a Prohibitionist, but seldom voted a "straight ticket." He married, 3 mo. 13, 1862, Margaret Neall, of Philadelphia, daughter of Isaac and Rebecca (Miller) Neall, by whom he had five children; Ed- ward A., residing on the old homestead ; Agnes, wife of Professor Gregg, of Lincoln, Virginia; Isaac N., the subject of this sketch; Lewis S., deceased; and Edith Roberts.

ISAAC N. WOODMAN, M. D., was born on the old homestead in Buckingham, and received his education at the Concord public school, Langhorne Friends' school and Doylestown English and Classical Sem- inary, after which he taught school in War- wick and Warminster townships. He en- tered Hahnemann Medical College, from which he graduated in 1893, and located at Morrisville, where he has since prac- ticed his profession. He was a member and secretary of the Morrisville board of health for five years, when he resigned on account of the press of his professional duties. He is also a member of the Morrisville school board, in which position he has served for seven years, four years as the president of the board. He is a member of Wrightstown Friends' Meeting, and was for many years active in First Day school work there as a teacher and superintendent.

He married, on August 1, 1896, Matilda Blaker, daughter of Achilles and Rachel Anna (Twining) Blaker. Her father died when she was three years old, and her mother fifteen years later married Stephen Tripp, of Atlanta, Nebraska. She was edu- cated at the Wrightstown Friends' school, Doylestown Seminary, and West Chester Normal School, and taught school for sev- eral years, beginning at the age of sixteen years. They are the parents of four chil- dren, all born at Morrisville, viz. : Henry, Jr., born April 30, 1897 ; Rachel Anna, born November 21, 1898; Isaac Neall, Jr., born

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

December 9, 1900; and Agnes Gregg, born March 4, 1902.

Margaret M. (Neall) Woodman, the mother of Dr. Woodman, was born in Easton, Maryland. One of her brothers, Isaac J. Neall, was a member of the Penn- sylvania legislature before he was twenty- two years of age. He was also captain in Colonel Baker's cavalry regiment, and died while district attorney of Cincinnati, Ohio. Another brother, Alfred, was also a member of the Pennsylvania legislature, and died while collector of the port of Philadelphia. Another brother, James, was a magistrate in Philadelphia for twenty years. Two sis- ters, Annie Woolston, and Lidie R. Smith, were residents of Bucks county. Another sister, Fanny Moor, lives in Tacony. -

THOMAS CLARENDON, of Bucking- ham, was born at Orange, New Jersey, July II, 1866, a son of Thomas and Margaret (Jackson) Clarendon. His father, Thomas Clarendon, was born in the north of Ire- land, and came to America when a young man, located in New York, and learned the trade of a tanner. Later he engaged in the wholesale leather business, with offices at 76-78 Gold street, New York city, where he conducted a large business for many years. He acquired a large tract of land where Clarendon, Warren county, Pennsyl- vania, now stands, which was sold by his estate less than two years before the dis- covery of oil thereon, and it is now worth millions. He died in 1872 in Nice, Italy, his body being brought home for burial. His wife, Margaret Jackson, was born in Scotland, and died in Brooklyn, New York, in 1880. The children of Thomas and Mar- garet (Jackson) Clarendon are: Margaret L., wife of George G. Cookman, of Ger- mantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; Robert H., of Tioga, Tioga county, Penn- sylvania; Anna A., wife of Guerard Van Nestern, of Berlin, Germany ; and Thomas, the subject of this sketch.

Thomas Clarendon, the subject of this sketch, was born in Orange, New Jersey, but his boyhood days were spent prin- cipally in Brooklyn, New York, where his parents then resided. He acquired his edu- cation at Swarthmore College and at the Bryant & Stratton Business College, Brook- lyn. At the age of twenty-five years he went to Niles Valley, Tioga county, Penn- sylvania, and engaged in the mercantile business. Five years later he sold out and came to Bucks county and bought the old Beans farm in Buckingham, where he now resides. In politics Mr. Clarendon is a Re- publican, but has held none but local offices and has been a member of the Buckingham school board for three years. He member of Oswayo Lodge, No. 317, F. and A. M .; Tioga Chapter, No. 194. R. A. M., and Tyagathton Commandery, No. 28, K. T. He and family are members of the Episco- pal church. Mr. Clarendon has been twice

married. His first wife, Etta Earl, of Os- wayo, Potter county, Pennsylvania, died in 1891, leaving two children, Edith V. and Thomas Lee. He married ( second) in 1894, Helen Sunderland, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Rushmore ) Sunderland, of Tioga, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, by whom he has one child, Robert H.

SERUCH TITUS KIMBLE, of Buck- ingham, was born in that township on February 17, 1849, and is a son of Abel. and Sophia (Strickland) Kimble. The paternal ancestors of the subject of this sketch were among the early settlers -in Buckingham. Matilda Kimble then a widow, inherited from her brother Thomas Morrey, in 1735, 400 acres of land on the Neshaminy in Buckingham, adjoining the Wrightstown and Warwick lines, which descended to her children : Anthony and William Kimble; and daughters: Ann Bewley, wife of John; Rosa, wife of Josiah Wilkinson; and Mary, wife of Charles Hickst. In addition to the 400 acres, Richard Morrey, the father of Matilda, and Humphrey Morrey, her uncle, conveyed several additional tracts to the children of Matilda Kimble at about the same date. The Kimbles were the first. settlers on this land, a large tract of which is still owned and occupied by Charles Kimble, a brother of the subject of this sketch. Humphrey Morrey, the grandfather of Matilda Kimble, was the first mayor of Philadelphia.

William Kimble, son of Anthony and Matilda (Morrey) Kimble, born about 1720, was the great-grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch. He settled in Bucking- ham on land conveyed to him by his grand- father, Richard Morrey, in 1746, and subse- quently purchased of his nephew Thomas. Hickst 92 acres, and received as his por- tion of his mother's estate in 1750 another- tract of land until his holdings amounted. to about 275 acres. He died in 1812 at an advanced age, leaving nine children.

Richard Kimble, second son of William, on arriving at manhood married and set- . tled in Moreland township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, where he resided un- til the death of his father, when he re- turned to Buckingham and purchased the old homestead of 264 acres and spent the rest of his life thereon. He died in 1845, leaving a widow Mary and seven children : Abel, Isaiah, Chalkley, Sarah, Owen, Will- iam and Rachel.

Abel Kimble, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Moreland in 1807, and removed with his parents to Bucking- ham in 1815, and was reared on the old Kimble homestead, where he died Novem- ber 29, 1896, aged eighty-nine years. The children of Abel and Sophia Kimble were: Amanda, wife of David R. Heckler, now deceased ; Charles, living on the old home- stead; Chalkley, living with Charles . Re- becca, wife of Samuel Heckler of Hatfield,

HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

55I

Montgomery county, Pennsylvania : Evan T., of Willow Grove; Seruch T .; Abi, wife of Joseph Baldwin, of Warwick township; and Sarah J., deceased, who was wire of Harry S. Knight, of Buckinghanı.

The earlier generations of the Kimble family were members of the society of Friends, but, through marriages without the consent of the Meeting, most of the present family have ceased to be members. Abel Kimble was born and reared in the faith. In politics he was a Democrat, but took little interest in political affairs. His wife was a native of Montgomery county. She died when the subject of this sketch was a child.

Seruch T. Kimble was reared on the old homestead in Buckingham. At the age of twenty-two years he left home and worked as a farm hand in the neighborhood. In 1877 he married Sallie Fell, daughter of Cress Fell, of Buckingham. She died in 1890, and their only child died in infancy. Mr. Kimble married (second) in 1898, Ida Applebach, of Lambertville. He purchased in 1886 his present farm in Buckingham, and has resided thereon ever since. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Kimble have no children.

EDWARD R. KIRK, justice of the Charles Kirk, eldest son of Amos and Charity, was born 5 mo. II, 1804, and died 5 mo. 10, 1856 in Buckingham. He married, 12 mo. 1, 1825, Mary Walton, born 9 mo. 3, 1802, in Moreland town- ship, son of Amos and Cynthia (Kirk) Walton, the former being a lineal de- scendant of John and Joanna (Elliot) Kirk, before mentioned, and of William Walton, one of four brothers who landed at New Castle in 1675, and later settled in Byberry, Philadelphia county, and the latter being a granddaughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Twining) Kirk, above Kirk had four children: Amos Walton, George D., Miranda S. and Ellen Walton Kirk. peace and a prominent business man of Lower Buckingham, was born in Buck- ingham, on the farm on which he now resides, January 22, 1869, and is a son of Amos W. and Mary H. (Mahan) Kirk. The pioneer ancestor of the Kirks of Buckingham was John Kirk, who migrated from Alfreton, Derby- shire, England, in 1687, and settled in Upper Darby, Chester (now Delaware) county, Pennsylvania. He married at Darby Meeting, in 2 mo., 1688, Joan Elliot, daughter of Peter Elliot, by whom he had eleven children: Godfrey; mentioned. Charles and Mary (Walton) John; Samuel; Mary, married John Warner; Elizabeth, married John Twin- ing; Joseph; Sarah, married Nathaniel Twining; William; Isaac; Thomas, and Anne.

Isaac Kirk, tenth child of John and Joan (Elliot) Kirk, was born in Darby, 2 mo. 23, 1703, and on arriving at man- hood settled in Buckingham township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he made his first purchase of one hundred acres of land in 1729. He subsequently purchased considerable other land in that township, a portion of which is now in the tenure of the subject of this sketch. Isaac Kirk was twice married, his first wife being Elizabeth Twining, daughter of Stephen and Margaret (Mitchell) Twining, the former a native of New England, and the latter of Mars- den Lane, Lancashire, England. Eliza- beth Twining was born at Newtown. 9 mo. 4, 1712, and was married to Isaac Kirk at Wrightstown, Io mo. 9, 1730.

They were the parents of six children: Mary, who died unmarried in 1755; Isaac, who died unmarried in 1750;

Stephen, who married Phebe Fell; Mar- garet, who married John Scarborough; William, who married Mary Malone; and Joseph, who married Patience Doan. ' Elizabeth (Twining) Kirk died in 1744, and Isaac married 9 mo. 4, 1746, Rachel (Fell) Kinsey, widow of John Kinsey, of Buckingham, and daughter of Josepli Fell, the pioneer ancestor of the family by his second marriage with Elizabeth Doyle. Isaac Kirk died in 1780.

Thomas Kirk, only child of Isaac and Rachel (Fell-Kinsey) Kirk, was born in 1748 on the old homestead in Bucking- ham, a portion of which he inherited at his father's death, and lived thereon his whole life, dying 4 mo. 15, 1815. He was twice married, first in 1781 to Ocea Kin- sey, who died 7 mo., 1793, and (second) on March 24, 1794, to Mary Rice, daugh- ter of John and Rachel ( Worthington) Rice, by whom he had five children. Amos Kirk, only surviving child of Thomas and Ocea (Kinsey) Kirk, was born on the old homestead in Bucking- ham, 2 mo. 10, 1782, and died 9 mo. 24. 1863. He married, September 29, 1803, Charity Doan, who bore him six children and died in 1837.

Amos W. Kirk, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Upper Make- field township, 2 mo. 2, 1827. His pa- rents settled in Warwick township when he was a child, and he was reared on a farm in that township. When he was about twenty years of age his parents removed to the present residence of the subject of this sketch, where Amos W. has since resided. He has been twice married, first on 10 mo. 19, 1859, to Jane S. Worthington, who died the following year, and (second) to Mary H. Mahan, daughter Cornelius and Mercy (DePuy) Mahan, by whom he has two children- Edward R. and Anna W. residing with her brother. The Kirk family have been members of Wrightstown Meeting of Friends for many generations, Isaac Kirk having become a member of that meeting on his settlement in lower

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

Buckingham. He was for many years an overseer of the meeting.

Edward R. Kirk was born and reared on the Buckingham farm, and acquired his elementary education at the public schools. He later became a student at Doylestown Seminary, where he also took a course in surveying and civil en- gineering. He took his

first prac- tical lessons in surveying under Charles F. Meyers, of Doylestown, and has since done considerable work in that line in middle and lower Bucks. He served as county surveyor from 1895 to 1901. In 1896 he was appointed and commis- sioned a justice of the peace and has served in that position ever since. In connection with his profession and of- ficial duties he took up conveyancing and a real estate and general business agency, and, these duties absorbing his entire time, he abandoned farming five years ago and devoted himself entirely to pro- fessional and official duties, though still residing on the farm. In politics he is a Republican, and has taken an active in- terest in his party's councils. He is a director in the Doylestown National Bank, and in the Wrightstown and New- town Turnpike Company, and president of the Pineville Protective Association. He married, January 22, 1891, Anna Holcombe, daughter of Oliver H. and Cynthia (Scarborough) Holcombe, of Wrightstown, and they are the parents of three children, Amos, Harold and Hannah.

DR. HOWARD A. HELLYER, of Penns Park, was born in Wrightstown township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1845, and is a son of William and Lydia D. (Twining) Hellyer. Tradi- tion takes the ancestry of the Hellyer family back to Sir William Hellyer, an English baronet, whose sons William and Bernard came to America in the early part of the eighteenth century, the former set- tling in Pennsylvania and the latter in New Jersey. Bernard Hellyer, above referred to, was the great-grandfather of Dr. Hellyer. He was a farmer and spent most of his life in central Bucks county. He was twice married, and had a large number of chil- dren. The name of his first wife and the ancestress of Dr. Hellyer is unknown. He married a second time. on December 24. 1795, Sarah Walton. William Hellyer, son of Bernard, was the grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch. He was a farmer in Upper Makefield township, where he died in 1833. He was the father of seven chil -- dren-Phineas, Hester, Hannah, Alice, Elizabeth, William and Frances.

William Hellyer, father of Dr. Hellyer. was born in Upper Makefield, in 1812, and died in Newtown township in 1885. at the age of seventy-three years, three months; eighteen days. He was a farmer first in Upper Wrightstown and later in Upper

Makefield. He filled the position of school director in the latter township, and occu- pied many other positions of trust. In re- ligion he was a member of the Society of Friends, and in politics was a Republican. He married Lydia D. Twining, daughter of Jacob and Phoebe (Tucker) Twining, of Wrightstown, the former a lineal de- scendant of William Twining, a native of England who came to America about 1640 and settled in Massachusetts, from whence he removed to Newtown, Bucks county, in 1695, with his son Stephen; the latter being the ancestor of the Twinings of Bucks county. Phoebe (Tucker) Twining was a daughter of John and Phoebe (Beal) Tucker, of Buckingham, and a grand- daughter of Nicholas Tucker, one of the earliest settlers in Buckingham. John Tucker, the father of Mrs. Twining, was a tax collector during the revolution, and, it becoming known to the Doan outlaws that he had a considerable sum of money in his possession, they entered his house, near Buckingham Station, and demanded the money, While Mr. Tucker was parleying with them in the lower story, Mrs. Tucker tossed the bags of coin out an upper story window into the garden. After a fruitless search, and the torturing and abuse of their victim, the robbers departed, and the money was eventually recovered intact.

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History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 119

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