History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 137

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 137

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Ensign Samuel Riggs did not accom- pany his parents upon their removal to New Jersey. His daughter married the Rev. Humphrey, whose son was Gen- eral Washington's bosom friend during the Revolutionary war, his private sec- retary before and after it, who carried the colors by special orders from York- town to Philadelphia to Congress and was voted an elegant sword by them for bravery. He was minister to Spain and Portugal, and introduced the culture of Merino sheep into this country. He was a noted literary man in his time, and his portrait by Trumbull is at Yale, and another by Gilbert Stuart is in the state house at New Haven or Hartford. His mother, formerly Sarah Riggs, was a very elegant woman in her time, and was always known among her contemp- oraries as Lady Humphreys, and the Chapter of Daughters of the Revolu- tion at Derby, Connecticut, was named in her honor.

Joseph Riggs, of Newark, New Jer-

sey, took an active part in the beginning of the Revolution, and his writings may be found in a number of places in Force's "American Archives." He left Newark, New Jersey, and took up his residence in New York. Benjamin Myer, great-grandfather of Henry W. Birkey and Isaac Myer Birkey, M. D., married Sarah Riggs, daughter of Jo- seph Riggs.

MAHLON C. DETWEILER, of Quakertown, is one of the most enter- prising and progressive business men of the community, and has contributed his share toward the building up and main- tenance of its reputation, and to him it is indebted for the position it liolds among the wealthy and prosperous towns of the county. He was born in Milford township, Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, Marclı 24, 1846, and is a son of Henry and Annie (Clymer) Det- weiler.

The Detweiler family is one of the oldest German-American families in America, and is descended from several different German emigrants who came to Pennsylvania and settled in Mont- gomery county at different periods from 1715 to 1750. Hans Detweiler, the an- cestor of the subject of this sketch, was one of the earliest settlers on the Skip- pack, and was also an early landowner in Bucks county. His son Jacob lived and died in Upper Hanover township, and had two sons, Jacob and John, and two daughters. Jacob, the son, owned and occupied at the time of his death in 1791 a tract of land extending across the county line into Milford township, where his widow Catharine and five chil- dren took up their residence, after his decease.

Jacob Detweiler, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, on arriving at manhood located in Upper Saucon, Lehigh county, where he followed the life of a farmer for many years, remov- ing later to Milford township, Bucks county. He married Magdalena Heist, of an old family of upper Bucks, and they were the parents of seven chil- dren-Samuel, Henry. Charles, Jacob, Daniel, Catharine and Elizabeth. Henry Detweiler, son of Jacob and Magda- lena, was born in Upper Saucon. Le- high county, April 24, 1817. Early in life he learned the shoemaker trade, which he followed for a few years, but the most of his life was devoted to ag- ricultural pursuits. He married. No- vember 10, 1839, Anna Clymer, daugh- ter of Henry and Mary (Shaffer) Cly- mer, of Milford township, Bucks county, and soon after his marriage took up his residence in Milford. On April 4, 1846, he purchased seventy acres of the old Clymer homestead, between Milford

Square and Quakertown, which he

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

owned until January, 1893. Shortly before his death he removed to Quakertown, where he died December 21, 1893. Henry and Anna (Clymer) Detweiler were the parents of nine children, viz. : Mary, wife of Jacob Clymer; Aaron, of Quaker- town; Mahlon C., the subject of this sketch: William, deceased; Henry, of Hagersville, Bucks county ; Susan, de- ceased; Annie, wife of A. Steiner, de- ceased; Catharine, wife of Samuel Sleif- fer; and Frances, who died at the age of two years.

Mahlon C. Detweiler spent his boy- hood days working on the farm, and at- tended the district school of the neigh- borhood, where he acquired a liberal ed- ucation. He then worked with John Barnes, of Milford, serving an appren- ticeship to the carpenter's trade, and following that vocation as journeyman in Richland and Quakertown for many years. Upon discontinuing that line of work he engaged in the meat and pro- vision business, and successfully fol- owed that occupation twelve years at Richland Center and Quakertown. He pur- chased the Simon Sacks estate, but shortly after taking possession of the property its buildings were destroyed by fire and our subject immediately replaced them with new ones. Later he bought the Jacob Cress- man property which he remodeled and en- larged into a commodious market and shop. He employed many men, had several delivery wagons, and it is said that he was the largest meat dealer ever in the place. His honesty was never doubted, and he is held in high esteem by his fellow-citizens for his many sterling qualities. In Sep- tember, 1895, he was appointed postmaster of Richland Center, a fourth-class office, but in October of the same year it was advanced to the third class. As postmaster he filled the position with ability and credit to himself for four years, and was con- sidered the last and most efficient post- master Richland Center has ever had.

He built a large tenement-house in 1898; he also purchased the Dr. Lott estate of fifty acres, located on the west side of Strawn street, and later sold a half interest to Henry H. Souder. They cleared part of the land, which was covered with a dense forest, and built a half mile race track, fifty feet wide, a ball ground, grand stand, pavilion 50x100 feet, and placed through the grove many scats along the drive ways. The park is known as Lu Lu Park, and is a popular pleasure resort in the vicinity. In 1897 Mr. Detweiler sold his interest to T. C. Leeland, president of the Quakertown Electric Railway. He subsequently built and equipped a new bak- ery with all the modern appliances, and engaged in the bakery business. Beginning without any trade, through his energy and business tact he in a comparatively short time built up a large and lucrative business which he conducted for three years, and then sold out to William B. Kaehler, of

Lansdale, but in June, 1905, he repurchased the plant and is now doing an extensive business, consuming thirty barrels of flour per week, and furnishing steady employment to several hands. He was one of the few men engaged in the bakery business who received a certificate from the inspector of the district complimentary to the cleanli- ness and sanitary condition of his plant. In July, 1904, he also engaged in the coal business, and in this, like all his busi- ness ventures, he has made a success. Mr. Detweiler is in every sense a self- made man. By his industry, careful atten- tion to business and strict integrity in all his dealings, he has acquired a competence and won the esteem and confidence of the people with whom he associates. He has always taken an active interest in the town in which he lived, and has filled several positions of trust and honor. In 1880, prior to engaging in the meat business, he served for six years as supervisor in Rich- land township. In February, 1903, he was elected to the office of chief burgess of Quakertown borough for a term of three years, and has made a popular and efficient official. He and his family are members of Trinity Lutheran church, in which he has held the office of deacon since 1901. Mr. Detweiler was one of the active pro- moters of the organization and erection of Trinity church, being prior to that time a member of Christ church, at Trumbauers- ville. He was acting chairman and treas- urer of the building committee. He is a member of Pennsburg Lodge, No. 449, I. O. O. F .: Secona Tribe, No. 863. I. O. R. M., and has been for over thirty-seven years a member of Lodge No. 149, O. U. A. M., the only lodge in Quakertown that did not forfeit its charter during the civil war. Mr. Detweiler married May 1, 1869, Eliza- beth Trumbower, daughter of Samnel and Catharine (Deily) Trumbower, of Rich- land township.

WILLIAM L. WALKER, of Newtown, was born in Solebury township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 5 mo. 31, 1837, and is a son of Holcombe and Sarah Ann (Long- shore) Walker, and a representative of several of the old families of Bucks county. The family of Walkers to whom William L. Walker belongs have been members of the Society of Friends since coming to America, and were early settlers in Salem county, New Jersey, and in Moreland, Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania. George Walker was one of the earliest members of Abington Meeting, and one of its overseers for many years.

Joseph Walker, the direct ancestor of the subject of this sketch, was at the time of his marriage in 1722 a resident of Sonth- ampton township, Bucks county. August 21. 1722, he purchased 319 acres of land in Middletown that had been the property of his wife's ancestors, the Heatons, for two generations, and lived and died thereon, his

...

William IL Walker

HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

633

death occurring in September. 1759. Hc was married at Middletown Friends' Meet- ing in II mo. (January), 1722-3, to Sarah Heaton, daughter of Robert and Grace ( Pearson) Heaton, of Middletown, the for- mer of whom was born in Yorkshire. Eng- land. in 1671, and came to America with his parents. Robert and Alice Heaton, in the "Welcome," with William Penn. in 1682. The children of Joseph and Sarah (Heaton) Walker were: George, born II mno. 23. 1723-4: Joseph; Sarah, who married ( first ) John Palmer, and (second) John Thorn- ton ; Robert, born 6 mo. 8, 1731 : Grace, who married Benjamin Scott, of Southampton : Emanuel, who married Ann Carey; and Margaret, who married Samson. Carey. Sarah Walker, the mother, survived her husband and died in August. 1768.

Robert Walker, third son of Joseph and Sarah (Heaton) Walker, was born and reared in Middletown township. Early in life he learned the carpenter trade and fol- lowed it in Middletown and Newtown town- ships until March, 1762, when he purchased of his mother-in-law, Mary Linton, three hundred acres of land in Solebury town- ship that had been taken up by his wife's grandfather, Nehemiah Blackshaw, in right of his father. Randal Blackshaw,in 1700, and moved thereon. The tract included the present village of Carversville, and extended to the line of Plumstead and Buckingham townships, forming the extreme northwest- ern corner of Solebury township. Robert Walker spent the remainder of his life on this farm, dying there October 22. 1806. He was twice married. His first wife was Mary Linton, whom he married January 8, 1761. daughter of Joseph and Mary (Blackshaw) Linton. of Northampton township, and granddaughter of Nehemiah Blackshaw, who came to America with his parents Randolph and Alice Blackshaw and the Pembertons and Harrisons in the ship "Submission," of Liverpool. in 1682. ( See "Pemberton Family" in this volume). The Walker homestead in Solebury was devised by Nehemiah Blackshaw in 1743 to his daughter Mary, who had married Joseph Linton in 1725. Phebe Blackshaw, sister of Nehemiah, was the first wife of Joseph Kirkbride, the ancestor of all the Kirkbrides of Bucks county. The children of Robert and Mary (Linton) Walker were ten in number. of whom but five lived to mature years, viz .: Robert. born 10 mo. 3. 1761. married Susanna Shaw, of Plumstead, and died in Buckingham, soon after his father. without issue; Joseph, born 9 mo. 27, 1763. died unmarried in 1790: Mary, born I mo. 13. 1766, married John Townsend in 1787 : Phineas, born 9 mo. 18, 1776 ( see forward) : Benjamin, born 3 mo. 12. 1779, married Hannah Hartley, and died on the home- stead in Solebury, leaving a large family of children who have numerous descendants in Bucks county. Mary (Linton) Walker died I mo. 30. 1790, and 4 mno. 13. 1791. Robert married Asenath Beans, daughter of Jacob and Sarah ( Paxson) Beans, who sur-

vived him and died in 1831. They were the parents of five children. Ann. Amos, Stacy, John, and Elizabeth, none of whom left descendants, though all lived to old age, John dying in Doylestown. April 29. 1898. in his one hundredth year.

Phineas Walker was the eighth child and seventh son of Robert and Mary (Linton) Walker, four of his elder brothers ( Randal, Mahlon, Jesse and David) having died in childhood. He was born and reared on the old Solebury homestead and remained there until his marriage. At the death of his father in 1806 he elected to take the home- stead of his maternal ancestors in North- ampton township, Bucks county, consist- ing of about 160 acres, which his father had purchased in 1787, and lived thereon until his death, February 10, 1848, in his seventy- second year. His wife was Sarah Hol- combe, daughter of John and Mary (Green) Holcombe. of Solebury, granddaughter of Samuel and Eleanor ( Barber) Holcombe, of Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and great granddaughter of John and Elizabeth (Woolridge) Holcombe, natives of Eng- land, who were early settlers near the pres- ent site of Lambertville, New Jersey, and an account of whose descendants is given in this volume. The children of Phineas and Sarah (Holcombe) Walker were : Mary, married Amos Smith : Robert, who never married; Susan, married James Worstall; Asenath, died unmarried; Hol- combe; and Phineas, married Deborah Mitchell, and had children: Augustus Mitchell Walker, of Trenton; Anna, wife of Joseph Smith, of Trenton; Margaret, wife of Levi Risdon, of Trenton; William H., president of the Newtown National Bank; Phineas, of Yardley ; Sarah. wife of Theodore Vansant. of Bristol; Elizabeth, wife of Levi Risdon: Susan: and Le- titia, wife of William H. Van Horn.

Holcombe Walker, son of Phineas and Sarah ( Holcombe) Walker. was born in Northampton township, Bucks county, and was reared on the old homestead farm of his ancestors. On arriving at manhood he lo- cated in Solebury, where he followed farni- ing until his early death in 1847. He mar- ried Sarah Ann Longshore, daughter of Abraham Longshore, who survived him many years. Their children were: William Longshore Walker. the subject of this sketch; Abraham L., now living in Cali- fornia; Sarah Jane, widow of Frederick Beans, of Makefield; and Elizabeth H., who died in 1893, the wife of Samuel H. Walton.

William Longshore Walker was born and reared in Solebury township, Bucks county, and on attaining manhood began farming in Upper Makefield township, where he resided for three years. He then purchased a farm in Falls township, where he resided until the spring of 1879, when he removed to New Jersey, near Pennington, where he followed farming until 1888, when he re- moved to Newtown. Bucks county, where he has since conducted the milk business. Mr.

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

Walker has been twice married. His first wife, whom he married 3 mo. 14, 1859, was Lizzie Hellings, born in Middletown. 9 10. 5. 1838, daughter of Jared Hellings; she died in Falls township, 5 mo. 19, 1871. They were the parents of six children, all of whom died in infancy. Mr. Walker mar- ried 3 mo. 14, 1873, Deborah T. Cadwallader, daughter of Timothy and Julia A. (Leland) Cadwallader : she died October 25, 1905. Their only child is Frank E. Walker, who was born 7 mo. 22, 1877. He married June 7, 1899, Harriet Brown, daughter of Benja- min Brown, of Binghamton, New York.

Mr. Walker is a Republican in politics. He has always taken an interest in the affairs of the community in which he lived. He has served two terms as chief burgess of Newtown, from 1892 to 1896, and 1899 to 1902, and is at present a member of the town council. In religion he conforms to the faith and principles of the Society of Friends as have all his ancestors. He be- came affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, as a charter member of Hermes Lodge, No. 109, of Bristol, in 1868, and is now a mem- ber of Defiance Lodge, No. 135, of New- town, and has passed all the chairs. He was formerly connected with the Red Men and Knights of the Golden Eagle.

CHARLES J. SMITH, of Buckingham, one of the enterprising and progressive farmers of that vicinity, is a representative of two of the oldest families of Bucking- ham. He is a son of Jonathan and Sarah (Johnson) Smith, and was born in Buck- ingham, on the farm on which he now re- sides, September 15, 1865.

The pioneer ancestors of the subject of this sketch were Robert and William Smith, both natives of Yorkshire, England, though not known to be of common ancestry, both of whom settled near Wrightstown, Bucks county. William Smith was the first to arrive, coming in 1684 in a ship which landed its passengers at New Castle, now Delaware, from which point William Smith, then a young and unmarried man, engaged passage on a boat up the river, and was entertained for some time at the house of Phinehas Pemberton, a native of Yorkshire, who was at that time one of the most prominent men of the little Quak- er colony on the Delaware. On 9 mo. 20, 1690, William Smith married Mary Croas- dale, daughter of Thomas and Agnes Croasdale, who had come from Settle, in Yorkshire, in 1682, in the "Welcome." They were married at the house of John Chapman, the pioneer settler of Wrights- town, from whom William Smith made his first purchase of land, adjoining Penn's Park. Mary (Croasdale) Smith died in 1716, and in 1720 William Smith married a second wife, Mercy, by whom he had seven children. He died in 1743. Of the eight children of the first marriage, Thom- as Smith was the ancestor of the subject

of this sketch. He married in 6 mo., 1727, Elizabeth Sanders, and took up his resi- dence at "Windy Bush," in Upper Make- field township, near the point where the four townships of Buckingham, Wrights- town, Solebury and Upper Makefield join, on a tract of land surveyed to his father in 1709 by Penn's land commissioners. He died in 1750.

Samuel Smith, the second of the eight children of Thomas and Elizabeth (San- ders) Smith, was born at Windy Bush, I mo. 17, 1729-30 (March 17, 1730), and died there 2 mo. 14, 1812. He married in 1750, at Buckingham Friends' Meeting, Jane, the daughter of John and Ann (Lenoir) Scho- field, of Solebury, who died 10 mo. 29, 1815, at the age of eighty-nine years. Ann Smith, the third of the ten children of Samuel and Jane, was born II mo. 15, 1754, and died in 1854 at the age of ninety-nine years, ten months and twenty-seven days. She married at Wrightstown Meeting, II mio. 19, 1774, Joseph Smith, a grandson 01 Robert Smith, the other pioneer of the name.

Robert Smith is said to have come from England with a brother Timothy and two or three sisters, the parents dying on the passage to America. He was a resident of Makefield in 1710, when he witnessed the marriage of his sister Ruth to Joshua Cheesman. His brother Timothy married Rachel Milnor in 1716, and became a prom- inent man in the community. Robert Smith married, 7 mo. 30, 1719, Phebe Can- by, daughter of Thomas Canby, one of the most prominent men of his time, a preacher among Friends, and many years a member of colonial assembly. Robert Smith set- tled on a farm in Buckingham, adjoining the Makefield farm of William Smith, and died there 6 mo. 26, 1745. The house built by him on this tract in 1738 was the home of his descendants for six generations. He was an overseer of Buckingham Meeting, and his wife was an approved minister among Friends. She married in 1753, Hugh Ely, of Buckingham, and died I mo. 19, 1774.

Timothy Smith, the second of the nine children of Robert and Phebe (Canby) Smith, was born I mo. 29, 1722, and died 5 mno. 14, 1798. He married at Bucking- ham Meeting, 2 mo. 17, 1745, Sarah Kin- sey, daughter of Edmund and Sarah Og- burn Kinsey, early settlers at the site of Buckingham meeting house, where Ed- mund was an approved minister. Sarah Kinsey Smith died 5 mo. 17, 1812.

Joseph Smith, fourth of the seven chil- dren of Timothy and Sarah (Kinsey) Smith, was born in Buckingham, 7 mo. 7, 1753, and died at Smithtown, in Tinicum township, Bucks county, 9 mno. 28, 1826. He was the inventor and patentee of the first plow with an iron mouldboard, and in con- nection with his brother Robert engaged in their manufacture in 1800. In 1802 he removed to Smithtown and erected dwell- ings and shops, and carried on the manu-

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

facture of plows until his death in 1826. It was in these shops that anthracite coal was first successfully used for fuel about 1812. He married, as above stated, Ann Smith, daughter of Samuel and Jane (Schofield) Smith, of the other branch of the family.

William Smith, the third of the twelve children of Joseph and Ann Smith, was born in Buckingham, 6 mo. 3, 1779, and married, in 1804, Margaret Worthington, daughter of Mahlon and . Mary ( Paxson) Worthington, and granddaughter of Rich- ard Worthington, one of the earliest set- tlers in lower Buckingham, where Mahlon was born 12 mio. 19, 1750.

JONATHAN SMITH, the father of the subject of this sketch, was the youngest of ten children of William and Margaret Smith, and was born in Wrightstown township, 5 mo. 31, 1826, and died in Buck- ingham, May 23, 1889. 'He was reared on the farm, and acquired his education at the local schools. In January, 1853, he pur- chased the farm upon which the subject of this sketch now resides, and on the third day of March following married Sa- rah C. Johnson, and took up his residence in Buckingham.

He was an active worker in the Prohi- bition party and in all branches of tem- perance work, being one of the organizers of the Good Templar's Lodge. His home was always the headquarters of the lodge in this section. Many of his relatives were also active in temperance work, and he was wont to 'say that he had seventy-six first cousins, of whom fifty were boys, not one of whom used either tobacco or in- toxicating drinks. His team of four black horses, carrying banners, etc., was a feature at many temperance and prohibition dem- onstrations. His wife, Sarah C. Johnson, was born July 31, 1830, and died October 26, 1888. They were the parents of six chil- dren, the three eldest of whom died in in- fancy. Elizabeth P. married, 10 mo. 18, 1888, Hon. William W. Griest, of Lancas- ter, for many years a county official of Lan- caster county, and secretary of the com- monwealth, under Governor William A. Stone. George A. Smith, the oldest sur- viving son, removed to Chicago in early life, and married Frances A. Kerr, of that city. He died in Chicago, 8 mo. 6, 1892, leaving one child, Esther.

Charles J. Smith was the youngest child of Jonathan and Sarah Smith. He was born and reared on the farm upon which he still resides, and acquired his education at the Hughesian School and at the Doyles- town English and Classical Seminary. From early life he was active in the manage- ment of the farm, and is considered one of the best farmers in the. valley of Buck- ingham. At the death of his father he purchased the farm, and never has resided elsewhere. He and his family are mem- bers of the Society of Friends. He is one of the trustees of the Hughesian Frec School, having been elected in 1899. He

married in 1888, Mercy Lovett, daughter of Edmund and Clara (Weaver) Lovett, of Penn's Manor, who celebrated their golden wedding on October 31, 1904; botli are hale and hearty. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born four children- Willis W., Milton L., E. Lovett, and Eliza- beth.

MRS. NAOMI A. PADDOCK belongs to a family long resident of Bucks county. Her parents were Phineas and Deborah ( Mitchell) Walker, and they had thirteen children, namely: Augustus; Annie, the wife of Joseph Smith; Margaret, the wife of L. B. Risden; William H .; Sarah, the wife of Theodore Vansant; Susan, the wife of Allen Neil; Phineas; Naomi ; Mary, the wife of Edward Twining; Eliza- beth, the wife of Charles Risden; James ; Lottie, the wife of William Van Horn; and one that died in infancy.

Naomi Walker, reared in the parental home and educated in the public schools, was married (first) to Edward Burns, and there were five children by that union : J. Walker and Robert W., who are partners in a wholesale grocery business in Will- iamson, West Virginia; Edward, who is a railroad engineer in West Virginia; Mary, the wife of L. H. Phitteplace, who is as- sistant superintendent of the Northwestern Railroad Company, of Virginia; and Will- iam W., who is still at home with his moth- er. She is a member of the Friends' So- ciety. For her second husband Mrs. Burns married George H. Paddock, who is also deceased. He was a civil engineer and a coal operator of West Virginia, and after his death Mrs. Paddock returned to Yard- ley, settling near the place of her nativity. Here she owns and occupies one of the best homes in Yardley, and has good prop- erty interests.

SYLVESTER H. STONEBACH, a prosperous farmer of Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, was there born July 18, 1854, on a farm in the southern part of Richland township. He is of German descent, the grandson of John and Elizabeth (Tresler) Stonebach, and son of Jacob T. and Chris- tiana (Hartzell) Stonebach, the daughter of John and Eva Hartzell. Sylvester H, is one of seven children born to his parents: Kitian, deceased; John Henry; Sylvester, mentioned at length hereinafter; Amanda, the wife of William Saylor; Lucinda, wife of Quinton Jordan; Anna Marie, married Allen Treisback; and Mary Elizabeth, now Mrs. Ahlum.

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History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 137

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