History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 61

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 61

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REUBEN ORLANDO SWOPE, at present prinicpal of Glen Rock High School, Glen Rock borough, Bergen coun- ty, New Jersey, was born in Bedminster township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, No- vember 17, 1868. The ancestors of Mr. Swope were of German extraction and have been residents of Bucks county for many generations. But little is known of the earlier generations of the family further than that they belonged to the solid substantial yeomanry of Upper Bucks, and filled their places in the history with honor and integrity. The grandparents of the subject of this sketch were John and Mary (Wildonger) Swope, whose son Jo- seph Swope, born in Tinicum township, Bucks county, August 6, 1831, was reared and educated in that and Bedminster town- ships, and followed the occupation of a farmer in Bedminster and Plumstead town- ships-and he, as well as his immediate ancestors, was a member of the Lutheran church, and politically he was a Democrat, though he never sought or held political office. He married Mary Overholt, daugh- ter of Abraham and Hannah (Shutt) Over- holt, and granddaughter of Martin and Elizabeth (Nash) Overholt. She was born in Plumstead township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1833.

Reuben Orlando Swope was educated in the common schools of Bucks county, and later took a course at the West Chester State Normal School, and followed the profession of teacher for eight years in the public schools of Bucks county, two of which he was principal of the high school at Richlandtown. He is now prin- cipal of the high school at Glen Rock, Bergen county, New Jersey. Thoroughly devoted to his profession, he has taken little part in public affairs. He is a mem- ber of the Lutheran church of Hilltown, and filled the position as organist there for some time. He also served as superin- tendent 'of the Sunday school for two. years. Mr. Swope is unmarried.

THE NATIONAL FARM SCHOOL. In the summer of 1894 the Rev. Dr. Jo- seph Krauskopf, of Philadelphia, visited Russia in an effort to secure data con- cerning the condition of the Jews in that country and to urge means for its ameliora- tion. While there he observed the aston- ishing zeal with which Jews pursued agri- culture within the limits allowed by the Russian Government. He saw a people yearning, not as common prejudice has as- sumed, for a life of trade, but for op- portunities to work out their existence from the soil. He further visited, at the suggestion of Count Tolstoi, the Jewish Agricultural School at Odessa. the end and aim of whose activity was the gradua- tion of practical working farmers, and in- structors and managers of agricultural!

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

colonies. The avidity with which the Jewish lads avail themselves of the facili- ties thus given them convinced him that the agricultural instincts, fostered in Bible times, still lingered, and needed but op- portunity for their manifestation.

On his return to America, Dr. Kraus- kopf proceeded to formulate plans for the institution of a Farm School, which, while welcoming all students regardless of creed, might satisfy the demand of large num- bers of Jews for agricultural opportunities. · After months of agitation sufficient funds were procured for the purchase of a farm and the erection of adequate buildings thereon. On April 10, 1896 the National Farm School was incorporated. The Wat- son farm, situated a mile from Doylestown, the county seat of Bucks, was purchased, where school buildings were erected, and the school opened with fifteen pupils in its first class. The school is a purely technical institution which has for its purpose the education of young men in both practical and scientific agriculture. The course of instruction continues for four years. The entrance requirements are those ordinarily demanded of candidates to enter a good high school. The grade of instruction is somewhat higher than that of a high school, because the length of the school year is II months. The academic studies con- sist of instruction in many of the different branches of agriculture and horticulture, general, analytical and agricultural chem- istry ; general and agricultural physics, animal hygiene, United States history, Eng- lish, mathematics and surveying. The technical or practical agriculture is required of each pupil every day for three hours, and during the summer months the time is extended to seven hours per day. All of the work on the farm is performed by the pupils. The young men graduating from the school are sufficiently proficient to take positions in the United States De- partment of Agriculture at Washington and with different Experiment Stations, and some have full charge of farms, other conduct dairies, while others go into farm- ing for themselves.

The facilities for instruction consist of a home farm of 122 acres, well stocked with fifty head of cattle, fifteen horses, sheep, swine and poultry. There is donated or loaned to the school from the manli- facturers for use and instruction every kind of a farm implement that is considered of practical use on a Pennsylvania farm. There is also a well equipped dairy where the pupils are taught how to make butter. In addition to these advantages the school possesses two farms of about forty acres each, which are equipped as model farms, and which are used for post-graduate in- struction, upon which the graduates of the school have practice in superintendence. One also finds at this school well equipped laboratories of chemistry and physics with surveying instruments and a good green- house, together with orchards and vine-

yards and small fruit gardens, for in- struction in horticulture. A library con- sisting of over 2,000 well chosen books adds greatly to the equipment of all depart- ments. A comfortable dormitory provides a home for forty-five pupils, which is the number enrolled for January 1, 1906. A large number of names are on the waiting list due to the school's limited accomino- dations.

The president of the board of managers is the Rev. Dr. Joseph Krauskopf, of Philadelphia; the secretary is Mr. Harry Felix; the director of the school is John H. Washburn, Ph. D.

HENRY CLAY STUCKERT, of War- rington, Bucks county, is the eldest son of William H. and Rachel ( Scarborough) Stuckert, and one of the prominent farm- ers of Warrington township. Henry Stuckert, the father of William H., and grandfather of H. Clay Stuckert, was born and reared in Germany, where he learned the trade of a baker. He came to Philadelphia when a young man and followed his trade there until 1811, first as a journeyman but for many years afterwards carrying on busi- ness for himself. On April 6, 1811, he purchased the farms now occupied by his two grandsons, 213 acres, in Warrington township, Bucks county, and turning over his baker business to his eldest son George removed to Bucks county. He was an in- telligent, practical and successful business man, and was highly respected in the community. He married soon after coming to America, Elizabeth Bennett, of Phila- delphia. He died in 1836, at the age of sev- enty years, and his wife died in 1843. They were the parents of six children : I. George, who succeeded his father as baker in Philadelphia, but later removed to Northampton township, Bucks county, mar- ried Anne Hough, of Warrington, but re- turned to Philadelphia where he died. 2. Louisa, married George Jamison. 3. John, who remained in Philadelphia. 4. William H., the father of the subject of this sketch. 5. Anna Maria, who married A. Jackson Beaumont, of Solebury. 6. Jacob, who purchased a portion of the home farm in 18.45, but some years later removed to Trenton, New Jersey, where he died.

William H. Stuckert, third son of Henry and Elizabeth (Bennett) Stuckert, was born at Warrington, October 2, 1816, and was reared on the farm. At his father's death in 1836 he took charge of the farm for his mother and conducted it for seven years. At the death of his mother he pur- chased that part of the homestead now occupied by his son, H. Clay Stuckert, and made substantial improvements. Sev- eral years later he purchased the home- stead of his brother Jacob and lived there until his death with the exception of a few years spent on a farm in Doylestown

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

township, in 1874. returning to the home- stead at the death of his wife in 1880, and residing with his son Amos. He was an enterprising and successful farmer and business man, and held many positions of trust. He and his family were members of the Presbyterian church, of which he was trustee. He died in November, 1896. He married in 1841 Rachel Scarborough, of Wrightstown, daughter of Amos and Elizabeth (Cooper) Scarborough, both na- tives of Bucks county and of English Quaker descent. Both the Cooper and Scarborough families among the earliest settlers in Bucks county. William H. and Rachel (Scarborough) Struckert were the parents of five children, viz .: I. Henry Clay, born August 7, 1842, see for- ward; 2. Sarah, wife of Dr. A. H. Clay- ton, of Richboro, Bucks county ; 3. Amos, born March 19, 1846, see forward; 4. Will- iam, a prominent lawyer of Doylestown; 5. John C., a prominent lawyer of Bristol, Bucks county.

Henry Clay Stuckert, eldest son of William H. and Rachel ( Scarborough) Stuckert, was born on the farm where he still lives, August 7, 1842. He was reared on the farm and acquired his education at the common schools and at a normal school at Upland, Chester county, Penn- sylvania. On reaching manhood he took charge of the home farm, which he event- ually purchased of his father, and this he has greatly improved and beautified; he is an enterprising and successful farmer. He married in 1875, Emma J. Harman, born in 1849, daughter of Daniel Y. and Elizabeth K. (Bennett) Harman, and granddaughter of John and Elizabeth (Addis) Harman, both of Holland descent. John Harman was an early settler in Upper Makefield township. Daniel, the ninth of his ten children, married first Hannah, daughter of Benjamin and Hannah (Simp- son) Hough, of Doylestown township, by whom he had six children. He married second Elizabeth K. Bennett, daughter of Miles and Hannah ( Kroesen) Bennett, both of Holland descent, and representa- tives of early Knickerbocker families that settled first on Long Island and removed later to North and Southampton, Bucks county. Daniel Y. Harman was in early life a farmer, but later was a hotel keeper at Newtown; he was for several years a justice of the peace. He died in 1855. By his second wife, Elizabeth K. Bennett, he had three children: Emma J., the wife of the subject of this sketch ; Lewis C., a mer- chant of Philadelphia ; and Franklin P., who died at the age of seven years. The children of Henry Clay and Emma J. (Har- man) Stuckert are: Frederick, an attorney at law at Bristol, Bucks county, Pennsyl- vania; William R., see forward : Louis H., a bookkeeper at Trenton, New Jersey ; Henry, a student at Jefferson Medical Col- lege, Philadelphia : and Anna P., residing at home. Mr. Stuckert and family are members of the Presbyterian church.

AMOS STUCKERT, of Warrington, the second son of William H. and Rachel ( Scarborough) Stuckert, was. born on the Warrington farm March 19. 1846, and on his marriage in 1873 took up his residence where he still resides .. on the original homestead, buying the farm of his father. He is an enterpris- ing and successful farmer, and has in- troduced all the latest improvements in farm machinery. He married in 1873 Esther N. Fesmire, daughter of H. C. and Sydonia (Chappelle) Fesmire, of Moreland township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, where Mrs. Stuckert was born December 6, 1852. Her grandfather, Peter Fesmire, was a native of Germany, who settled in Mont- gomery county in early life, was a suc- cessful farmer. His son, Henry C., the- third of seven children, settled in More- land township, where he lived for a num- ber of years and then removed to Dela- ware, where he lived for three years on an experimental farm, and then returned to Glenside where he died in 1900. His. widow still survives, residing at Glen- side at the age of seventy-eight years. She is of French Heugenot descent, and a daughter of John Santell, a life-long resident of Montgomery county.

Mr. and Mrs. Stuckert have been the parents of eleven children, viz .: George J., died at the age of eighteen years; Esther B., wife of Professor William H. Black, who was captain of a company in the Spanish-American war, and is now principal of a school at High Bridge, New Jersey; Elizabeth, wife of Albert Reed, a machinist: John C., a farmer, married Eva Jamison; Grace, wife of H. J. Worthington; William H., residing at home; Sarah, married B. R. Yerkes; Sidney, residing at home; Clarence, who died young; Anna and Claud, who reside at home. Mr. Stuckert and his family are members of the Presbyterian church.

WILLIAM R. STUCKERT, second son of Henry Clay and Emma J. (Har- man) Stuckert, was born on the old homestead in Warrington township, March 23, 1877. He was educated in the public schools of Warrington. the

Doylestown High School and Ursinus College. After completing his course of study at college in 1899. he taught school for one year in Bucks county, and then entered upon the study of the law in the offices of his uncles. William and John C. Stuckert, and was admitted to practice in the Bucks county courts in December, 1902. In March. 1903, the law firm of William and J. C. Stuckert was dissolved, and William R. Stuckert was taken into partnership by his uncle, William Stuckert. under the firm name of William & William R. Stuckert, with offices at Doylestown and Newtown, and lie at once took charge of the Newtown office and entered upon the active prac-

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tice of his profession. Mr. Stuckert is the present borough solicitor of the borough of Newtown, and has already. built up a remunerative business. and established a reputation for careful and painstaking service in behalf of his clients.

GEORGE W. HARTLEY, JR., of Pineville, Buckingham township. Bucks county, was born in New Hope borough, Bucks county, December 28. 1867, and is a son of William H. and Sarah Ellen (Girton) Hartley, and a grandson of Levi and Rachel (Heaton) Hartley.

The pioneer ancestor of the Hartley family was Edward Hartley of English Quaker stock who settled in Bucking- ham about 1700, and has left numerous descendants in various parts of the union, although few of the name now reside in Bucks county.

William H. Hartley, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Buckingham, July 4. 1836. At the age of sixteen he left the paternal roof and learned the trade of a blacksmith, which he followed in connection with farming until 1886, when he retired from active life. He resided in Pineville from 1877 until his decease on April 10, 1904. He married Sarah Ellen Girton, daughter of James and Diadama Girton, who was born at Dolington, Bucks county. No- vember 18, 1841, and died at Pineville, January 6, 1900. Their children were as follows: J. Howard; Mary, widow of Pierson Eddowes of Hartsville; George WV., the subject of this sketch; . Eli of Doylestown; and Dr. William K. Hart- ley of Doylestown.

George W. Hartley, Jr., acquired his education at the public schools and re- mained on the farm with his father as- sisting in the operations during the stimmer months, and during the winter months followed various other occupa- tions. After the death of his father he moved to his present residence where he has since lived a retired life. He mar- ried November 1, 1894, Margaret Ann Kelley, daughter of Isaac' and Martha E. (Mathews) Kelley, of Solebury, and they are the parents of one child, Walter Sickle, born March 28. 1899. In politics Mr. Hartley is a Republican, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a member of Wycombe castle. No. 125, Knights of the Golden Eagle.

CYRUS T. VANARTSDALEN. of Newtown township. Bucks county, was born in Northampton township, April 5. 1823. He is a son of Isaac and Ann (Torbert) Vanartsdalen, the former a descendart through seven generations in an unbroken line from as many Dutch

ancestors who emigrated from Holland to New Netherlands in the first half of the seventeenth century, while the lat- ter's ancestry traces back to at least four Ulster Scots who found homes in Bucks county a century later. The pa- ternal ancestor of the Van Artsdalens, who bore their patronymic, was Simon Jansen Van Artsdalen, who emigrated from Holland in 1656 ,and settled in Flatlands, Long Island. where he mar- ried Pieterje Claesen Wycoff. who had accompanied her brother to New Neth- erlands in 1636. Simon Jansen Van Artsdalen was a magistrate of Flatlands. 1661-1686, and a deacon of the Dutch church there. He died in 1710, leaving several sons and daughters; among the former was Cornelis Symonse Van Artsdalen, born in Flatlands in 1665, and died there in 1745. He was thrice mar- ried, first to Tlletje Reinerse Wizzel- penning. second, on March 16, 1687, to Aeltje Willemse Couvenhoven, born De- cember 14. 1665, daughter of Willemse Gerretse Covenhoven and Altie Brinck- erhoff, and granddaughter of Gerret Wolfertse Couvenhoven, who had emi- grated from Holland with his father in 1630, having been born in Holland in 1610. Cornelis Symonse Van Artsdalen married third, Maretje or Mary Dirckse. on May 2, 1691. By the three wives he had ten children: Aeltje, Jacobus, Dirck, Petronella, Maria, Abraham, Jannetje, Jacobus, who married Alice. daughter of Jacob Hogeland, of New Jersey. Philip, John, and Simon, born

August I6, 1697. Cornelis Symonse Van Artsdalen purchased a farm of his father at Gravesend. May 7. 1700. and is supposed to have lived thereon until 1726 when he sold it to his brother John and removed to Somerset county, New Jersey. / He was active in building the Dutch church there, and was prominent in the affairs of the com- munity. It is possible that he returned to Long Island prior to his death, as his will is registered at the surrogate's office at New York in 1745, though dated at Somerset in 1738.

SIMON VAN ARTSDALEN, son of Cornelis and Mary (Dirckse) Van Artsdalen, was born at Flatbush. Long Island, August 16. 1697, and married there, October 30. 1716, Jannetje Romeyn, whose father and his two brothers had emigrated from Holland about 1650. Simon re- moved with his father to Somerset county, New Jersey, and prior to 1730 removed with his family to the Dutch colony in Southampton township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. where he was one of the early elders of the Dutch church, lived a long and useful life, and reared a family of seven children, five sons and two daughters. He died in the winter of 1770, and is buried at "The Buck." The children of Simon and Jane (Romeyn) Van Artsdalen were as

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

follows: I. John, born at Flatlands, Long Island, June 27, 1718, died in North- ampton in 1777. 2. Lammetje, born Au- gust 21, 1720, married first Derick Kroesen, and second Cornelius Wyckoff. 3. Chris- toffel, born April 15, 1722, married, Oc- tober 26, 1748, Elizabeth Kroesen. daughter of Henry Kroesen. Died 1765, leaving children, Simon, born 1752; Else, born 1754; Jane, born 1757; Henry, born 1759; and Jacob, born in 1762. 4. Simon, born April 18, 1726, married. January 24, 1751, Elsie Kroesen. Died 1795, leaving nine children. Cor- nelia, wife of Jacob Vandegrift; Simon, married Joanna Hogeland; Jane, mar- ried Joshua Praul; Derrick; Margaret, married Abraham Lefferts; Jacob; John; Elizabeth, married Thomas Fenton; and Mary, married Joseph Fenton. 5. Mar- garet. "born January 12, 1729, married Derick Kroesen, and had several chil- dren. 6. Jacobus or James, born Janu- ary 25, 1732, married Rachel LaRue, daughter of Isaac LaRue. 7. Nicholas, born July 14, 1736, died 1805, married December 29, 1759, Jane Vansant. 8. Peter, born March 2, 1739, probably died young, not mentioned in father's will.

John Van Artsdalen, born January 29, 1718, accompanied his father to Bucks county and settled on a farm in North- ampton township, containing 250 acres, where he lived and died. He married, April 30, 1742, Elizabeth Kroesen. daughter of Garret, granddaughter of Dirck Kroesen and Elizabeth Kregier, and great-granddaughter of Gerret Dirckse Kroesen, who emigrated from Holland about 1650 and settled in Brook- lyn, where he died in 1680. John and Elizabeth (Kroeson) Van Artsdalen had seven children, as follows: I. Jane, born November 17, 1744, died of smallpox, January 30, 1756, unmarried; 2. Ariantje, born May 25, 1746, married, February 18, 1767. Arthur Lefferts; 3. Lammetje, born April 2. 1748, married, January II, 1770. Peter Lefferts; 4. Elizabeth, born Sep- tember 1. 1750, died at the age of two years; 5. Simon or Simeon, born July 10, 1753, was pastor of the Dutch church at Readington, Hunterdon county, New Jersey. died 1788, married Magdalen Hogeland; 6. Elizabeth, born May 7, 1756, married John Cornell, left no is- sue surviving : 7. Garret, born May 8, 1758, died 1848, married. November 29. 1781. Euphemia Hogeland, born October 24. 1761. died February 19, 1829, daugh- ter of George and Maria (Scheneck) Hogeland, a lineal descendant of Dirck Hogeland, the emigrant. (See Hogeland Family in this work.)

Garret Van Artsdalen purchased the interest of his brother and sisters in the old homestead and resided thereon. He and his brother Simon were members of Captain Henry Lott's company of as- sociators in Northampton in 1775. The children of Garret and Euphemia

(Hogeland) Van Artsdalen were: I. John, born January 17, 1784, married, April 17, 1806, Jane Kroesen, died 1844; 2. Simon, born November 10, 1786, mar- ried Deborah Dyer, had twelve children; 3. Isaac, born September 23, 1791, mar- ried, September 1, 1814, Ann Torbert. 4. Garret, born May 5, 1797, died Sep- tember 20, 1799. 5. Maria, born May 2, 1794, married Joel Carver.

Isaac Van Artsdalen was reared on the old plantation in Northampton, and in 1831, his father conveyed to him ninety acres thereof, and a year later he acquired of his brother Simeon another tract, part of the same, and he spent his whole life on the farm of his ancestors. He died in 1860. Ann Torbert, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was a daughter of James and Margaret (McNair) Torbert, of Makefield, and a granddaughter of James Torbert and Hannah Burley, and of James and Mar- tha (Keith) McNair. Her four great- grandfathers Samuel Torbert, Samuel McNair, John Burleigh and William Keith emigrated from the north of Ire- land and settled in Makefield, Bucks county, about the year 1730. Samuel Torbert came from Carrick-Fergus on the northeast coast of Ireland in 1726. He was a tanner, and located in New- town where he lived for many years. Late in life he became a farmer in Upper Makefield, where he died in 1778. Isaac and Ann (Torbert) Van Artsdalen had eight children, as follows: I. Garret, born 1816, died 1881, married Harriet E. Warne and had seven children: 2. James Torbert. born in 1818, married Catharine Nag- lee; 3. Theodore Milton, born 1821, died 1904, married, 1843, Cornelia M. Cornell; 4. Cyrus Torbert, born April 5, 1823, married Jane E. Cornell, see forward; 5. Margaret Ann, born 1825, married, 1846, David Wynkoop McNair. 6. Alice Elizabeth, born 1828, married James An- derson; 7. Maria, born 1831, married, 1850. James L. Torbert; 8. Isaac Keith, born 1834. married Sarah Matthiea.

Cyrus T. Vanartsdalen was born and reared on the old homestead in North- ampton, and remained on the farm with his father until twenty-five years of age. He then followed farming in Northamp- ton until 1859, when he purchased the farm in Newtown township, where he still resides. He married. December 15, 1847. Jane Eliza Cornell, daughter of Jacob and Maria Cornell, of Northamp- ton, who bore him three children: Mary, born December 18, 1850, died January 25. 1875. was wife of George C. Fetter. Alice, born November 22. 1853. died Feb- rnary II, 18So, was wife of Murray Gardner. Isaac T., born March 28, 1757. married Addie C. Camm. Mr. Vanartsdalen has been a member of the Presbyterian church since his eigh- teenth year, served several years as dea- con and has been an elder of the New-

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town church since 1868. In politics he is a Republican, but has never sought or held office except that of school director.

HENRY H. VAN ARTSDALEN, of Feasterville, Southampton township, Bucks county, was born near Feaster- ville, November 1, 1842, and is a son of James and Rachel (Hough) Van Arts- dalen. He is a lineal descendant of Si- mon Jansen Van Artsdalen, who emi- grated from Holland in 1653 and settled on Long Island, his great-grandfather being Nicholas Van Artsdalen, men- tioned in the preceding sketch, who was born July 14. 1736, son of Simon and Jane (Romeyn) Van Artsdalen, the pio- 11eer ancestor of the family in Bucks county. Nicholas Van Artsdalen mar- ried, December 29, 1759, Jannetje or Jane Vansant. Being the youngest surviving son, he remained upon the old home- stead which was devised to him at thic death of his father, and died there in November, 1805. His widow Jane sur- vived him, dying in August, 1813. They were the parents of seven children, four sons, Simon, James, John and Chris- topher, and three daughters, Anna, mar- ried Garret Stevens, Jane, who married John Kroesen, and Margaret, who mar- ried Jesse Willard.

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History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. III, Part 61

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