History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 56

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 56

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Mr. Roberts was twice married. His first wife was Anna Rawlings, daughter of Franklin and Martha ( Roberts) Rawlings, of Quakertown. who died March 24. 1882. Their children were: Rachel, born May 23, 1871, attended the public schools

of Quakertown, is unmarried, and re- sides at home. Warren, born Sep- tember 1, 1873, died December 6, 1873. Thomas, born August 12, 1876, died August 12, 1876. William Arthur, born June 1879, attended the public schools of Quakertown, also the George School, at Newtown, Bucks county, and then entered the dental department of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with the class of 1902. He practiced for a time at Ambler, Pennsylvania, but is now traveling through the south, west and Mexico. In 1884 Mr. Roberts married Le- titia K. Kinsey, daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Morgan) Kinsey, of Quaker- town. Their children are: Linford Brook, born December 15. 1885, attends the Quakertown public school. Nathaniel Jo- seph, born October 25, 1888, attends the Quakertown public school. Marian Eliza- beth, born September 7, 1890, also attends the Quakertown public school. The family are members of the Society of Friends.

JAMES VANSANT RANDALL, of Newtown, one of the best known and largest carriage manufacturers in Buicks county, was born in Byberry, Philadel- phia county, December 10, 1831, and is a son of Eber and Rachel (Vansant) Randall.

The. Randall family have been resi- dents of Bucks county for over two cen- tttries. and are of English descent. Nich- olas Randall, a carpenter by trade and a native of England, settled in South- ampton township, Bucks county, where he purchased 250 acres of land in 1698. His son, Nicholas Randall, Jr., married in 1738 Agnes Comly, daughter of Henry and Agnes (Heaton) Comly, of Middletown, and later removed to More- land township. George, Joseph and William Randall, supposed to be sons of Nicholas, became members of Buck- ingham Meeting of Friends in/ 1722. They lived for a time near Newtown, re- moving later to Southampton. Joseph removed to York county with his fam- ily in 1755. Both George and Joseph married Doans, daughters of Daniel Doan and Mehetabel his wife, who came to Middletown, Bucks county, from Sandwich, Massachusetts. George married (second) Mary Harding, widow of Thomas Harding, Jr., and another daughter of Henry and Agnes (Heaton) Comly.

The paternal grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch was Amos Randall, said to have been a grandson of Jacob Randall, eldest son of George by his second marriage with Mary (Comly) Randall. Jacob was married in 1753 to "a woman of another persuasion" and was disowned by the Friends. Amos Randall was a carpenter by trade and

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

lived from early life in Buckingham

township. He was born in the year 1779, and was married December II, 1804, before John Wilson, Esq., of Buckingham, to Jane Hartley, daughter of Anthony and Sarah (Betts) Hartley, of Buckingham, granddaughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Hartley, and great-granddaughter of Edward Hart- ley, who settled in Buckingham in 1702, and was the ancestor of all the Hart- leys of Bucks county. Edward was the father of three sons-Thomas, John and Roger, all of whom had large families and were large land-owners in Bucking- ham and Solebury. Thomas and Eliza- bethi had twelve children, of whom An- thony was the fourth. He was twice married; by his first wife, Elizabeth Smith, he had seven children, and by his second, Sarah Betts, six more, Jane, born 4 mo. 1. 1779, being the fourth. Her mother, Sarah Betts, was a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Betts, of Buck- ingham, and was born 4 mo. 14, 1747, and died in 1797. Her grandfather,

Thomas Betts, was a native of Long Island and died at Newtown, Bucks county, in 1747.

Amos Randall purchased in 1810 a small farm in Buckingham, which he conducted in connection with carpen- tering until his death on April 14, 1854, at the age of seventy-five years. Amos and Jane . (Hartley) Randall were the parents of eight sons: Aaron, Eber, David, Levi, Ralph, Isaac, Jesse and Edward. Jane, the mother of these chil- dren, was a member of Friends' Meet- ing: the father was not a member, though frequently attending their meet- ings. All of the eight boys were reared to mechanical trades. and five of them eventually engaged in the manufacture of carriages in Bucks county. Aaron and Levi never married; David removed to the west; Isaac and Jesse married sisters by the name of Lambert, the for- mer settling in Makefield and the latter in Solebury; Ralph married Deborah Firman, and died in 1883; Edward never married.

Eber Randall, the father of the sub- ject of this sketch, was born in Buck- ingham township in the year 1807, and was educated at the local and Friends' schools. He remained on the farm until the age of sixteen years, when he be- came an apprentice to the shoemaker's trade. which he followed for a number of years. He later purchased and moved to his father-in-law's farm in Middle- town, and followed farming until 1858, when he removed to Newtown, and later to Princeton, New Jersey, where he re- sided for a short time, and then removed to Bristol, Bucks county, where he died in 1887, at the age of eighty years. His wife was Rachel . Harrison Vansant, daughter of Garret Vansant, of Middle- town township, Bucks county, whose

ancestors had been residents of Bucks county, for several generations, being of Holland descent and settling originally on Long Island, from whence his great- grandfather, Garret VanSandt, removed to Bucks county in 1699. Garret Van- sant, the maternal grandfather of Mr. Randall, was the father of six children, three sons and three daughters- Rachel, the mother of Mr. Randall; Jane, who married Isaac Randall, a cousin of Eber; and Mary, who married Jonathan Hunter. Eber and Rachel (Vansant ) Randall were the parents of five chil- dren: I. James V. 2. Wilson, who mar- ried Caroline Harding, and was for a number of years associated with his brother James in the carriage business, and some time afterwards in the same business at Bristol, Bucks county. Their children were: Clarence, who married Hannie L. White, one son, Clifford W. Randall: James Merton, who married Martinette Patterson, daughters, Helen and Marian; Clara, who married Will- iam Broadnax, issue: Clara, Wilfred and Wilson. Clara married for second hus- band Thomas Ivins, issue: Charles; Rachel, who married Samuel Roberts, issue: Samuel Ralph and Wayne Wal- ton. 3. Mary Jane. 4. Anna L., who married Penrose Wilson, one son, George R. 5. Isaac, who died at the age of four years.

James V. Randall was educated in the public schools of Bucks county, and at an early age learned the carriage manu- facturing business with his uncle Isaac Randall, at Dolington, Bucks county, serving an apprenticeship of five years and working as a journeyman for his uncle one year. In 1854 he located at Newportville, Bucks county, and en- gaged in the manufacture of carriages. In the fall of the same year he took his brother Wilson into partnership and they did a small business there until 1857 under the firm name of J. V. & W. Randall. In the latter year they re- moved to Newtown, having purchased the plant of J. E. Woolsey, who had es- tablished a carriage manufacturing business there in 1852. This firm con- tinued the business at Newtown until 1865. doing a large business. In that year James V. purchased the interest of his brother and continued the business alone until 1895, when his nephew, Clarence Randall, became a member of the firm, under the firm name of J. V. & C. Randall, which has continued to the present time. This firm do a large business in the manufacture and repair of carriages and wagons of all kinds used in this part of the country, and have built up an enviable reputation for the character of the work they turn out, and for fair and reliable methods of doing business with their home people. Their plant is thoroughly equipped with the best up-to-date machinery, and by a

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

careful study of the wants and needs of the people they are able to keep in their large warerooms and sell at reas- onable prices every variety of wagon and carriage used in this part of the .country. The plant is one of the valu- able institutions of Newtown, and em- ploys several hands. In politics, Mr. Randall is a Republican, but is a man of unassuming manners and retiring dispo- sition, devoted to his business, and has never sought public office. He has served one term in the town council of Newtown. He is a strong advocate of temperance principles, and from boy- hood has lived a moral, upright and tem- perate life, and devoted time and money to the cause of temperance. As an em- ployer of a large number of hands over a period of fifty years, he has never permitted intemperance, profanity or the inordinate use of tobacco among his employees. His support and sympa- thy have always been with the Society of Friends, and all others whose teaching makes men better citizens and fits them for the whole of life's duties. He takes little interest in dogmatic theology, but much in the discoveries of science in the nineteenth century relating to the prob- lems of the universe and man's place in nature.

He was married in 1858 to Mrs. Han- nah L. Stradling, a daughter of Thomas Harding, and they were the parents of two children: George, who died at the age of four years; and William E., who is a photographer at Newtown, and is married to Meta Schisler, of German- town, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Hannah Lee- dom Randall, the mother of his children, died in 1886, and Mr. Randall married in 1894 Kate Larue Krewson, daughter of Jonathan K. Krewson, of an old and highly respected family of lower Bucks. Her father devoted most of his life to school teaching and was for many years one of the prominent educators of Bucks county.

WILLIAM JOHNSON, of South Perkasie, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, was born February 6, 1847, at White Marsh, Montgomery county, on the old homestead where his ancestors had lived for several generations. Henry John- son, the father of William, was a son of Henry, and was born and reared on the old homestead at White Marsh. He was a farmer and lime burner, carrying on for many years an extensive business in lime burning. He died on the old homestead in 1901. His wife was Deb- orah DeWees, of an old family in the nieghborhood of Valley Forge, and they were the parents of six children, Henry ; the subject of this sketch; Samuel: Ra- chel; Emma, wife of Joseph Nyce; and Annie, wife of Daniel Hallman.

William Johnson was reared and edu- cated in White Marsh township. He was for several years engaged in the lime business, and also was an exten- sive contractor in the building of ma- cadamı roads. He built the macadam road from Philadelphia to Chestnut Hill, and also filled other large con- tracts. In 1902 he came to South Per- kasie and purchased the hotel property there, which he has since conducted. He is a member of the Masonic frater- nity, being affiliated with Thompson Lodge, No. 340, F. and A. M .; and Thompson Chapter, No. 360, R. A. M., of Philadelphia. Mr. Johnson was for ten years a resident of Chester county, where he did an extensive business in lime burning, stone crushing and road building. In 1870 he married Sarah Leisinger, of Montgomery county, and they have been the parents of four chil- dren: Henry, who married Rebecca Schultz, of Norristown, and is engaged in the lime and stone business at Read- ing, Pennsylvania; Howard and Alfred, both of whom are deceased; and Mary.

HESTON WALTON, who was born December 31, 1845, on the home farm near Hatboro, where he yet resides, traces his ancestry back through sev- eral generations to William Walton, who was the youngest of four brothers of the Walton branch who came from England to America in 1678 and settled at Wilmington, Delaware, whence they found their wary to Byberry, in Phila- delphia county, locating on land as a temporary place of residence. Later two of the brothers went on foot to Wil- mington for supplies, and each carried a half bushel of wheat home with him. It is supposed that this was the first wheat seeded in eastern Pennsylvania. The brothers concluded to remain in the vi- cinity of their first location, and there they became valued settlers, promoting in large measure the early development and progress of the locality. William Walton, the youngest of the brothers, be- came the progenitor of the branch of the family to which Heston Walton be- longs, and his descendants are now num- erous in Montgomery and Bucks coun- ties. The brothers were consistent mem- bers of the Friends' meeting in England, and became early representatives of the denomination in Pennsylvania. They were allied with the farming interests, and lived exemplary lives, contributing in large measure to the moral develop- ment as well as material upbuilding of the localities in which they lived. Will- iam Walton married Sarah Howell, and their son

(II) Jeremiah Walton, wedded Eliza- beth Wamsley, and continued farming in eastern Pennsylvania.

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. .

(III) Jacob Walton, son of Jeremiah Walton, was a farmer of Montgomery county, and his son

(IV) Isaiah Walton was born in Montgomery county, and wedded Mary Harding, whose birth occurred in Bucks county, and who belonged to a promi- nent old family founded in America in early colonial days. She was descend- ed from Henry Harding, of Churchville, Bucks county. The children of Henry Harding were: Thomas, Joseph, Jon- athan, Isaac, Abram, and Sarah, who married Jesse Gilbert. Thomas Hard- ing was a farmer by occupation, and was a member of the Friends' meeting. His children were: Thomas, Henry, and Mary, the last named the grandmother of Heston Walton and the wife of Isa- iah Walton. Isaiah Walton settled near York Pike, below Hatboro, where he reared his family and remained until his death. His children were: Seth, Sarah, Joseph, Jacob, Thomas, and Mary.

(V) Thomas Walton, son of Isaiah and Mary Walton, was born in Mont- gomery county, and wedded Mercy Hes- ton, also a native of Bucks county. Thomas Walton was reared to the oc- cupation of farming and afterward learned the stone-mason's trade, which he followed for twenty years. He then engaged in agricultural pursuits, and at the time of his marriage settled upon the farm which is now occupied by the son, Heston, taking up his abode there about 1842. He reared his family upon that place, and died December 14, 1882, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. He lived the quiet life of a mechanic and farmer, attending strictly to his busi- ness without active participation in pub- lic affairs, save that he never neglected his duties of citizenship. He was a faithful adherent of the Friends' meet- ing. His wife survived him and died March 26, 1888, in the eighty-seventh year of her age. She was a- daughter of John and Rachel (Warner) Heston, who also belonged to colonial families that were identified with the Friends' meeting and were highly respected peo- ple. John and Rachel (Warner) Heston had four children: Rebecca, who died unmarried; Esther, who became the wife of A. Michner; Mercy, who became Mrs Walton; and Hannah, the wife of C. Stackhouse.

(VI) Heston Walton, the only child of Thomas and Mercy (Heston) Walton, was born and reared on the old family homestead. where he yet resides, early becoming familiar with the labors neces- sary for the cultivation and develop- ment of the fields and the care of the crops. He pursued a public-school edu- cation, and largely assisted his father in the farm work during the period of his youth, while later he has engaged in farming and marketing on his own ac-

count. In his work' he has prospered, owing to his close application and care- ful management, and he now has a well improved farm on which is a commodi- ous stone residence, large barns and other outbuildings, and groves of forest and fruit trees. He keeps the entire place under a high state of cultivation and uses the latest improved machin- ery in operating his land. He is an en- terprising and public spirited agricul- turist, and in addition to his home place owns a well improved farm in Mont- gomery county. Mr. Walton exercises his right of franchise in support of the Republican party, takes an active inter- est in the questions of the day and fre- quently attends the party conventions, but has never sought or desired office. He was reared in the Friends' faith, and although not a member of any church has lived a life in consistent harmony with high principles.

In 1874 Mr. Walton was married to Elizabeth Eastburn, who was born in Makefield township, and is a daughter of John and Sarah (Smith) Eastburn, rep- resentatives of families long connected with eastern Pennsylvania. The father, John Eastburn, was a well known far- mer of Bucks county, and throughout his entire life remained on the old home- stead, where he died January 27, 1878, at the age of seventy-seven years. His wife had passed away August 18, 1863, at the age of sixty-three years. They were the parents of three children: Het- tie A., the wife of C. Williams; Eliza- beth, now Mrs. Walton; and one that died unmarried. Mr. and Mrs. Walton had a daughter, Hettie A., who was born May IO, 1875. Mrs. Walton's death occurred September 9, 1888.

JOSHUA RICHARDSON. The Richardson family of Attleboro, Penn- sylvania, the members of which have been noted for sterling integrity and in- domitable courage and patriotism, was founded in America in 1724 by Joseph Richardson, who upon his arrival here from his native land, England, located near Oxford, where he commenced work on the farm of William Paxson. Octo- ber 21. 1732, he married Mary Paxson, daughter of William Paxson, and short- ly afterward moved to Four-Lanes-End, where he engaged in business for him- self in a country store. The line of de- scent from the pioneer ancestors is as follows: Joshua, who married Sarah Preston; Joseph, who married Mary Dixon; and Joshua, whose name appears at the head of this sketch.

Joshua Richardson, son of Joseph and Mary (Dixon) Richardson, was born in Attleboro, Pennsylvania, (now Lang- horn borough) March 6, 1803. After completing his studies in the Friends'

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

school at Attleboro he assisted in the farm work, as was the custom with the boys of that period, on his father's es- tate, and this occupation proving con- genial to his tastes and also highly re- munerative he followed

the same throughout the active years of his car- eer.

October 15, 1835, Mr. Richardson mar- ried Mary Carpenter Hunt, who died July 18, 1836, leaving no issue. On March 15, 1838, he was united in mar- riage to Mary Knight, of Lower Make- field, Bucks county, daughter of Joshua and Jane (Bunting) Knight, the former named having been a son of John and ter a daughter of William and Margery (Woolston) Bunting. Three children were the issue of the second marriage, namely:

Margery (Paxson) Knight, and the lat- - of New York for several generations.

I. Joseph, born March 14, 1839, at- tended the Friends' school, Bucks Coun- ty Academy at Langhorn, and Foulk's boarding school at Gwynedd. He is now retired from active agricultural pursuits. February 16, 1865, he married Hannah Gillingham Rowland, of Middletown township, daughter of William D. and Margaret G. Rowland, and their chil- dren are as follows: Margaret, born February 3, 1866, attended the public schools of Middletown township and the Friends' school at Langhorne, and January 23, 1890, became the wife of Newton May Comly, of Philadelphia, and their children are: Rowland Rich- ardson, born December 23, 1890; Bessie May, born February 1I, 1892; Edith Bosler, born July 17, 1894; John Byron, born June 17, 1896; Mary Richardson, born July 14, 1897; and Helen Mattd, born February 18, 1899. These children attended the public schools of Bustle- ton, and the eldest, Rowland Richard- son Comly, is completing his studies at the Manual Training School in Phila- delphia. Mary Rowland, born July 13, 1867, attended the public schools of Mid- dletown township and the Friends' school at Langhorne. Samuel, born February 25, 1869, also acquired his edu- cation in the same institutions. Joshua, born November 12, 1872, attended the same institutions of learning as his brothers and sisters, and the knowledge thus obtained was supplemented by at- tendance at Pierce's Business College, Philadelphia, from which he was gradu- ated.

2. Edward, born April 21, 1841, attend- ed the Friends' school and the Bucks County Academy at Langhorne, and he is now one of the representative agri- culturists of Bucks county, his prosper- ity being the direct result of capability and efficiency.

3. Mary, born March 7, 1844, acquired her educational advantages at the Friends' school and Bucks County Acad- emy, and is widely known and highly

esteemed throughout the section in which she resides for her many estima- ble traits of character.

SIPRON C. KEITH, the genial pro- prietor of the popular hostelry known as the White Hall Hotel in Newtown, was born in Kings county, province of New Brunswick, Domonion of Canada, where his paternal ancestors had resided for several generations, on October I, 1854. He is a son of Noah and Cathar- ine (Alward) Keith, the ancestors of the latter having resided in the state He was educated at the parish schools of his native county, and early in life learned the trade of a plasterer, which he followed in his native county until 1883, when he removed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he remained for three years. After a year spent in Chicago he removed to Philadelphia in the spring of 1886 and was employed there until the spring of 1891, when he came to New- town and purchased the White Hall Ho- tel, which he has since successfully con- ducted, making it one of the popular hostelries of lower Bucks. Mr. Keith married in Philadelphia, July 18, 1889, Kate E. Salter, daughter of Charles Burleigh and Anna E. (Sperry) Salter, of that city. Their only child is Ruth Marion, born at Newtown, May 10, 1892.

The White Hall Hotel, while not one of the old colonial inns, is nevertheless of historic interest. At the time of the revolutionary war and for many years after it was kept as a store, the proprietor at that time being a man by the name of Campbell. During a great part of the war it was occupied by a government quartermaster as a store house for sup- plies for the American army, and was raided by the Doan outlaws, who car- ried off a lot of government stores. It was later occupied as a store by a man by the name of Evans, who Josiah B. Smith, the historian of the town, re- ferred to as "one of the noisy store- keepers." In 1796 it was purchased by Isaac Hicks, Esq., and was occupied by him as a residence and justice's office for the next forty years. The "Old Squire," as he was known, was a char- acter in his day, and did an immense amount of public business, and could the old timbers of the White Hall be giv- en a tongue they could probably recite for our edification many amusing legal tilts held within its walls. After the death of the "Squire" it was purchased by his grandson, Dr. Edward H. Ken- nedy, who soon after built a new house, and the old White Hall was occupied as a school, the title being vested in about a dozen of the prominent .citi- zens of the town at that time. It was

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

first licensed as a tavern in 1852 to Daniel Y. Harman, on the petition of about one hundred residents of the town and vicinity, and against the remon- strance of about half that number and was re-licensed the following year. For the next five years the license was re- fused by the court. In 1858 a license was granted to Amos W. Buckman, and it has remained a regularly licensed place every since. Mr. Buckman con- ducted the tavern until 1864, and was succeeded by Samuel Thatcher, and he in turn three years later by Mahlon S. Harding, who remained for two years, and then sold out to James Wesley Hel- lings, who in less than a year sold the tavern to Samuel L. Ettenger, who owned the property for many years, and was its proprietor at three different pe- riods during the next ten years, it being conducted in the intervals by his ton- ants, Burtis Magill, George W. Shinn, Mrs. Alice Shinn, and Frederick Schie- fer. From February, 1880, to May, 1891, it was conducted by Edward A. Tomlin- son, who was then succeeded by Mr. Keith. During the year 1904 Mr. Keith made extensive improvements, practi- cally renewing and remodeling the whole structure.

JAMES CONRAD, for many years the popular funeral director of Mozart, Buckingham township, Bucks county, was born in Warwick township, July 12, 1835, and died January 20, 1905. He was a son of Charles and Mary (Patterson) Conrad, and grandson of William and Hannah (DeCoursey) Conrad. Both the father and grandfather were farmers and lifelong residents of Buckingham and Warwick townships. Charles Con- rad was born in Buckingham in 1800, and died there in 1873. He was the fath- er of four children, three of whom sur- vive, John Conrad, of Rushland: Rob- ert, of Philadelphia; and the subject of this sketch.

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History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 56

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