History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 25

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 25

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Mrs. Van Pelt died October 17. 1900. They have been the parents of seven children, four of whom survive: Jose- phine, wife of Augustus Poore, a con- ductor on the P. & R. R. R .. residing at Doylestown; Isaac, residing in New

Hope, Bucks county; Seth, who now lias charge of the home farm; and Clara, wife of Harry S. Woolsey, of Doyles- town.

JOSEPH VAN PELT, deceased, of Pineville, Pennsylvania, was born in Buckingham township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, October 8, 1844, a son of Isaac and Mary Ann (Richardson) Van Pelt. He was reared on his father's farm, and obtained such education as could be acquired at the common schools in the vicinity of his home. At his father's death, in 1865, he went to live with his brother-in-law, Joseph Starkey, on the Buckingham farm. In 1869 he came to Pineville and entered the employ of his half-brother, William, in the butcher business. Ten years later he began the business of butchering in partnership with Hiel G. Quin, under the firm name of Van Pelt & Co. Mak- ing a specialty of pork butchering, they built up a large and lucrative trade, turning out a finished product of two hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds in a year. The success attained by the firm was entirely due to the en- ergy, perseverance and pluck displayed in their management of affairs, and also by honorable and straightforward busi- ness principles which characterized their career from the beginning. In politics Mr. Van Pelt was a Democrat.

Mr. Van Pelt married, December 31, 1874, Rachel R. Tomlinson, daughter of William H. and Sarah (Phillips) Tom- linson. Five children were born to them, of whom Jennie died at the age of two years and eleven months, and Harry in his sixteenth year. The sur- viving members of the family are: Eu- gene K., a bookkeeper in Philadelphia; Mary A., a graduate of Doylestown high school, resides at home; and Lewis W., who also resides at home. William H. Tomlinson, father of Mrs. Van Pelt, was a son of Samuel and Hannah (Doan) Tomlinson, and grandson of Joseph Tomlinson, whose mother was a de- scendant of William Buckman, who came from Sussex county, England, arriving here in the "Welcome." 8 mno., 1682. Joseph Van Pelt died January 5, 1905.

CHARLES LANGHORNE TAYLOR, of Trevose, son of the late Charles Will- iams Taylor, and Sarah (Paxson) Taylor, his second wife, was born on the Trevose estate in Upper Bensalem township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, the home of the Taylor family for several generations, and the residence in Colonial times of the Growdons, ancestors of the Taylor family.

The founder of the Taylor family in America was Thomas Taylor of Virginia, who was a son of Thomas Taylor, of Lon-

105

HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

don, England. The latter was a son of John, who was a son of one Nathaniel Tay- lor, who lived in Colchester, Essex, at the time of the commonwealth under Crom- well. Thomas Taylor, the American pro- genitor of the family, went to Virginia when young and became a planter. He was prosperous and became possessed of a large landed estate which he devised to his son Caleb at his death. Thomas Taylor, third son of Caleb and grandson of Thomas Tay- lor of Virginia, was born in 1753, joined the Society of Friends, and settled in York, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1837, aged eiglity-four years. His son, Caleb, Jr., was born in 1789, and went into the wholesale drug business at 24 North Front street, Philadelphia, in 1810, at the age of twenty- one. In the space of ten years he built up a large and profitable business. In 1820 he died, leaving a widow, Lydia, and four chil- dren: Caleb, third; George W., Charles W., father of the subject of this sketch ; and Sarah, wife of the late Thomas Paul, of Germantown, whose niece, Mary Paul, mar- ried William Waldorf Astor, of New York city. Caleb Taylor, Jr., married in 1814 Lydia Williams, a woman of superior men- tal attainments and of distinguished an- cestry. She was a lineal descendant of Thomas Langhorne and of Lawrence Grow- don, the elder, and Joseph Growdon, prom- inent men in and early settlers of the pro- vince of Pennsylvania ; also from the Eng- lish Mauleverers of Arncliffe. She was the daughter of Charles Williams and Sarah Dickinson, his wife. The original parch- ment marriage certificate reciting their mar- riage in 1788 by Frends' ceremony, is still in the possession of the family, and is an interesting document. Charles Williams was the son of Hezekiah Williams, Jr. and Grace Langhorne Biles, his wife. The lat- ter was a daughter of Charles Biles and Anne Mary, his wife. Charles Biles was the son of William Biles and Sarah Lang- horne, his wife.

William Biles was one of the early set- tlers of the county. He took up nearly three hundred acres just east of the pres- ent borough of Langhorne. He was a man of eminent talents and of great influence. He was a member of the assembly, over- seer of the highways, and a constable un- der Governor Andros and the Duke of York. Sarah Langhorne, his wife, was the daughter of Thomas Langhorne, and sister of Jeremiah Langhorne, a noted minister of the religious Society of Friends, and later judge of the provincial courts. Hezekiah Williams, Jr., was the son of Hezekiah Williams, Sr., and Sarah Abbott, his wife. The latter was the daughter of John Abbott, and Anne Mauleverer, his wife. Anne Mary, wife of Charles Biles, was the daughter of Thomas Hooper and Ganfeier (Growdon) Hooper, who was the daughter of Joseph Growdon, the father of Lawrence Growdon the younger. Joseph Growdon was a son of Lawrence Growdon the elder, of Trevose,

Cornwall, England. He with his son Jo- seph in 1681 together obtained a grant of ten thousand acres of land from the pro- prietor of the province of Pennsylvania. At the death of Joseph his share of the estate went to his wife Anne, and at her death it went to Lawrence Growdon the younger. The Growdon tract comprised nearly the whole of what is now the present township of Bensalem. The present Trevose estate is all that is now left of it, and it is one of the historic estates of Pennsylvania. The boundaries of the tract as it then existed began on or near the farm of one Charles Vandegrift, on the Poquessing creek, and extended in an irregular line to the Nesh- aminy creek, a short distance above the present village of Newportville; thence fol- lowing the Neshaminy until it reached the range of the Southampton township line; thence along this line to the Poquessing, and down that stream until it reached the farm of Charles Vandegrift, at the place of beginning. . The Growdons also took up under their patent from Penn three hun- dred acres of land in the southern point of Bensalem, between the Poquessing creek and the Delaware river.

After a short residence in Philadelphia, after he came over from England, Lawrence Growdon erected a mansion house at Tre- vose, set up a manorial establishment, and maintained much pomp and. circumstance. The mansion house was at that time a large stone building with pointed finish, two stor- ies high, with open stairway and hall. When it was completed in 1687 it was one of the finest residences in the province. Two wings, one adjoining the east end of the house, and the other adjoining the west end, with an open court-yard between them, were used for kitchen, scullery, store house and slave quarters respectively. At the east end of the dwelling house Growdon erected a small stone fireproof building, with brick arched roof, and an iron door. Here the county records were stored while the county seat was at Bristol and while Growdon was prothonotary, and here at a later date were kept many of the valuable papers of Benjamin Franklin, who was an intimate friend of Joseph Galloway, son-in- law of Lawrence Growdon. In the iron door at present on this building there still may be seen bullet holes from shots fired by soldiers in the Continental army during the Revolu- tionary war. In front of the mansion house the main door opened into the spacious hall, and from this door a splendid view could be had of distant Jersey and the Delaware river, as well as the lower lands of Ben- salem, Byberry and Bristol. A fine lawn of original forest trees surrounded the house, while back were stables and garden. Back of the house and towards the "Neshaminy river" was Growdon's famous orchard of one thousand apple trees of English im- portation. This was the home, or Manor farm. The farms retained and rented were South Trevose, East Belmont, West Bel- mont, South Richlieu, West Richlieu, and

106

HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

Richlieu Forest. Part of the southern lands were subsequently sold to the Rod- mans. Gabriel Thomas, in his book en- titled "An Historical Description of the Province of Pennsylvania," published in London in 1698, describes the Growdon mansion as situated on the "Neshaminy river" and further says that "Judge Grow- don hath a very noble and fine house, very pleasantly situated; and likewise a famous orchard adjoining to it, wherein are con- tained above a thousand apple trees of various sorts." Growdon's mansion house, which this quaint historian refers to. is still standing, and is as solid as it was when built over two hundred years ago. There have been but slight changes to alter its appearance with the exception of a half story which was added in 1847. The old house in its day had seen many a dis- tinguished guest. Here Penn held council, and here laws were formulated for the bet- ter government of the province. Here, in the next generation, Benjamin Franklin re- hearsed his theories regarding the then un- discovered science of electricity with his friend the eminent and erratic Galloway.

Lawrence Growdon, the younger, was a member of the general assembly from Phila- delphia in 1685. In 1693 he was elected to represent Bucks county in the same body, and served as speaker of the house for a number of consecutive terms. He was ap- pointed a provincial judge in 1706, and was one of the judges of the supreme court in 1715. Proud speaks of him as being at- torney general in 1725. For further in- formation on this subject the reader is re- ferred to an interesting paper entitled "The Growdon Mansion," read before the Bucks County Historical Society, January 19, 1897, by Henry W. Watson, Esq., of Langhorne.

Lawrence Growdon died in 1769, and left surviving him two daughters, Elizabeth and Grace. The latter married Joseph Gal- loway, one of the eminent men of his day. He was an able lawyer, and at the begin- ning of the Revolution had built up a large practice in the courts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. He was a man of great activity and indefatigable industry. He was a member of the provincial assem- bly eighteen years, and speaker of the house twelve years. He was sent by the assembly as a delegate to the Continental congress. After the death of Lawrence Growdon, his father-in-law, Joseph Galloway, resided at Trevose. He believed that the difficulties between Great Britain and the Colonies which eventually led to the Revolution could be settled amicably and without bloodshed. These views he boldly upheld in the Continental congress. His influence was so great that his opponents saw that he must be silenced. In the autumn of 1776, while Galloway was supposed to be living at Trevose, a squad of soldiers ap- peared there in search of him. They did not find him, however, as he had been warned and had left. They sacked the man- sion, and plundered the wine cellar. As

they left they fired a parting shot at the iron door of the old record office. The bul- let holes may be seen to this day. After hostilities commenced Galloway upheld the British cause. His wife and daughter went to Philadelphia, where he rejoined them shortly after, entering the city with the British army under Sir William Howe. Joseph Galloway had one daughter, known to history as "Betty." In her day she was a great belle. Among her admirers was a British army officer, William Roberts, whom she afterwards married. Galloway took a determined stand against the young man and forbade his daughter to have any as- sociation with him, and threatened to shoot him if he ever came on his property. The colored servants sympathized with the young lovers and carried letters between them. An elopement from Trevose and a marriage followed. When Galloway dis- covered this he was enraged. He imme- diately resolved to sell all his slaves, and ac- cordingly advertised and sold them in the open court yard at the rear of the mansion house and between its wings. This oc- curred about ten years before the Revolu- tionary war.

Some time after this, Galloway turned his mind to religion and wrote and pub- lished a work entitled "Galloway's Com- ments on Divine Revelation," an old work yet in many libraries. Meeting the far- famed Christian philanthropist, Anthony Benezet, one of the best men of any age or country, Galloway asked him very pom- pously if he had read his great work on "Divine Revelation." "No," replied Ben- ezet, "neither shall I, for I think that a man who sells his fellow beings at public sale had better leave Divine Revelation alone, and everything else that is Divine."

To prevent her property from being con- fiscated, Galloway's wife Grace, by hier will dated December 30, 1781, and recorded at Doylestown, devised all her real estate, in- cluding Trevose, to nine persons therein named, their lieirs and assigns, without any restrictions or limitations whatever. The devisees took possession and held her estate until in 1801, when the survivors of them recorded in Doylestown "A Declaration of Trust," in which they declared that they held the estate in trust for Elizabeth Gallo- way, her heirs and assigns, covenanting to convey at her request. The tracts Trevose, South Trevose, East Belmont, West Bel- mont, Richlien, and Richlieu Forest were so conveyed to Elizabeth Galloway Roberts, and were sold by her grandchildren to George Williams, great-uncle of the subject of this sketch.

The Galloways lived at Trevose in ac- cordance with their social position and wealth and were looked up to as great folk, by the people of the community. On every fair day "Betty" Galloway could be seen cantering on horseback over the roads of the neighborhood. followed by a colored groom. Her riding habit has been min- utely described by a local historian :

107

HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

"The habit consisted of a black hat and plume, with coat and bodice and flowing skirt of green velvet, faced with gold." Her father wore the short trous- ers of the day with silk stockings and a powdered wig on all important occasions.

An interesting discovery was made at Trevose in 1888. It was part of the neigh- borhood tradition that before Mrs. Grace (Growdon) Galloway was forced to leave her home at the time of the Revolution, she buried a good deal of her treasure, which was too bulky to take with her. In August, 1888, this tradition was confirmed. A la- borer while working on the farm unearthed the remains of what had been a box of rare and costly eggshell or India china. It was unfortunately nearly all broken when found, but enough remained to show that it had been hand-painted with pictures of Chinese life, with the funny and impossible perspec- tive so much in use by the artists of the Flowery Kingdom for the last thousand years. Just enough remained to show what once had been. They had evidently been carefully packed. Saucers and tea plates were found standing on their edges in rows, and there was a strong partition in the box separating them from the larger and heavier pieces of china. There were also a number of pieces found belonging to a children's toy -tea set of common blue ware. There was but one other article de- serving of mention, and this was a bowl of the commonest ware ornamented with a likeness of King George III., taken when he was a young man, with the words "George III., King," on a scroll at the base of the portrait. There seems to have been no reason why so worthless an article should have been hidden away, excepting that, as it indicated the loyalty of the family. it was dangerous to allow it to be exposed to view. A similar box of china was dug up in 1847 by the late William Ridge, who was then lessee of the property.

In 1847 the Burtons, grandchildren of Betty Galloway, sold Trevose to their sec- ond cousin, George Williams, a lineal des- cendant of the Growdons. At his death he devised it to his niece Lydia (Williams) Taylor, wife of Caleb Taylor : Lydia at her death devised it to her son, the late Charles W. Taylor, father of the subject of this sketch. It is somewhat singular that, from the time of the Growdons down to the time of the Burtons, there is no mention in any deed or will conveying the property to any male heir being born to the estate. There has always been a female heir in each gen- eration for whom the property has been held in trust. From 1681 to the present time the property has been sold but twice. Through the Williams family the present owner is a lineal descendant from the Growdons, the first purchaser from William Penn, and while the property has not al- ways descended in a direct line, yet it is interesting to note that it has never passed out of the hands of the descendants of Law- rence Growdon the elder, since the time he

received it by grant from Penn, the pro- prietor of the province of Pennsylvania.

Lydia ( Williams) Taylor, wife of Caleb Taylor, was also a lineal descendant of Thomas Langhorne, father of Jeremiah Langhorne, of Langhorne Park. The lat- was an interesting contemporary of Lawrence Growdon. He was a branch of the Langhorne family of Wales, "a family of much wealth, and great note." They were the owners of all the country from St. Davids' to Carmarthan, over sixty miles. St.' Brides' was the family seat of the Langhornes, settled by one Thomas Langhorne during the reign of Richard II. Langhorne Castle was dismantled by Crom- well. Thomas Langhorne, of Kendall meet- ing, Westmoreland, England, came to Bucks county in 1684. He took up some eight hundred acres of land covering the ground between the present borough of Langhorne and Glen Lake, and was one of the first set- tlers. His mansion house was situated about one half-mile south of the present borough of Langhorne Manor, and on the property now owned by J. Hibbs Buckman, Esq. He had four children: Jeremiah ; Elizabeth, who married Lawrence Grow- don; Sarah, who married William Biles; and Grace, who died at the age of thirty- four, unmarried.

Jeremiah Langhorne was farfamed as one of the ablest ministers of the religious So- ciety of Friends. He was chief justice of the province, and held court in many places in it. He lived a single life with his sister Grace until her death, and after that alone with his servants. Besides Langhorne Park, his residence, he owned several thousand acres in Lehigh county. As to the date of his death there is no known record. His remains are said to lie in the Middletown meeting graveyard in the borough of Lang- horne. His will was proved in 1774. By marriages and deaths without issue Jere- miah Langhorne's estates went largely to the Growdons and the Galloways of Tre- vose. For an interesting essay on "Jeremiah Langhorne and his Times" the reader is referred to a paper read before the Bucks County Historical Society on August 9, 1898. by Samuel C. Eastburn, Esq., of Langhorne, from which much of the infor- mation herein contained is taken.

The Williams family are also descended from the Mauleverers of Arncliffe, Eng- land. Hezekiah Williams, Jr. (ante) great- grandfather of the late Charles W. Taylor, was the son of Hezekiah Williams, Sr., and Sarah Abbott, his wife. The latter was a daughter of Anne Mauleverer and John Abbott, of Burlington county, New Jersey, who were married April 16, 1696. John Abbott was born in Nottinghamshire in 1663, and arrived in Philadelphia in 1684. Anne Mauleverer was the daughter of Ed- mund Mauleverer, of West Auyton, York- shire, and Anne Pearson, his wife. He died 27 November, 1679. Edmund's father was James, who married Beatrice, daughter of Sir Timothy Hutton. Bart. Records in St.

108

HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

Mary's church, York, show that he was buried there 25 April, 1664. James's father was William, who married Eleanor, daugh- ter of Richard Aldborough. William Mauleverer was buried at Arncliffe, the family seat of the Mauleverers, II April, 1618. William's father was Sir Edmund, who married Mary, daughter of Sir Chris- topher Danby, Bart. He was buried at Arncliffe, 27 April 1571. Sir Edmund's father was Robert, who married Alice, daugliter of Sir Nimian de Markenfield. Robert's father was Sir William Maule- verer (knighted at Flodden in 1513 ) who married Anne, daughter of William, first Lord Conyers, and Anne de Neville his wife. The latter was a daughter of Ralph de Neville, third earl Westmoreland. Lord Conyers was the son of Sir John Conyers, Bart, and Alice de Neville, his wife. Through the Nevilles, and John of Gaunt, the line may be readily traced to Edward III., and so on back, by any one familiar with English history. For further research on this matter the reader is re- ferred to "Descent of Anne Mauleverer Abbott," by Charles Marshall and John B. Clement, 1903, Times Printing House, Philadelphia. See also "Inglesby Arncliffe, and its Owners," by William Brown, F. S. A., 1901, John Whitehead & Son, Alfred street, Boar Lane, Leeds. The descent in all its details is beautifully traced in the Marshall-Clement chart,

to which the reader is referred.

Sarah (Paxson) Taylor, second wife of the late Charles W. Taylor, and mother of the subject of this sketch, was born April 13, 1841, at "Brushy Park," near Edding- ton, Pennsylvania, and died at Trevose, February 22, 1889. She was the daughter of Joseph Paxson and Elizabeth (Gallaher) Paxson, his wife, and a member of the Rod- man family. Joseph Paxson was born Feb- ruary 12, 1803, and died September 24, 1867. He was the eldest son of John Paxson, of Brookfield, and Sarah (Pickering) Paxson, his wife. John Paxson's father was Joseph, who married Sarah Rodman. He was born 25 December, 1744, and resided at Brook- field until his death in 1795. Sarah Rod- man's father was John Rodman (fourth) of Brookfield, who married (second) Mary Harrison Rodman. He was born in 1714 at Flushing, Long Island. He removed to Burlington, New Jersey, with his father, in 1726; thence September 1, 1748, to Bensa- lem township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, residing until his death in 1795 on the farm called Brookfield, which he purchased from the Growdons. His father was John Rod- man (third) who married Margaret Grosse. John Rodman (third) was born in the Is- land of Barbadoes, May 14, 1679, and ac- companied his father to Newport, Rhode Island, in 1682. He resided at Newport after he became of age, and was admitted as a freeman of that city May I, 1706. He removed to Flushing, Long Island, in 1712, where he continued to reside until 1726. He was a member of the Society of Friends,

and a practicing physician. He was a mem- ber of the ninth assembly of the province of New Jersey in 1727, from the city of Burlington. From 1738 until his death, a period of eighteen years, he acted as King's Councillor for New Jersey. King George II. appointed him 8 January, 1741, a member of a commission to settle the con- troversy between the Mohegan Indians and the colony of Connecticut. He was the son of John Rodman (second) and Mary (Scammon) Rodman, his wife. John Rod- man (second) was born in 1653. His name appears among the inhabitants of Christ church parish, Barbadoes, December 22, 1679, as the owner of forty-seven acres of land and thirteen negroes. He was a mem- ber of the Religious Society of Friends, and while he lived in Barbadoes was fined 1,350 pounds of sugar "for default of ap- pearing in the troop." He purchased land in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1682, and in Burlington, New Jersey, in 1686. He died July 10, 1731, at the age of seventy-eight. He was the son of John Rodman (first) of the Island of Barbadoes, the progenitor of the Rodman family in America, and Eliza- beth Rodman, his wife. Of John Rodman little is known. He died in the Island of Barbadoes some time between the 16th Sep- tember and 4th December, 1686. His will bears the former date, and it was proved on the latter date. From whence he came is not now known. No memorials now exist in the family showing this fact, and the re- searches necessary to discover it from other sources have not been made. The only fact which tends to throw any light at all upon the subect is found on page 366 of Rutty's "History of the Quakers in Ireland," pub- lished in 1751 : "In the year 1655 for wear- ing his hat on in the Assizes in New Ross, was John Rodman committed to goal by Judge Louder, kept a prisoner three months and then banished the country." The infer- ence from this passage is that John Rod- man originally came from Ireland, and upon his banishment went to the Island of Barbadoes. See "A Genealogy of the Rod- man Family from 1620 to 1886," by Charles Henry Jones, Philadelphia, 1886, Allen Lane & Scott, publishers.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 25

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