History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 121

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 121

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period, and served one term as county com- missioner. He was a man of most humane disposition and strong convictions, and these traits found exhibition in his earnest labors in opposition to slavery and his zealous conduct in aiding in the operation of "the underground railroad"-the route traversed by the fugitive slave in his flight towards a land of freedom. His wife was Sarah Williams, a daughter of Terrell Williams, of Frankford, Philadelphia coun- ty. She was of English descent and was brought up in the Society of Friends. Jesse Gilbert and Sarah ( Williams) Webster were the parents of six children: I. Isa- bella, born December .27, 1830, widow of William Hillbourn (mentioned elsewhere in this work). 2. Tacy, born August 10, 1834, died February 3, 1838; Pemberton,

born April 17, 1836, died Aug- ust 23, 1867; 4. Hugh B., the immediate subject of this sketch; 5. Elizabeth Emma, born May 29, 1841, died July 30, 1842; 6. Milton, born March 13, 1844.

Hugh Boyle Webster, fourth child in the last named family, was brought up upon the paternal farm in Bensalem township, where he also received his education. After leav- ing school he remained on the home farm for two years, and then went to Blooming- ton, Illinois, where he remained for a year. In 1857 he returned to Hulmeville and en- gaged in the butchering business, which he followed industriously and successfully for the long period of twenty-seven years. He had meantime purchased considerable real estate, both agricultural and residential, and added to his means by breeding high grade cows and rearing fancy poultry. His pub- lic services were in the capacity of mem- ber of the borough council of Hulmeville, and director of the poor, for one term in the former office and for three in the latter. He was reared in the Society of Friends, to which he has consistently adhered throughout his life. He is a Republican, and cast his first presidential vote for Abra- ham Lincoln. As a member of the state militia he was sworn into the service of the United States, July 1, 1863, with Com- pany G, Forty-third Pennsylvania Regiment, and was discharged August 13, following. He would have been engaged in the battle of Gettysburg had it lasted a few days longer. He is an old member of Neshaminy Lodge, No. 422, I. O. O. F., and has passed all the chairs in that body. He has ever been regarded with confidence and esteem, and known as a safe and sympathetic ad- viser to the young.

Mr. Webster took for his whe, Febru- ary 22, 1876, Sarah Eliza Maitland, of Sads- bury township, Chester county, Pennsyl- vania, a daughter of Richard Hoskins and Rachel (Marsh) Maitland, and a grand- daughter of James Grier. Of this marriage were born three children: I. Jesse Gilbert, born April 18, 1879; he was educated in the public schools; he married May Flowers Hibbs, of Middletown township. daughter of Samuel H. and Hannah Flowers, and

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

they are the parents of one child, Ilugh Boyle, born February 7, 1897. 2. Rachel Ella, born January 10, 1881 ; she attended the public schools in Hulmeville, and grad- uated from the West Chester Normal School, June, 1899. She is an accomplish- ed teacher, now teaching in Wyoming, near Sundance; while on her way west she visited the World's Fair in St. Louis. 3. Mary Elva, born August 6, 1890, who was edu- cated in the public schools. Mrs. Webster is a member of the Octararo Presbyterian church. Mr. Webster is now living in pleasant retirement, in his comfortable home on the banks of the historic Neshaminy river, at Hulmeville.

HIEL G. QUINN, of Pineville, was born in Buckingham, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, December 8, 1848, and is a son of John and Mary Quinn. His parents dying when he was a child, he was reared in the family of Joshua A. Kirk. In his seventeenth year he be- came infected with the western fever, and took a trip through Illinois and other states of the middle west with the intention of settling there, but returned two months later to Buckingham and apprenticed himself to the butcher busi- ness, which he has since followed. His employer was William VanPelt, and at the end of a year Mr. Quinn and Joseph Van Pelt purchased the business, devot- ing their attention more particularly to pork butchering, and have built up a large business. . Mr. Quinn is a prom- inent Mason, being a member of Ken- sington Lodge, No. 311, of Philadelphia; Kensington Chapter, No. 233, R. A. M .; and Pennsylvania Comandery, No. 70, K. T., of Philadelphia.

He married, in 1881, Maria T. Hamp- ton, of Penns Park, daughter of H. El- well and Elizabeth (Phillips) Hampton, by whom he has two children: Cyrus G., with the Fraternal Accident Insurance Company of Philadelphia; and Florence, a bookkeeper with the Marion Hosiery Company of Philadelphia; both are grad- uates of Pierce's Business College of Philadelphia.

THE CROUTHAMEL FAMILY." The pioneer ancestor of the Crouthamel family of Bucks county was Andreas Krauthamel, who emigrated from Ger- many in the ship "Edinburg." arriving in Philadelphia, on September 30. 1754, and settled in Bucks county, Pennsyl- vania. Henry Crouthamel, son of An- dreas, accompanied his father from Ger- many when a lad. and on arriving at manhood settled on a tract of land in Bedminster township. Bucks county, which he subsequently purchased of William Allen, Esq. He died in 1816

leaving a widow Catharine and nine chil- dren: Andrew; Catharine, wife of Jacob Nace; John; Henry; George; Elizabeth wife of Michael Rush; Abraham; Jacob and Samuel.

George Crouthamel, fourth son of Henry, was born in Bedminster town- ship, and spent his whole life there, dy- ing in 1855. He married a Rush, and reared a family of five children: Cath- arine, Nancy, Tobias, Henry and Peter. He was a farmer and lived on a portion of the old homestead in Bedminster, pur- chasing later the Jacob Yost farm near Keller's Church.

Peter R. Crouthamel, youngest son of George, was born in Bedminster town- ship in the year 1812. He was reared on his fathers farm, and early in life learned the trade of a shoemaker, but not taking kindly to an indoor life, learned later the trade of a carpenter, which he followed in Bedminster for twenty-five years, in connection with the conduct of a small farm conveyed to him by his father in 1834, upon which he lived until 1841, when he purchased of the estate of his father-in-law Frederick Ott, a farm of fifty acres., In 1856 he sold his Bedminster farm and purchased one in Hilltown township, upon which he lived until 1865, when he sold out and removed to Illinois, where he resided for one year, and then removed to Boone county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm on which he resided until his death in 1892, aged seventy-eight years, six months and two days. He married Cath- arine Ott, daughter of Frederick and Eve Ott, of Bedminster, and granddaughter of Peter and Catharine Ott, the former of whom, as well as his father, Henry Ott, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Peter R. and Catharine (Ott) Crouthamel were the parents of ten chil- dren: Jonas, who married Elizabeth Yost, and reared a family of six children; Isaac, who married (first) Eliza Loux, who bore him four children, and (sec- ond) Sarah Winner. by whom he had five children: Eli, who married Barbara Sherm, and has a family of four chil- dren; William, who removed to Iowa with his parents, married and reared a family; Noah O., of Perkasie, ex-recorder of deeds of Bucks county, a sketch of whom follows: Philena, who died in Illi- nois: Ephiah died in Iowa: Mary, who died in Hilltown, Bucks county, at the age of twelve years; Titus and George, who died in childhood.

NOAH O. CROUTHAMEL. Among the successful business men of South Perkasie is Noah O. Crouthamel, cigar manufacturer. He was born in Bedmin- ster township, Bucks county, October 12, 1841, son of Peter R. and Catharine (Ott) Crouthamel.

Noah O. Crouthamel was reared and educated in Bedminster township. Early

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

in life he learned the carpenter trade with his father, and followed that voca- tion for five years. In 1865 he went .to the city of Philadelphia, where he filled the position of a clerk in a cigar store for one year. In 1866, he started the manufacture of cigars in Philadelphia. In 1875 he removed to what is now South Perkasie, where he purchased a property which he still owns, and started a cigar factory there. In 1898 he built himself a fine residence on. Market street, Perkasie, where he still resides, and has a cigar factory on Arch street, Perkasie. In politics Mr. Crouthamel is a Repub- lican, and has always taken a lively in- . terest in the councils of his party, and has served as delegate to district, con- gressional and state conventions at dif- ferent periods. In the fall of 1893 he was elected to the office of recorder of deeds of Bucks county, and filled that office with ability for three years. He was census enumerator for his district in 1890. He has always taken an active part in the affairs of his town and neighborhood. He is a director of the Quakertown Trust Company. Relig- iously, he is a member of the Evangeli- cal Church of Perkasie. He is affiliated with Perkasie Lodge, No. 671, I. O. O. F., and Perkasie Council, No. 359, O. U. A. M.

Mr. Crouthamel married in 1865 Re- becca Freed, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Cuffel) Freed, and they have been the parents of eight children, viz .: Mary Catharine, born January 5, 1867. married Horace H. Texter, of Hatfield, and has five children-Naomi, Florence, Susa R., Laura C. and Sarah; Sallie, born April 24, 1868, and Maurice, born July II, 1870, both deceased: Laura, born July 29. 1872, married Isaac Rosenberger, who died October 13, 1896, leaving one child, Esther Rebecca; Joseph, born August 16, 1874. married Tillie Deibert, and has one child, May: Albert, born October 16. 1876, married Theresa Kresge, and has one son Ralph: Forest, born June I, 1880, married Edna Bowen; Arthur, born April 4, 1882, died in infancy.

HARRIET LUKENS WORTHING- TON. The name Worthington is de- rived from the locality whence the fam- ily came. Its etymology is three Saxon words. "Wearth in ton," that is, "Farm in town." Twenty miles northeast of Liver- pool, in Leyland hundred, parish of Standish, county of Lancaster, England, is the town of Worthington. Here and in the adjacent manors resided the fam- ily of Worthington for many genera- tions, being established, from the time of the Plantagenets, in high repute. The main stock can be traced in the public archives back to Worthington de Worth-

ington, in the reign of Henry III, 1236-7, who was the progenitor of all the Worthingtons of Lancashire. The old Hall of Worthington, where the family lived for seven hundred years, was pulled down less than fifty years ago.

In the early part of the eighteenth cen- tury, there was resident in Byberry, Phil- adelphia county, Pennsylvania, three brothers, John, Thomas, and Samuel . Worthington, said to have been natives of Lancashire. The date fixed by tradi- tion for their arrival is 1705, but since at that date they were mere children, it is probable that they were accompanied by parents, or the date of their arrival is incorrectly given.

Elisha Worthington, the husband of the subject of this sketch, born near Mo- zart, in Buckingham township, in March, 1819, is a descendant of John Worthing- ton, of Byberry, who was married in 1720 to Mary, daughter of Thomas Walmsley. His wife Mary died 4 mo. 18, 1754, and John died I mo. 14. 1777, aged about eighty years. They were the pa- rents of eleven children: I. Elizabeth, born I mo. 15, 1721; married in 1744 Jo- seph Tomlinson. 2. Mary, born 12 mo. 9, 1723-4, died single. 3. Thomas, born 2 mo. 2, 1726, married Hannah Duncan. 4. Hannah, born 12 mo. 7, 1727-8. 5. John, born 2 mo. 17, 1826, died 1744, 6 William, born 7 mo. 20, 1732, married Esther Homer. 7. Isaac, born 6 mo. 13, 1735, married Martha, daughter of John Car- ver, of Buckingham. 8. Joseph, born 6 mo. 12, 1837, a sketch of whom follows. 9. Martha, born I mo. 19, 1740. 10. Ben- jamin, born 12 mo. 19, 1742-3; married Sarah Malone. II. Esther, born 12 mo. 2, 1749. Of these, William. Isaac and Jo- seph settled in Buckingham, though Isaac removed later to West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Joseph Worthington, eighth child of John and Mary, born in Byberry, 6 mo. 12, 1737, married (first) Esther Carver, in 1767, and two years later purchased 125 acres of land in Buckingham, on the east side of the Durham road, south of Buckingham mountain, where William Doan lately lived. This continued to be his home until his death in 1822, though he later purchased several large tracts of land in Buckingham, among them 205 acres purchased of his brother Isaac in 1783. lying along the Neshaminy and ex- tending across it into Warwick. He owned nearly if not quite 500 acres in Buckingham, most of which he either conveyed or devised to his children. Jo- seph and Esther (Carver) Worthington were the parents of two children: Jo- seph, who removed to Virginia; and John, who removed to Ohio. After the death of Esther, Joseph married, in 1773; Sarah Malone, by whom he had two chil- dren-Abner and Sarah, the latter of whom married a Tomlinson. He mar- ried (third) Esther, daughter of Anthony

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

Kimble, and a great-granddaughter of Humphrey Morrey, the first mayor of Philadelphia. By her he had nine chil- dren: Anthony; William; Joel; Elisha; Amy, married Evan Thomas; Hannah, married James Shaw; Martha, married Carlile; Jesse, and Esther. Joseph Worthington died in June, 1822, and his widow Esther in July, 1828.

Elisha, son of Joseph and Esther (Kimble) Worthington, was born in Buckingham township, and on arriving at manhood married Ann Barr, of Buck- ingham, and settled on land conveyed to him by his father. He died in 1828, and his wife two years later. They were the parents of five children : Margret; Thomas; Elisha, and Ann, who grew up; and Esther, who died young.

Elisha Worthington, son of Elisha and Ann, was born in Buckingham, in March, 1819. Left on orphan at the age of nine years, he was reared in the fam- ily of Evan Thomas, who had married his aunt, Amy Worthington, and re- ceived a good common school education. At the death of Evan Thomas he became a clerk in the store of his cousin, John Worthington, near Bridge Valley, and soon afterwards became a partner in the firm under the name of E. Worthing- ton & Co. They built up a fine business, but by reason of incompatibility of tem- perament of the partners the firm was dissolved, and Elisha opened a store at Bridge Point (now Edison) in 1856, where he did a successful business for ten years, when he removed to Bucking- ham, where he conducted the store very successfully until his death 1872, building up a large business. Mr. Worth- ington was a man of unquestioned in- tegrity and high standing in the com- munity. In religion he and his family were members of the Society of Friends. In politics he was a Republican.

His widow, the subject of this sketch, was Harriet Lukens, daughter of Peter and Isabella (Hallowell) Lukens. She was born in Philadelphia, where her parents spent the greater part of their married life. Her father, Peter Lukens, of Horsham, Montgomery county, later of Philadelphia, was a carpenter and millwright. and followed his trade in Philadelphia, removing to Bucks county but nine weeks before his death, which occurred in 1849 at the age of forty- seven years. His wife. Isabella Hallo- well, was a daughter of George Hallo- well, of Jenkintown, of an old and prom- inent family in that vicinity. Mrs. Worthington's two grandfathers were the founders of the Horsham Library. Benjamin Hallowell, who represented the government among the Indians and was otherwise prominent in public life, was a nephew of George Hallowell. The Lukens were of German descent, being descendants of Jan Lucken, one of the original settlers of Germantown.

The children of Elisha and Harriet (Lukens) Worthington are: Evan T., a prominent merchant of Newtown, Bucks county; Emma Clara, wife of Lewis W. Fell, who now conducts the store owned by Mr. Worthington at the time of his death, a sketch of whom appears in this work; and Isabel L., living with her mother in Buckingham. George Lukens, another son, was drowned when a small boy. For several years after the death of her husband, Mrs. Worthington was associated with her son, Evan T. Worth- ington, in the conduct of the store, under the firm name of H. L. Worthington & Son, but soon after the marriage of her son retired from the firm and built a handsome residence in the village, where she still resides. She and most of her family are members of the Society of Friends.

FRANK WEBER. Among the active and prosperous business men of the thrifty and growing town of Perkasie is Frank Weber, brick manufacturer. Mr. Weber is of German parentage, and was born in Kulpsville, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- vania, October 12, 1855, being a son of George . and Sophia (Nicholas) Weber George Weber, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Germany and emi- grated to America and settled at Kulpsville about 1848. He was a shoemaker by trade, and followed that vocation in connection with farming near Kulpsville for many years. He married Sophia Nicholas, and they were the parents of six children, viz : Peter, who married Lizzie Henkenroth, and has a family of five children ; Annie, wife of Henry O. Moyer ; Kate, who died at the age of eighteen years; Lizzie, wife of Christian Kugler ; George; and Frank, the subject of this sketch.

The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm in Rockhill township, and acquired his education in the public schools. He learned the trade of a brick moulder, and was the manager of a brickyard for several years. He began the manufacture of brick at Perkasie in 1895 in partnership with Henry O. Moyer for two years. In 1897 he started his own plant and has since carried on the business himself, doing a large busi- ness, turning out as high as a million brick per year. In 1899 he built his present handsome residence at the corner of Third and Market streets. He is a member of the Lutheran church, and politically is a Demo- crat. He married in 1878 Lizzie Moss, daughter of George and Catharine (Nich- olas) Moss, and they are the parents of four children : Hannah, born July 20, 1879: Andora, born March 7, 1881; Sallie, born February 10, 1883 ; and Harry, born October 2, 1885. Hannah, his eldest daughter, married April 3, 1903, William Crout. Son of Reuben Crout.

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

ISAAC H. DETWEILER. The Bucks county families bearing the patronymic of the subject of this sketch are descendants of several different German emigrants bear- ing that nanie who arrived in Pennsylvania at different periods, and who bore no known relation to each other, though set- tling practically in the same section. The first Detweiler to own land in Bucks coun- ty was Hans Jacob Detweiler, who arrived in Philadelphia in the ship "Winter Galley," September 5, 1738, and who settled in Fran- conia township, now Montgomery county. He obtained by patent dated September 8, 1740, two tracts of land in Bedminster town- ship, of about 175 acres each. Nearly the whole of one of these tracts has remained in the tenure of his descendants to this day.

MARTIN DETWEILER, the paternal ancestor, was, however, a later arrival, com- ing from Germany in the ship "Crown," Captain Michael James, which arrived in Philadelphia, August 30, 1749. He also lo- cated in Franconia township, where he mar- ried Maria Meyer, born November 30, 1738, daughter of Christian and Magdalena Meyer, the former of whom is supposed to have accompanied his parents, Christian and Barbara Meyer, to Pennsylvania when a mere infant, having been born about 1705 ; he died in 1787. He purchased land in Franconia in 1729. Martin Detweiler pur- chased in 1774 a farm adjoining that of his father-in-law, Christian Meyer, containing 159 acres, and lived and died there. Martin and Maria (Meyer) Detweiler were the parents of twelve children, viz .: Christian, Isaac, Samuel, Hannah, Susanna, Maria, Abraham, Sarah, Barbara, Joseph, Benja- min and Jacob.

CHRISTIAN DETWEILER, eldest® son of Martin and Maria, 1772, was born in Franconia, August 3, and died there August 20, 1843. He pur- chased the homestead farm of 159 acres of his father, on May 28, 1798, and spent his whole life there. He married Elizabeth Reiff in 1796, and had by her seven children: Joseph; Elizabeth, who married Michael Young; Mary, who mar- ried Benjamin Landis; George; Sarah, who died unmarried in 1884; Ann, who mar- ried John M. Hangey; and Hannah, who married Abraham L. Moyer.

JOSEPH DETWEILER, eldest son of Christian and Elizabeth (Reiff) Det- weiler, was born in Franconia, Oc- tober 26, 1797, and died in Hilltown township, Bucks county, July I, 1861. March 9, 1826, he purchased a farm of forty-six acres in Hilltown township, Bucks county, one mile west of Dub- lin, and settled thereon, subsequently pur- chasing two tracts aggregating twenty-one acres adjoining, and lived thereon until his death in 1861. He married Elizabeth Alderfer, who survived him, dying in 1875. They were the parents of nine children,

two of whom died young; those who sur- vived were as follows: Mary, who married Aaron Godshalk; John A .; Elizabeth, wife of Jacob Bishop; George A., of Rockhill, who married Esther Eckert; Joseph A., of Hatfield, who married Sarah George; Sarah, who married Gideon S. Stover; and Jacob A., of Hilltown, who married Han- nah George.

JOHN A. DETWEILER, eldest surviv- ing son of Joseph and Elizabeth ( Alderfer) Detweiler was born in Hilltown township, March 9, 1823. Early in life he learned the carpenter trade, and followed that voca- tion in Hilltown for several years in con- nection with the tilling of the soil. He purchased in 1847 a small lot in that town- ship, and resided thereon until 1849, when he purchased a farm of forty-two acres on which he resided until 1858, when he sold it to his brother-in-law, Aaron Godshalk, and removed to Bedminster township, where he purchased a sixty-acre farm on which he lived until 1873, when he conveyed it to his brother-in-law, Gideon S. Stover, and returned to Hilltown. He married Maria Leatherman of Bedminster, who was born February 5, 1826, and died April 7, 1898. Five children were born to them: Jacob L., Elizabeth G., Albert L., Joseph L., and Granville L.

JACOB L. DETWEILER, eldest son of John A. and Maria, was born in Hilltown township, February 5, 1847, and was reared and educated in that and Bedminster townships. He learned the carpenter trade with

his father, and removed to Philadelphia, where he followed stair building for a few years, and then removed to Perkasie, Bucks coun- ty, and erected the home in which he has re- sided for the past thirty years. He has fol- lowed contracting and building in that thriv- ing town during all that period, and is one of the leading builders of the town. He, like all his ancestors, is a Mennonite, being a member of the Blooming Glen congre- gation. In politics he is a Republican. He married December 18., 1869, Elizabeth Huns- berger, daughter of Isaac Hunsberger, who was born November 25, 1846, and died October 22, 1895, and they were the parents of two children: Mary Ann, born August 20, 1870; and Isaac H., the subject of this sketch.

ISAAC H. DETWEILER, only son of Jacob L. and Elizabeth (Hunsberger) Det- weiler, was born in Bedminster township, June 28, 1872. He was reared and educated, however, in Perkasie, where he has lived from a small child. Early in life he learned the cigar making trade, and has always followed that business. He has always taken an active interest in the affairs of the town, and is the present assessor of the borough, having been elected to that office in February, 1904. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran church. He is affiliated with Mont Alto Lodge, No. 246, K. of P., and in politics is a Repub-

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

lican. He married December 5, 1896, Lizzie Nungesser, daughter of Jacob Nungesser, of Perkasie.

ABRAM K. SLACK, a retired farmer residing in Lower Makefield, traces his an- cestry back to an early epoch in the settle- ment of Bucks county. Of Holland lineage, his ancestors upon their arrival from the old world located in Lower Makefield town- ship, the progenitor of the family in Amer- ica being Abraham Slack, who was born in Holland in 1722 and crossed the Atlantic in 1750. Cornelius Slack, his son, and the grandfather of Abram K. Slack, was born, lived and died in Bucks county, and throughout his entire life followed farm- ing. He held membership in the Presby- terian church of Newtown, Pennsylvania. His children were: John; Benjamin ; Abraham; Aaron; Cornelius, who married Eliza Brown; Joshua; Ann, who became the wife of Wesley Stackhouse; Sarah, wife of Amos Johnson; Mary, wife of Isaiah Balderston; and Rachel, wife of Charles Young.

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History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 121

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