History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 138

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 138

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Sylvester H. Stonebach acquired what education the district schools of that day afforded, which he attended until his six- teenth year, meanwhile assisting his father with the farm work. In 1874 his father purchased the farm where Sylvester now lives, about a mile and a half south of Quakertown, on Bethlehem Pike, where

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

Sylvester continued to work with him. About 1878 S. 11. Stonebach settled at Quakertown, remaining there for a year, when he removed to a farm of Mr. Fulmar. in the lower part of Richland township. In 1885 he removed to the Aaron Harring farm, in Richland township, which he con- ducted for two years. For the next thirteen years he was engaged in cultivating the Martin farm in Richland township. lie purchased his father's farm in 1896, and two years later removed to it, where he continues to reside and which he conducts as a general farm. Mr. Stonebach's politi- cal belief accords with the doctrines of the Democratic party, and he has always taken a lively interest in the prosperity of that organization. He is a consistent member of St. John's Lutheran church' at Quaker- town.

In 1878 Mr. Stonebach was united in marriage to . Amanda, daughter of Jonas and Mary (Gross) Graver, of Quaker - town. She was born December 13, 1858, in Milford township, where her father con- ducted a farm and grist-mill near Trum- bauersville. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Stonebach : I. Mabel, died in infancy; 2. Harry, died April 17, 1878; 3. Sallie, born February 15, 1884, is unmarried and lives at home; she at- tended the district school of Richland township and is employed at Quakertown. 4. Warren, born January 11, 1886, attended the district school, and is at present en- gaged with his father-on the farm; 5. Florence, born February 3, 1889, attends the public school at Quakertown, and lives with her aunt, Mrs. Quinton Jordan. 6. Nellie, born November 9, 1890, attends the district school and lives at home; 7. Fred- erick, born August 20, 1898, attends dis- trict school.

JOEL LEVI HEACOCK. Through sev- eral centuries the Heacock family has been represented in Bucks county. Jesse and Tacy (Thompson) Heacock, his grand- parents, were residents of West Rockhill township, where the former owned and operated a farm. It was upon that farm that Joel Heacock, father of Joel L. Heacock, was born in 1794. He at- tended school in Milford township. Trum- - bauersville, and afterward engaged in farm- ing and in the general milling and lumber business. He was married in 1842 to Miss Abigail Roberts, the daughter of Levi and Phoebe (McCarthy) Roberts, the eldest of a family of twenty-two children. After his marriage Joel Heacock located on the old family homestead farm and devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits and milling. In his political views he was a Whig, and his religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Society of Friends. The old homestead is one of the oldest farming properties of Bucks county, it hay- ing been acquired by ancestors of Joel Levi Heacock from Thomas and Richard Penn

through a charter grant. This farm was situated in West Rockhill township, and long remained in possession of the family.

. Joel Levi Heacock attended the public schools in his home district through sev- eral winter seasons, and in the summer months worked on the farm assisting in the labors of the fields. His father died March 17, 1853. while on a business trip to German- town, and the family continued on the home farm until 1858, when Mrs. Heacock, the widow, rented the place. for she realized that her son required better educational advantages, and removed to Quakertown in order that he might enjoy educational opportunities that were in advance of those afforded by the community schools. There he continued his studies in the Friends' school, and later became a student at what was known as the Bucks County Normal Classical School, conducted by A. R. Horne, . a native of Springfield township, Bucks county, and a graduate of Pennsylvania col- lege, located at Gettysburg, this state.

Following the 'completion of his normal and classical course, Mr. Heacock assisted as a teacher for one year in that institution, after which he joined James Brunners in the conduct of a school for the training of teachers that they might be prepared for the work of the public schools in the townships. Later Mr. Heacock became principal in the Friends' school, occupying that position for a year. He next entered into partnership with Rev. George M. Lazarus, pastor of St. John's Lutheran church, and for a time conducted a school in the basement of that church. Many of the boys and young men who pursued their studies under his direc- tion afterward became active. prominent and influential in various departments of busi- ness life. Mr. Heacock has ever been deeply interested in the welfare and progress of his home locality, and has done everything in his power to promote its upbuilding, but has never aspired to office outside of Quak- ertown. He served as chief burgess for six years, and as a member of the town council labored effectively and honorably for the improvement of the borough along substan- tial lines of progress. Interested in the advancements that would make Quaker- town an attractive place of residence and also a good business center. he did every- thing possible to secure the lighting of the town by electricity. With this end in view he visited different places in Pennsylvania, New York. Ohio and Indiana, to investi- gate conditions and plans of lighting those towns. Few men have labored so untiringly and along such practical lines for the benefit of the borough as has Mr. Heacock. His efforts have ever been of the most practical character, and his fellow-townsmen recog- nizing the value of his services, in 1869 he was appointed notary public. and later be- came interested in the real-estate business, which he conducted in connection with the performance of his duties as justice of the peace. In the last mentioned office he has ever been desirous of bringing to a friendly

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conclusion any matter of dispute or litiga- tion between contestants who appeared be- fore him.

Mr. Heacock is now living a retired life, and has gathered around him many warm friends who are deeply interested in the social, economic and municipal questions which elicit his earnest attention and co- operation. Everything that tends to benefit mankind is a matter of concern to him, and especially has he labored for the wel- fare of his home locality and native county.

MRS. N. D. IRWIN, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, is the wife of Nathaniel D. Irwin, who descends from James Irwin, the first of the family to come from Ireland to America. He settled in Philadelphia, where he engaged in the manufacture of cloth- ing, continuing the same until his death in 1891. He had children as follows: I. Mary, wife of Matthew Woodburn; 2. Alexan- der; 3. Nathan D .; 4. Robert; 5. James A .; 6. Rachel; 7. George.

Nathan D., the second son, preferred the life of a farmer and settled in Upper Make- field township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he gave his attention to agriculture until his death in 1872.

February 14, 1866, he married Sarah J., daughter of James McNair and the grand- daughter of Solomon McNair. The family of McNair is of Scotch origin, and be- longed to the gathering of clans of whom the Earls of Lenox were the hereditary chieftains. Their place of gathering was near the head of Loch Lomond. They were pioneers in the establishing of the Presby- terian Kirk of Scotland, and in the latter part of the seventeenth century left their home on the banks of the river Dee and settled in county Donegal, Ireland, from whence in 1732 three of the family, John, Samuel and David, either cousins.or broth- ers, emigrated to Pennsylvania. John mar- ried Christine Walker, whose parents and brothers had accompanied the MeNairs to Pennsylvania and settled in Warrington- township, Bucks county. /After a short stay in Bucks county, where his son John was born in 1737, John McNair removed to Craig's, or the "Irish Settlement," in what is now Northampton county, from whence a number of his descendants in 1788 mi- grated to the valley of the Genesee in New York, where their descendants are still quite numerous. David McNair settled in Derry township, now Dauphin county, from whence his descendants moved west- ward and were prominent military and civil officers in western Pennsylvania and fur- ther westward, a grandson being the first sheriff of St. Louis and the first governor of Missouri.

Samuel McNair, the ancestor of the Mc- Nairs of Bucks county, was a son of James McNair, a native of Scotland, and was born in county Donegal, Ireland, in 1699. He married there Anna Murdock, and on coming to Pennsylvania in 1732 settled in

Upper Makefield township, Bucks county, where he died in 1761. He was one of the founders and active supporters of the Newtown Presbyterian church. He set- tled on land belonging to the London Com- pany, which, on the closing out of that com- pany in 1760, was conveyed to his sons James and Samuel. Solomon, another son, removed to Philadelphia during the Revo- lution and became a prominent merchant there, dying in 1812 at the age of sixty- eight years. Samuel, born September 25, 1739, married Mary Mann, March 15, 1705, and was the ancestor of the family 11 Southampton and Montgomery county.

John McNair, a grandson was a member of congress from Montgomery. Some of the family also intermarried with the Genesee family of McNair.

James McNair, eldest son of Samuel and Anna (Murdock) McNair, was born in Upper Makefield township, Bucks county, February 6, 1733, and in 1762 received a deed from the trustees of the London Com- pany, for 189 acres of land land held by his father under the London com- pany, and settled thereon. He married, March 13, 1766, Martha Keith, daughter of William Keith, who had accompanied his father from Ireland in 1732 and settled in Upper Makefield. James McNair died on the old plantation in Upper Makefield in 1807, leaving sons-James, Samuel, Solo- mon and David; and daughters-Ann, Eli- zabeth, Martha, and Rachel. By will dat- ed August 16, 1805, he devised the home- stead to his sons Solomon and David. Da- vid released his interest to Solomon, who lived all his life thereon, and it descended to his son James M. McNair, and thus re- mained in the tenure of the family for 140 years. By a singular coincidence the whole tract upon which Samuel McNair settled in 1732 remained in the tenure of his de- scendants for about the same period. Sam- tel McNair, who had acquired 128 acres of the tract in 1762, conveyed it to James Torbert in 1775, and he in 1792 conveyed it to his son James, who had married Mar- garet McNair, from whom it descended to his son John Keith Torbert.

Solomon McNair, son of James and Mar- tha (Keith) McNair, was a prominent man in the community, and held many positions of trust. Like his father, he was a inem- ber and elder of the Presbyterian church at Newtown, where many of the family lie buried. He was a member of the Pen isvl- vania assembly for the term of 1822-3. A letter written by him to his brother-in- law, James Torbert, while at Harrisburg, is still in possession of Maria K. Torbert, of Newtown, a daughter of John K. Tor- bert and granddaughter of James Torbert, to whom it was written. Solomon McNair died in February, 1832, leaving sons -- James M., William, John and Solomon, and daughters-Eliza, Martha, Mary and Saralı Ann.

JAMES M. McNAIR, son of Solomon, was born on the old homestead in Upper

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

- Makefield in 1800, and died there in 1872. He was a fine type of the worthy descend- ants of a worthy Scotch-Irish ancestry, and filled throughout his life a high and honorable position in the social, religious and political life of the community. He was an elder of the Presbyterian church at Newtown. For many years he was an officer of the local militia, and enjoyed a wide acquaintance in Bucks county. He took a lively interest in the political ques- tions of the day, and frequently served as a delegate to district and state conventions of his party. He was elected to the office of clerk of the orphans' court of Bucks county in 1848, and served for three years. During the later years he lived a retired life on his farm in Makcheld, where he died September 5, 1872. He married Feb- ruary 20, 1837, Jane C. White, daughter of James and Margaret (Cooper) White, of Philadelphia, who survived him. Their only child was Sarah Jane, who married Nathaniel D. Irwin.

James White, the father of Mrs. McNair, was for many years connected with the Merchants' Bank of Philadelphia, and had a large circle of friends among the fin- ancial institutions of the city of Philadel- phia.

. Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel D. Irwin had two children: James, in the lumber busi- ness in Philadelphia; and Robert Irwin, a physician and a graduate of the Maryland Medical College of Baltimore, now a sur- geon in the hospital at Lafunta, Mexico.

JOHN HIRAM KAULL. A name honored in Quakertown is that of John Hiram Kaull. He belongs to a family which was founded in this country by John Kaull, a native of Germany, who came to America about 1740 or 1750, and took up land. His wife was Eliza Steininger, and they were the parents of a son, George, mentioned at length hereinafter. Mr. Kaull was distinguished in the community for the zeal with which he espoused the cause of the patriots during the revolutionary struggle.

George Kaull, son of John and Eliza (Sterninger) Kaull, was born on the pa- ternal farm in Lehigh county, on which he was reared, obtaining his education in the subscription schools of his district. He learned the trade of cigar making, which he followed in conjunction with the culti- vation of a farm. He married Elizabeth Kinder, by whom he was the father of the following children: I. Jemima, who mar- ried Thomas Steckle, of Allentown, and died in 1899. 2. Lavina, who became the wife of Steven Strauss, of Ohio. 3. John Hiram, mentioned at length hereinafter. 4. Herina, who married David Daubert, of Allentown.

John Hiram Kaull, son of George and Elizabeth (Kirder) Kaull, was born April 9. 1822, on his father's farm, in Macum-

gie township, Lehigh county. He attend- ed the subscription schools of his birth- place and learned the trade of tanner. For three years he worked as a journeyman, and was then engaged for a time as a shoe- maker and also as a clerk in a general store. In 1845 he settled at Ruchville, North Whitehall township, where for three years he was engaged in a general store business. He then purchased a hotel at Tylersport, Montgomery county, of which he was for a time the proprietor, and then settled near Salfordville, where he was again a hotel proprietor for the space of two years. For three years he was engaged in the same line of business at Bunker Hill, and . then moved to Quakertown, where he added to his reputation as a genial host, his hotel standing on the site now occupied by J. S. Harley's harness works. At the end of three years he re- tired from the hotel business, and became a traveling salesman for the Duster Woolen Mills, of Bethlehem, where he resided for two years, and erecting a desirable resi- dence at Quakertown. For fifteen years he was traveling salesman for John Lentz & Company, retiring from the business in 1886. Mr. Kaull took a lively interest in politics, and for five years filled the office of justice of the peace. He also served as deputy coroner of the county and acted as delegate to county conventions. Soon after coming to Quakertown he received the appointment of postmaster of that place, an office which he administered with jus- tice, discretion and fidelity. His vote and influence were given to the Democratic party. He was an active member of the First Reformed church.

Mr. Kaull married, in 1845, Anna Caro- line Deshler, of North Whitehall town- ship, and their family consisted of the fol- lowing children: I. Mary Elizabeth, born January 27, 1847, married in 1868, Ezekiel, so11 of Ezeral and Sarah ( Hager) Thomas. of Spring City, Chester county. Their children were: Florence, deceased; Anna Caroline, who married Charles R. Smith, of Quakertown; and James Kaull also de- ceased. 2. Alice Almyra Christina, born May 21, 1848, attended the Quakertown public schools, and resides at home. 3. George Franklin Pierce, born December 20, 1852, died in 1853. 4. Martha Josephine, born December 20, 1854. was educated in the Quakertown schools and at Dickinson's Seminary, Williamsport, and lives at home. 5. James Deshler, born November 27, 1856, died at Dickinson's Seminary, Williams- port, in 1872. 6. Peter Grimm, born March 19, 1862, attended the Quakertown public schools, engaged in mercantile business in Philadelphia, and now resides at home. In politics he is a Democrat, but has not been active in the organization. He is a member of the First Reformed church of Quakertown.

Mrs. Kaull is a granddaughter of David Deshler, who inherited from his father a farm in Whitehall township, Lehigh county,

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

known as Deshler's Fort, from the fact that it was used by the inhabitants of the sur- rounding country as a place of refuge from the Indians. He married Catherine Fogel, and their son James was born in 1801, on the homestead. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Peter and Teresa (Van Bus- kirk) Grimm. The latter was the daugh- ter of the Rev. Jacob Van Buskirk, who was born February II, 1739, in New Jer- sey, and worthily filled the pastorate of St. John's Lutheran church, North Wale Pennsylvania. His death occurred Aug- ust 5, 1800.

Mr. and Mrs. Deshler were the par- ents of the following children: I. Mary Catherine, died unmarried. 2. Jacob, mar- ried Sarah Trumbauer, of Lehigh county, and died 1885. 3. Anna Caroline, born July 18, 1825, and received her primary ed- ucation in the subscription schools, after- ward attending a school at Easton pre- sided over by the Misses Lorrence, and also the Quakertown Friends' school. She became the wife of John Hiram Kaull, as mentioned above. 4. Eliza Ann, born April 29, 1832, married Ephraim, son of Jacob Mickley, of Whitehall township, Lehigh county. 5. David James Franklyn, born in August, 1828. 6. Peter W. H., born Janu- ary 16, 1843, died in 1891.

EDWARD TITUS SLACK, of Buck- ingham, is a representative of a family that have been residents of Bucks county for over a century and a half. He was born at Pineville, September 16, 1843, and is a son of Albert and Elizabeth W. (Fell) Slack, both natives of Buckingham town- ship, Bucks county. The first American progenitor of the Slack family was Hen- drick Cornelius Slecht, who emigrated from Holland in 1652 and settled on Long Island, near the present site of Brooklyn. He was a landowner at Flatbush in 1672. and a member of the Dutch Reformed church at Brooklyn in 1677. His will was dated September 23, 1690. He married Elsje Barentse Lieveling, who bore him at least five children: Jacomyntje, who mar- ried Jan Elting and settled at New Patz, New York ;\Barendt, who married Hilletje Jans, at Brooklyn, May I, 1692", Cornelius, who married Johanna Van de Water, and settled at Maidenhead, now Lawrenceville, New Jersey, about 1710; Anna Catharine, who married George Hafte; Abraham; and ~ Johannis, who married Catharine Jacobse Bergen. The children of the latter settled in Southampton, Bucks county, where his sons Jacob and John were landholders be- fore 1750. Two of his daughters married Van Pelts, and have left numerous de- scendants.

John Slack, who married Jane Winder, daughter of Thomas Winder, of Hopewell. about 1738, and settled in Lower Make- field township, Bucks county, was a son of one of the three brothers above named.

Tradition names Cornelius, of Maidenhead, as the ancestor, but no baptismal record of a son John has been found. John, son of Barendt, was baptised October 30, 1698, and was possibly the John of Lower Make- field who in his will dated 1785, mentions the fact that he is "far advanced in age." John and Jane ( Winder) Slack, were the parents of seven sons-Cornelius, Thomas, Joseph, Timothy, Noah, Philip and John. Of these, Cornelius, the eldest, married Elizabeth Spear, February 5, 1765, and set- tled on land conveyed to him by his fath- er, in Lower Makefield, where he died in 1810. His children were: Jane, who mar- ried Lamb Torbert; John ; Anna, who mar- ried Joseph Johnson ; "Pamela, who mar- ried Joshiah Briggs; David; Mary; Will- iam; Elizabeth; Cornelius; Deborah, and Elias.

David, the fifth child of Cornelius and Elizabeth (Spear) Slack, married Jane Worthington, of Buckingham, and settled in that township near Wycombe, in 1818. In 1837 he purchased a farm in Northamp- ton township, and lived there for about ten years or more when he returned to Buckingham. He died in Wrightstown, August 30, 1863. The children of David and Jane (Worthington) Slack were: Albert, Joseph C., George, and Mary.

Albert Slack was born in Buckinghanı, on the farm now owned by Wilson M. Woodman, near Wycombe. He learned the trade of a blacksmith with Benjamin Fell, at Pineville, whose daughter Eliza- beth W., born 7 mo. 3, 1819, he married later. He followed his trade until 1844, when he purchased a farm in Northampton, which he conducted until 1855, when he returned to Buckingham and purchased the farm upon which the subject of this sketch still resides at Wycombe, and resided there- on until his death in 1866. He was an in- dustrious and frugal man and acquired a competence. In politics originally a Whig, which party his father had joined in 1836, when President Jackson refused to re- charter the United States Bank, he became an active "Know Nothing" at the organiza- tion of that party in 1853, and was later a Republican and a member of the Union League. His wife was a daughter of Ben- jamin and Eliza (Watson) Fell, and a de- scendant of Joseph Fell, of Longlands, Cumberland, England, who settled in Buckingham in 1707, an account of whose descendants is given elsewhere in this work. Albert and Elizabeth W. (Fell) Slack were the parents of six children, viz .: Emily F., who married Jesse John- son, and is now deceased; Edward Titus; Jane E., widow of Thomas T. Pool, now residing in Doylestown; Marietta, single, residing with Jane E .; George W., a gro- ceryman in Philadelphia; and Benjamin Howard, of Willow Grove.

The subject of this sketch, though born in Buckingham, spent his boyhood days in Northampton township, where he acquired his education at the public schools. At the

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

death of his father, in 1866, he took charge of the home farm and conducted it for the heirs for eight years. In February, 1673. he married Henrietta Smith, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Twining) Smith, of Buckingham, and rented the home farm, which he conducted as a tenant until his mother's death in 1877, when he purchased it and has since made it his home. He also owns the Rush Valley Mills, which are conducted by a tenant. In politics he is a Republican, but has never souglit or held other than local office. He is a mem- ber of Newtown Lodge, No. 205, A. O. U. WV. To Mr. and Mrs. Slack have been born four children: Emily F., living at home; Albert, of Kalispell, Montana ; J. Thomas, at home; and Harry, deceased.

MAHLON CARVER, deceased, of Car- versville, was a representative of one of the oldest families in Pennsylvania. He was born and reared in Byberry, where his paternal ancestors, Jolın and. Mary ( Lane) Carver, settled on their arrival from Hert- fordshire, England, in 1682. Four brothers, John, William, Joseph and Jacob Carver, came together from England and settled in Byberry. Of these William later purchased land in Buckingham, Bucks county, upon which his son William settled and raised a large family of children who have left numerous descendants in central Bucks.

The subject of this sketch, however, is a descendant of John Carver, who married Mary Lane before leaving England, and settled on 600 acres of land on Poquessing creek, in Byberry. A great portion of the land remained in the family for six gen- erations of John Carvers down to 1864. The first John Carver died in 1714 leaving chil- dren : Mary, born five days after the ar- rival of her parents in Pennsylvania, who married Isaac Knight; John; Ann, who married Jolin Duncan and settled in Ben- salem ; James and Richard.

John, the eldest son of John and Mary (Lane) Carver, inherited a portion of the homestead and lived and died there, his death occurring in 5 mo. 14, 1769. His wife was Isabel Weldon, and by her he had three children, John, Ann and Isaac. Mary married Robert Heaton, and Isaac mar- ried Phebe Walmsley. John Carver, born 7 mo. 30, 1717, married Rachel, daughter of Joseph Naylor, of Southampton, Bucks county, and settled on the old homestead, where he died I mno. 15, 1791. His children were John, Samuel, Eli, Mahlon, Mary and Rachel. Of these only Mahlon became a resident of Bucks county. He married Amy, daughter of Joseph Pickering, of Solebury, and followed the trade of a blacksmith for some years in Byberry, and later kept the Anchor tavern in Wrightstown, removing from there to Morrisville, where he died.

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History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 138

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