History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 34

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 34

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ner of Buckingham and settled thereon, and at his demise was seized of 339 acres thereof which descended to his six chil- dren; George, Stephanus, Absalom,

James, Mary, who became the wife of John Michener; and John. Of these George and John remained in Bucks county, the former dying in 1749, and James and Absalom removed to the Shenandoah valley in Virginia. Mathew Hall settled on the land belonging to the estate of his wife's first husband, nearly the whole of which he subse- quently purchased of his step-children. His wife died 3 ino. 4. 1748, and on 7 mo. 13, 1750. he married Rebecca (Rhoads) Massey, widow of Mordecai Massey, of Marple, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, and daughter of Joseph and Abigail Rhoads. On 8 mo. 3, 1752, with a certificate to Haverford Meeting, he removed with his family to Block- ley, Philadelphia, where he purchased a large tract of land, and in 1756 removed to Marple, Delaware county, and pur- chased 194 acres of land there, whereon he died 9 mo. 1766. His second wife, by whom he had no children, died prior to his death. He was not a member of the Society of Friends on his arrival in Bucks county, but became a member af- ter his first marriage. He was an over- seer of Springfield (Chester county,) Meeting from 3 mo. 28, 1757, to 3 mo. 23, 1759. The children of Mathew and Sarah (Scarborough) (Haworth) Hall were as follows: I. David, born in Buck- ingham, 7 mo. 7. 1732, died in Marple, Delaware county, 1802. He married, 12 mno. 21. 1758, Deborah Fell, daughter of- Edward Fell, of Springfield, and had children: Beulah, who married William Broomall; David, who married Hannah Parnell: Sarah, who married Joseph Levis: Edward and Joseph. 2. Mahlon, born in Buckingham, II mo. 12, 1733-34; see forward. 3. Margery, born I mo. 23, 1734-35, married, II mo. 10. 1753, at Merion Meeting, Arnold Warner, of Blockley, son of Isaac and Veronica Warner, of Blockley, and had four daughters, of whom Gulielma, wife of William Widdifield, was for many years an accepted minister of Friends in Phila- delphia. 4. Sarah, born II mo. 24, 1736- 37, married at Buckingham Meeting, 5 mo. 12, 1756, John Pearson, and had children, Enoch, Margaret, Mahlon and William. The family removed to Bush River, South Carolina, in 1772, with the exception of Enoch, who removed tov Gunpowder. Maryland, in 1780.

Mahlon Hall. second son of Mathew and Sarah Hall, born in Buckingham, II mo. (Januarv) 12, 1733-34, took a certificate from Buckingham Meeting to Falls in 1752, and from there to Chester Meeting in 1756. He married at Bristol, Bucks county, 4 mo. 21, 1757, Jane Higgs, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Andrews) Higgs, of Bristol. Jane was

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

born 8 mo. 17, 1728, and died 5 mo. 10, 1812. On their marriage they settled on a tract of land in Blockley township, Philadelphia, devised to him by his father later, much of which is now with- in the limits of the park. It adjoined Belmont, the residence of Judge Peters, and Lansdowne, the residence of Gov- ernor John Penn, the last of the colon- ial governors. Mahlon Hall related to his granddaughter, Matilda Heston, that during the revolutionary war a party of British soldiers visited his home, and the officer in command after some con- versation with Mahlon Hall told him that he was a native of Birmingham, England, and on learning that the father of Mahlon Hall was also a na- tive of that place gave strict orders that nothing about the place should be dis- turbed by the soldiers. Mahlon Hall died 7 mo. 26, 1818, and he and his wife are buried at Merion Meeting. Their children were as follows: I. John, born at Blockley, 6 mo. 16, 1758, died there I mo 17, 1842, married, II mo. 21, 1783, Anna Morris, daughter of Edward Mor- ris, of Montgomery township, now Montgomery county, Pennsylvania; she died 6 mo. 17, 1845, aged ninety-one years; they had children: Martha, who married Nathan Dickinson, and was the mother of Mahlon Hall Dickinson, late president of the State Board of Chari- ties, and an eminent Philadelphian: James, George, John, Morris, Hannah, Sarah and Charles. 2. Mahlon, born II mo. 29, 1759, died 4 mo. 7, 1805; see for- ward. 3. Sarah, born 4 mo. 16, 1763, died 8 mo. 18, 1856, married II mo. 18, 1784, Edward Warner Heston, the foun- der of Hestonville, now part of the city of Philadelphia. She was his second wife, he having previously married Mary Griffith, by whom he had children; Abraham, Isaac, Bathsheba, Mary, who married Mahlon Hall; Jacob F. and Thomas W. The children of the second wife, Sarah Hall, were; Jane, who mar- ried Joseph Worstall, of Newtown, Bucks county, in 1808: Rachel, Anna, Matilda, Isaac, Sarah, William Penn and Louisa.

Mahlon Hall, second son of Mahlon and Jane (Higgs) Hall, was born in Blockley township. Philadelphia county, II mo. 29, 1759. He married, 5 mo. 15, 1791, Mary Heston, born 3 mo. 26, 1775, died 12. mo. 12, 1858, daughter of Ed- ward Warner and Mary (Griffith) Hes- ton, of Blockley, before mentioned. Ed- ward Warner Heston was born in Bucks county, and was a son of Jacob and Mary (Warner) Heston, of Makefield, and a grandson of Zebulon and Doro- thy Heston, early settlers in Wrights- town, Bucks county. He inherited from his father the lands at what was named Hestonville, in Blockley township, and was the founder of the village. He was an officer of the Seventh Battalion,

Pennsylvania Militia, during the revolu- tion and saw active service and was subsequently one of the judges of the court of common pleas of Philadelphia county. His second wife was a sister of Mahlon Hall, who married his daugh- ter. On his marriage Mahlon Hall erected a house on what is now Elm avenue, West Philadelphia, close to Fair- mount Park, where he died 4 mo. 7, 1805. He was an active business man of Philadelphia. His widow married Will- iam Sanders, and had one son, Jacob Sanders, born 5 mo. 22, 1810. Mahlon and Mary (Heston) Hall were the par- ents of nine children: I. Edward H., born at Hestonville, 4 mo. 30, 1792, died in Columbiana county, Ohio, 4 mo. 10, 1831, married at West Chester, Pennsyl- vania, 2 mo. 5, 1816, Jane Paxson, daugh- ter of Benjamin and Jane (Ely) Paxson, of Solebury, and removed to Ohio in 1820. 2. Mahlon, born 3 mo. II, 1793, died in Doylestown township, Bucks county, II mo. 3, 1872; see forward. 3. Thomas W., born 3 mo. 4, 1795, died in Caln township, Chester county, 4 mo. 7, 1896, aged over one hundred and one years; he married Mary Heston, daugh- ter of Abraham Heston, and had nine children. 4. Isaac, born 4 mo. 29, 1796, died 4 mo. 21, 1810. 5. John, born 8 mo. 17, 1797, died 2 mo. 3, 1897, at West Chester. He married, 10 mo. 23, 1862, Sarahı (Thatcher) Yarnall,

a widow, who survives him. He was a farmer at Hestonville for many years and removed to West Chester in 1872. 6. Jane, born II mo. 24, 1798, died at West Chester, IO mo. 4, 1876, unmarried. 7. William H., born I mo. 21, 1801, died in West Chester, 5 mo. 20, 1886, married Ann Paxson, but had no children. 8. Sarah, born 12 mo. 28, 1802, died at West Ches- ter, 2 mo. 3, 1900, married Edward Dick- inson, leaving no issue. 9. Ann, born 3 mo. 29, 1804, died 12 mo. 23, 1813. This family was very remarkable for longev- ity, one of them having exceeded the century mark, another came short of it but six months, while four others passed four score years.

Mahlon Hall, second son of Mahlon and Mary (Heston) Hall, born at Hes- tonville, Philadelphia, March II, 1793, was the father of Mathias H. Hall and the grandfather of William W. Hall, sketches of whom follow. He was a blacksmith by trade, and came to Buck- ingham, near Pineville, Bucks county, when a young man and followed his trade there for some years, returning later to Philadelphia where he was a partner with his brother John in the milk business. Subsequently he removed again to Bucks county, and in 1836 pur- chased a farm of fifty acres in Doyles- town township, where his son, Isaac H. Hall. still lives, and thereon died No- vember 3, 1872. He married (first) Han- nah P. Hampton, of Buckingham, by

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whom he liad five children: Thomas, a prominent business man of Philadel- phia ; John; William; Moses P., for many years a merchant in Buckingham; and Benjamin, the father of Squire Hall. Mr. Hall married (second) Isabella Robin- son, daughter of John Robinson, wlio was a soldier in the war of 1812 and stationed at Marcus Hook, by whom he had twelve children, of whom eleven survived him: Mary, who never married; Hannah, who married her cousin, Al- bert P. Hall, son of Edward H. and Jane (Paxson) Hall, who is a dry goods mer- chant at West Chester, Pennsylvania; Jane H., who married William Seal; Martha R., who married George Geil; Edward D .; Isaac H., who lives on the homestead in Doylestown township; Sa- rah D., who married J. Gilpin Seal; Matthias H., a prominent farmer of Up- per Makefield township; Charles Henry; George W., and Emma P. Hall. Isabella (Robinson) Hall, widow of Mahlon Hall, died in Doylestown township, June 29. I879.

Benjamin Hall, third son of Mahlon and Hannah P. (Hampton) Hall, was born in Buckingham, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, September 30, 1823, and resides with his son, William W. Hall, at Danboro. He went to Philadelphia wlien a boy, and for some time drove a milk wagon for his uncle. Returning to Bucks county he clerked in the store of his brother Thomas at Mechanics Val- ley until 1850, when in partnership with his brother, Moses P. Hall, he purchased the store at Buckingham, which they conducted for four years. On April I, 1854, he purchased and removed the present homestead farm at to Danboro, where he resided for the following thirteen years. In April, 1867, he purchased a property at Smith's Cor- ner in Plumstead township and opened a store, which he conducted for two years. He then removed to Mechanics Valley, where he conducted the store for six years, and in 1875 returned to the old homestead, where he has since re- sided. Mr. Hall was the pioneer milk shipper to Philadelphia market from Doylestown. He married Sarah Carlile, daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Carlile, of Plumstead, who was born on the present Hall homestead, where her father died January 9, 1833. Benjamin and Sarah (Carlile) Hall were the par- ents of two sons and a daughter. of whom William W., mentioned herein- after, alone survives.

MATTHIAS H. HALL, third son of Mahlon and Isabella (Robinson) Hall, was born in Doylestown township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, April 29, 1844. He was reared to the life of a farmer and acquired his education at the public schools of that vicinity. His whole life has been devoted to agricultural pursuits in the county of his birth. The

following spring after his marriage he began farming for himself in Wrights- town township, and after five years' resi- dence there hie removed to Upper Make- field, and in 1883 purchased his present farm in that township, on the line of Wrightstown, near the site of the his- toric Indian village of Playwicky, where he has since resided. While conforming to the tenets of the Society of Friends. in which faith his paternal ancestors were reared, he is not a member of the society. Though deeply interested in the affairs of his county, state and nation, he has taken little part in partisan poli- tics. He is an active member of the Bucks County Historical Society, and a regular attendant of its meetings. He recently contributed a valuable paper to its archives on the local history and folk-lore of his locality, so rich in his- toric interest as the border line between the original settlement of the pioneers of Penn's colony in America and the land taken up by. their descendants and the later arrivals. He married, Novem- ber 18, 1874, Sarah Wiggins, daughter of Jesse and Margaret (Hampton) Wig- gins, of Wrightstown. She is a de- scendant of Benjamin Wiggins, one of the earliest settlers in the locality in which she lives, and who is said to have. come thence from New England. He married in 1708, Susan Jenks, widow of Thomas Jenks, of Shropshire, England, on the borders of Wales, who came into Bucks county with her infant son Thomas, about 1700, and is the ances- tress of the prominent family of that name in Bucks county. By her second marriage with Benjamin Wiggins she had one son, Benzaleel Wiggins, born in 1709, from whom the prominent family of that name as well as numerous oth- ers of Wrightstown, Buckingham, Sole- bury and Makefield are descended. The pioneer maternal ancestor of Mrs. Hall was John Hampton, of Ephingstoun, East Lothian, Scotland, who purchased land at Amboy Point, East Jersey. No- vember 23, 1682, and later settled at Freehold, New Jersey, where he died in February, 1702-3, leaving sons: John, Joseph, Andrew, David, Jonathan and Noah. Joseph Hampton, his son by a second marriage with Jane Ogburn, widow of John Ogburn, and mother of Sarah Ogburn, wife of Edmund Kinsey, was one of the first ministers among Friends of Buckingham. Jane was four times married and came to Buckingham about 1720, then the widow Sharp, and died there in 1731. Joseph Hampton either accompanied or preceded his mother to Bucks county and located in Wrightstown. He married Mary, daugh- ter of Thomas Canby and has left numerous descendants. He died in 1767, leaving two sons, John and Benjamin, and three daughters. The children of Matthias H. and Sarah (Wiggins) Hall

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

are : Frances, Margaret, Hanna, Jesse, and Emma. all of whom reside with their parents.

WILLIAM W. HALL, only surviving son of Benjamin and Sarah (Carlile) Hall, was born in the village of Buick- ingham where his father and uncle Moses were at the time engaged in mer- cantile business, November 2, 1851. His parents removing to the present home- stead in 1854, he was reared on the farm upon which he still resides and was edu- cated in the schools of Plumstead town- ship At the age of thirteen years, dur- ing the civil war, he and four compan- ions went to Philadelphia and offered their services in the Union army. It is needless to say that their services were declined on account of their age. He re- turned home and entered the store at Buckingham as a clerk, remaining as such for eight years, and then returned to the farm. In politics Mr. Hall is a Republican and has taken an active in- terest in the councils of his party. He has held a number of local positions, and has been a justice of the peace since 1888. He has served as delegate to state and congressional conventions and as a member of the county commit- tee. He is an active member of the In- dependent Order of Red Men, and has served as representative grand chief for five terms to the grand council of the or- der. He is also a past chief of the Knights of the Golden Eagle. Mr. Hall married, October 26, 1880, Anna Fry, daughter of Michael Fry, of. Plumstead, and they are the parents of ten children: Chester Arthur: Roscoe C .; Nellie B .. deceased: Warren Russell; Florence Ethel; Norman D .; Althea Fry: Eleanor E., deceased: and. Sarah Esther, and Emma Pauline Hall.

HOWARD PURSELL, M. D. of Bristol, was born in Bridgeton (formerly Nocka- mixon) township, Bucks county, March 23, 1847, and is a son of Brice M. and Martha Merrick (Poore) Pursell.

The Purcell-Pursell family of Penn- sylvania and New Jersey are descend- ants of the noble family of Purcell in Ireland, whose founder, Sir Hugh Pur- cell, was a grandson of Sir Hugh Purcell who went from Normandy to England with William the Conqueror, and traced his descent through many generations from Charlemagne of France. Sir Hugh Purcell is said to have been the first of the conquering Normans to land on , British soil at Pevensey Bay, and the first to effect a deed of arms by storming the ruins of a Roman castle where a party of King Harold's soldiers lay en- trenched. The Irish Purcells were ad- herents of the House of Stuart, and were swept away by the rebellion of 1641, though several distinct branches

of them later recovered their lands and titles at the restoration and were again badly broken on the accession of Will- iam of Orange.

John Purslone Pursley or Purssell, as his name is variously spelled, came to America from Dublin, Ireland, in the ship "Phoenix," arriving in the river Delaware in August, 1677, and settled in Bucks county. He was appointed con- stable for the "further side of Nesham- inah" 7 mo. 9, 1685, and on the 8th of 7 mo. 1689, was again appointed cousta- ble for the "upper , parts of the settle- ment, between Neshaminah and Poques- sing." In the same year he appears as a witness in the Bucks county courts, and' on being attested gives his age as "about sixty years." He was again appointed constable in 1690, for "upper parts of Neshaminah." He married in 1684, Eliza- beth, widow of Thomas Walmsley, who with her husband and six children mi- grated from Yorkshire in 1682 and set- tled in Byberry, Philadelphia county, bringing a certificate from Settle Month- ly Meeting of Friends in Yorkshire. At about the same date of the arrival of John Purslone in Bucks county, Thom- as Purcil appears at Flatlands, Long Island. He acts as an appraiser in that town in 1679, and was one of the pat- entees of Newton, Long Island, in 1686. He or a son of his with the same name removed to the Raritan, in Som- erset county, New Jersey, prior to 1703, and had children baptized at the Raritan Dutch Reformed church. The descen- dants of Thomas Pursell became num- erous in Somerset, Middlesex and Essex counties, New Jersey, prior to 1760. In 1710 he purchased a large tract of land in Somerset county, though then living in Middlesex, and in 1719 conveyed one- half of it to his son Daniel, who in 1728 conveyed a part of it to Gysbert Krom, of Amwell township, Hunterdon county. A Daniel Purcell settled later in Alex- andria township, Hunterdon county and in 1783 bought a tract of land in Tini- cum, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and erected a grist mill which he operated for two years. He then returned to Kingwood, New Jersey, where he died in 1804. leaving sons. Peter, Benjamin and Thomas, and daughters, Ruth Mid- dleswarts, Sarah Tinsman and Hannah Jones.

On September 28, 1728, "Denes Purcell of Pennsylvania" married Ruth Cooper, daughter of Henry and Mary (Buck- man) Cooper, of Newtown, Bucks coun- ty, and settled in Bethlehem township, Hunterdon county, New Jersey. Wheth- er he was a son of John and Elizabeth ( Walmsley) Purssell, of Bucks county, or of Thomas, of New Jersey, is prob- lematical, but certain it is that Dennis and Ruth Cooper were the parents of John Pursell. "of Pennsylvania," who married in 1761 Ann Coone (Coomb), of

HOWARD PURSELL

THE WS PUDIM

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

Tinicum township, Bucks county, and settled in Nockamixon township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he pur- chased land in 1773. Another John Pur- sell, also of Pennsylvania, married in 1765 Mary Logan, and settled in Falls township, Bucks county, where he died in 1778.

John Pursell, of Nockamixon, died in that township in December, 1804, and his will was probated February 5, 1805. It is probable that his father, Dennis Pursell, settled in Nockamixon while John was a young man. as a Denes Pur- sle was sergeant of the Nockamixon company of Associators in 1775, and, though John had a son Dennis, it is hardly probable that he could have been of sufficient age to have held a commis- sion at that date. The children of John and Ann (Coomb) Pursell were: I. John, Jr., who married Mercy Iliff, and died in 1816, leaving eleven children. 2. Thomas, who married Catherine Crause, and died in 1841, leaving six sons, Den- nis, William. John, Thomas, Jacob and Frederick, and one daughter, Mary, who married Jacob Fulmer. 3. Brice, men- tioned hereinafter. 4. Dennis, who went west and left no descendants in Bucks county. 5. Ruth, who became the wife of Daniel Strawn, born 1752, son of Ja- cob and Christiana (Pursell) Strawn, of Haycock, the former of whom was a half-brother of Ruth (Cooper) Pursell. by the second marriage of Mary (Buck- man) Cooper with Launcelot Strawn. 6. Elizabeth, who became the wife of Ben- jamin Holden. 7. Mary. 8. Ann. 9. Han- nah, who became the wife of John Will- iams, a son of Benjamin and Mercy Stevenson Williams. 10. Margaret. II. Jane, who became the wife of Jacob Hauseworth. Mary, Ann and Hannah. aforementioned, were triplets; all grew to womanhood, married and all died at the birth of their first child. Either Mary or Ann married a Henry, and left a daughter Ann.

Brice Pursell, third son of John and Ann (Coomb) Pursell, was born in Nockamixon, August 15, 1776, and died there August 12, 1830. He lived on a portion of the homestead which had been devised to the three eldest sons, John, Thomas and Brice, and was par- titioned between them in 1806. He later purchased considerable other land ad- joining, becoming a large landholder and a man of prominence in that com- munity. He was a justice of the peace for twenty-one years and performed a large amount of public business. He married Catharine Moore, who was born May 25, 1784, and died August 12, 1848, and they were the parents of nine chil- dren: I. Ann, who became the wife of John Fisher. 2. Thomas, who married Eliza Marshall. 3. John, who married Sarah .Williams. 4. Evaline, who be- came the wife of Abram Arndt. 5.

Brice Moore. mentioned hereinafter. 6. Hugh, who married Jane B. Eltonhead. 7. Daniel, who married three times; his first wife was Susanna Unangst; his second wife was Margaret Rebecca Eil- enberger; and his thrid wife was Rachel Quinn. 8. Hannah, who became the wife of Cyrenius Slack, of Hunterdon coun- ty, New Jersey. 9. Mary, who died at the age of six years.

Brice Moore Pursell, father of Dr. Howard Pursell, was born in Nockam- ixon, August 31, 18II, and died there June 18, 1885. He was a farmer and lived on the old family homestead. He married, July 19, 1837, Martha Merrick Poore, born February 18, 1817, in Up- per Makefield township. Bucks county, died in Bristol, Pennsylvania, May 2, 1902. She was a daughter of Daniel and Maria (Merrick). Poore; the former a son of John Poore, was born October 12, 1793, and died April 12, 1888. and the latter was born April 23, 1798 and died October 1, 1879. They were married May 2, 1815. The Merricks are descend- ants of John Merrick, a native of Here -- fordshire, England, who settled in Low- er Dublin, Philadelphia county, prior to 1700. His son . John Merrick was an early settler in Makefield, where he has left numerous descendants. Brice Moore and Martha M. (Poore) Purseli were the parents of four sons: I. Augustus, born May 3. 1839, married November 12, 1868, Evalina Eilenberger, daughter of David and Susan (Arndt) Eilenberger, who bore him one child, Jessie Martha Pursell; Evalina's death occurred at his home in Muncy. Pennsylvania, July 27, 1904. 2. Horatio N., born December 4, 1841, died August 31, 1863, after his return from the civil war; he was unmar- ried. 3. Howard, born March 23, 1847, mentioned hereinafter. 4. Stacy, born November 20, 1849, married. April 22, 1885. Josephine K. Williams, daughter of Barzilla and Sarah (King) Williams, no issue.

Howard Pursell. third son of Brice and Martha M. (Poore) Pursell, was was born and reared in Nockamixon (now Bridgeton) township. He gradu- ated from the medical department of the New York University, March 1, 1867, and practiced medicine at Ceres, New York, until 1869. In the latter year he removed to Bristol, Bucks county. Penn- sylvania, where he has conducted a drug store and practiced medicine ever since. He is a member of the Bucks County Medical Society, the Medical Society of Pennsylvania, and the American Medi- cal Association. He is president of the board of health of Bristol, which posi- tion he has held since 1893. He is a mem- ber of the board of United States exam- ning surgeons for Bucks county. In po- litics he is a Republican. He is a past master .of Bristol Lodge, No. 25, Free and Accepted Masons.

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Dr. Pursell has been twice married, first on February 22. 1869, to Vestilla Smith, daughter of James and Achsah (Lear) Smith. His second marriage oc- curred at Milford, New Jersey, June 4, 1879, to Nellie Carpenter Bartolette, daughter of Dr. Charles R. and Ann M. (Carpenter) Bartolette. His children are as follows: James Everett, born June 12, 1870; Ethel Bartolette, born May 12, 1882; Charles Howard, born September 30, 1885, died February 18, 1886; and Carrie Nesbit, born February 2, 1888.

WILLIAM EDGAR GEIL, the dis- tinguished author, traveller and orator, was born near Doylestown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and is the son of Samuel Geil, still residing in Doylestown, by his late wife Elizabeth Seese, deceased. On the paternal side Mr. Geil is of French and German descent. His great-grand- father, Jacob Geil, was born in the prov- ince of Alsace, in the year, 1742, and ac- companied his parents to America in the ship "Duke of Bedford," arriving in Philadelphia, September 14, 1751. The . family lived for a time in Philadelphia and then located on the Skippack, in what is now Montgomery county, Penn- sylvania, where Jacob Geil married Anna, daughter of John Clymer (or Klemmer) and granddaughter of Bishop Valentine Klemmer, who came from Switzerland in 1717. By deed dated April 18, 1763, Will- iam Crook conveyed to him by name of "Jacob Choel, of Philadelphia county," 194 acres in Springfield township, Bucks county. He was a weaver by trade. On April 1, 1768, Jacob Geil and Anna his wife conveyed the Springfield farm to Conrad Jacoby, and on April 18, 1768, Samuel Barnhill and wife conveyed. to him 153 acres near New Galena in New Britain township, Bucks county. Here his wife Anna died, and he married a second time and in 1786 sold his farm and removed with the younger members of his family to Chester county, and from thence to Rockingham county, Vir- ginia, where he died about 1802. The children of Jacob Geil were: Mary, who married Samuel Godshalk, of New Brit- ain; Abraham, John, Philip, and Mar- garet. The first two were by the first wife, and the last three by the second. Philip and Margaret were minors on their return to Bucks county in 1802, and guar- dians were appointed for them by the Bucks county court.

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History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 34

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