History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 162

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162

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JAMES HOUSE, born 4, 17, 1717, died 7th mo., 1756, married Mary, widow of Jacob Wright, and daughter of Isaac Richardson, of Whiteland. Their children were Amos, b. 4, 19, 1742, d. 4, 6, 1821 ; Hannah, b. 7, 5, 1744 ; Catharine, b. 2, 16, 1747 ; Elizabeth, b. 1, 11, 1749 ; Sophia, b. 7, 13, 1751 ; Martha, b. 4, 14, 1754.

Amos House was a nephew of Elizabeth Chads, widow of John, and lived with her in Birmingham. He married Sarah, daughter of John and Joanna Townsend, of East Bradford, with whom he made acquaintance when she was learning a trade from home. Going to see her at her parents' house he asked their consent to a marriage, to which her father objected because he was not a member of meeting. The mother said, " if Amos House was a member ever so, he was not her choice," whereupon the young man hoped they would at least allow him to talk to her that evening. This request was ungraciously granted, with a hope expressed that they would make short work of it; and this they did by planning an elopement at an early day. Sarah lost her life, 1, 13, 1777, from fever contracted by nursing a sick soldier. Amos married a second wife, Martha Edwards, and again, 11, 24, 1790, Mary, daughter of Wil- liam and Ann Swayne. His children by the first wife were Elizabeth, James, Phebe, Susanna (m. Joshua Harvey), and Martha (m. Emanuel Darlington) ; by the second, Mary (m. Mordecai Hayes), Jehu (m. Esther Speakman), Ben- jamin (m. Phebe Trimble); and by the last wife, William S. House (m. Phebe Wickersham).

HUMPHREY, JACOB, born in 1751, was a native, it is believed, of Bucks Co., Pa., but after the establishment of our national independence resided in the township of West Fallowfield, Chester Co. When the Revolutionary contest hegan, he entered the service of his country as a captain, and throughout the struggle endured the hard- ships, suffered the privations, and encountered the dangers incident to the soldier's life in those "times which tried

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men's souls." He was none of those who drew back in those trying times, but remained firm and steadfast in the cause until he found, to adopt the language of Scotia's favorite bard, --

" Wild War's deadly blast was blawn, And gentle Peace returning."

He was present and fought in the battles of Trenton and Princeton, of Brandywine and Germantown, of Monmouth and Yorktown, besides several skirmishes or engagements of smaller note. In the battle of Trenton a musket-ball passed across his forehead, directly over his eyes, leaving an indelible scar. At Monmouth a musket-ball entered the side of his right leg, making a wound about three inches in length. The ball was soon after extracted, and no serious inconvenience ensued. In another engagement a musket-ball struck the buckle of his left knee, and carried it away, producing a tumor on the knee, and causing a slight halt in his walk ever after. An incident is related illustrative of Capt. Humphrey's presence of mind at a moment of imminent danger. On a particular occasion he was detached, at the head of forty chosen men, on a scout- ing-party. Having reached the house of Col. S., an inti- mate friend of his, about the dusk of evening, he halted his men in a lot adjoining the lane leading to Col. S.'s house, and placed his own faithful servant as a sentinel to give the alarm in case any of the enemy should ap- proach. Capt. Humphrey then went into the house, and while engaged in friendly chat with the family his servant came running to the back window, and gave the alarm that a troop of horse was rapidly advancing. What could now be done ? The bold and vigorous mind of Humphrey was formed alike for invention and enterprise. Instantly he girded on his armor, sprang through a back door or window,. ran to the fence, and with the voice of a Cæsar gave the word of command : " Attention ! Battalion, to arms ! Cap- tain Smith ! Captain Finney ! Captain Ferguson ! Captain Marshall ! To your posts ! Captain Humphrey's company ! Advance! Fire !" Instantly a volley from about forty muskets was discharged at the troop, which was now in the lane. The British, on hearing the names of these intrepid commanders called, with the discharge of the muskets, were panic-stricken ; and believing themselves surrounded by a whole battalion, instead of only forty men, fled with the utmost precipitation; not, however, until they had dis- charged a few pistol-balls at the place whence the voice of Capt. Humphrey proceeded. But an overruling Providence preserved him for future usefulness, and to die at home, in the bosom of his family, at a good old age.

Capt. Humphrey was elected to the State Legislature in the years 1814 and 1815. In July, 1825, he was one of the county committee appointed to receive Gen. Lafayette, on his visit to the battle-ground of the Brandywine; and on the next morning accompanied his old friend and com- mander, then on his way to Lancaster, as far as Filson's inn, in Fallowfield. Here the old military comrades parted for the last time. Capt. Humphrey died at his residence, Jan. 21, 1826, in the seventy-fifth year of his age.

HUMPTON, COL. RICHARD, who is understood to have preferred the charge against Gen. Wayne for his conduct

at the "affair of the Paoli," was a native of Yorkshire, England, where he was born in 1733. He was for some time a captain in the British army, when he resigned his commission and emigrated to Pennsylvania. When the Revolutionary contest came on a commission in the Conti- nental army was offered to him, which he accepted. He was a brave man and stood high in the esteem of Gen. Washington, by whom he was frequently intrusted with important and responsible duties, and was employed hy him confidentially ou various occasions. At the battle of Brandywine, where he had a command, his horse was shot under him, when he coolly uugirthed the saddle, slung it over his shoulder, and proceeded to place it on another horse. At the battle of Germantown he had the command of a brigade, which was in action. After the Revolution he settled on a farm in Chester County, where he resided the remainder of his life. He received the appointment of adjutant-general of Pennsylvania from Governor Mifflin, with whom and his secretary, Alexander J. Dallas, Dr. Benjamin Rush, and other distinguished worthies of his day, he was on intimate terms. He was one of the original members of the Society of the Cincinnati, and his name occurs in the list of members between those of two gallant Pennsylvanians, Gen. Anthony Wayne and Gen. William Irvine. He died Dec. 21, 1804, leaving no descendants, and was interred in the burying-ground of Friends' Meet- ing at Caln.

HUNT, JOSHUA,* a native of the township of East Caln, and in which he spent his days, was in the years 1818-20 and 1823-25 elected a member of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, and in 1826 a member of the State Senate, in which he served four years. He was the son of Samuel Hunt, who was the son of Roger Hunt, who during the French and Indian war was a commissary in the service of George III., and his account-books of that service are still in the possession of his descendants. It is asserted by the descendants of Roger Hunt that he, in the capacity of surveyor, laid out the plan of the city of Lancaster, and owned a large part of the ground ou which the city is built, but the family allowed it to be sold to sat- isfy the claims for taxes. Roger Hunt's wife was an Aston, and from them he came into possession, in the year 1739, of a tract of land on the west side of the Brandywine, now partly within the limits of the borough of Downingtown. This was mostly woodland, and known as " Aston Terrace," embracing an area of 500 acres. The family mansion, built in 1727-28, is still in fine preservation, and known as the " Hunt Mansion," though long since passed from the family name. It was built in the old English style, the various colored brick having been, according to tradition, imported from England ; and its wide hall, sharp gables, and heavy wainscoting show that the owner was a man of no mean pretensions.

This estate passed to the heirs of Roger; Samuel, the father of Joshua, inheriting the family mansion and five hundred acres. Here Joshua was born, the third of a fam- ily of five sons and two daughters. One of the latter was the mother of George Fisher, who for many years was in

# Furnished by Dr. John P. Edge.

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

JOSHUA HUNT.

the newspaper business in Chester County. The other was the mother of Samuel H., Cyrus, Pratt, and William B. Hoopes, of Londongrove. On the death of Samuel, Joseph and Joshua became joint owners, and occupied the family mansion. Both were men of more than usual ability. The former was a merchant for many years, afterwards an exten- sive railroad contractor in this State and Georgia, while Joshua devoted his time to study and statesmanship. He, as were all of the race, was a man of stalwart build, dignified and slow in all his actions, and a close observer, as well as a vigorous thinker ; he acquired a fund of knowledge such as is possessed by few persons. He has often remarked to the writer of this sketch that his memory of what he had seen and studied was a positive burden to him, crowding out original efforts of the mind. He was highly esteemed by his neighbors, was a kind of oracle in the vicinity, and filled all the stations in the township from constable to school director; was the umpire to whom all resorted for the maintenance of order, and an authority on all questions of science, political economy, or general knowledge. As a member of the General Assembly, contemporary with Thad- deus Stevens, James Buchanan, and other political giants of the period, he was distinguished for the vigor of his judgment on public matters, and secured an honorable standing in those bodies. But for a constitutional love of ease, to which he gave way, it is claimed that he might have gained a high position in the civil service of the State. After retiring from office he, with his brothers, engaged extensively in the growing of improved breeds of sheep, notably the merinos; and there is evidence extant of their enterprise in this line in the fact that they paid for a sin- gle animal to improve their flock the large sum of $1000.

Though for many years a popular gallant, he never mar- ried. The only descendants of Roger Hunt living who

bear the name are Joshua and Joseph Hunt, members of the Crane Iron Company of Catasauqua, and who were sons of Thomas Hunt, Joshua's youngest brother.

He died at the family mansion on March 3, 1857, aged over seventy-two years, having been born Jan. 17, 1785.

HURFORD, JOHN, late of Tiverton, in Devonshire, brought a certificate to Philadelphia, from Friends of Cul- lumpton Meeting, dated 2, 29, 1700, for himself and family, including his son John and his wife's daughter, July Ann Holcomb. In 1702 the son came to Chester County, mar- ried Elizabeth Browne early in 1703, and became a shop- keeper in Aston. In 1708 he was a sufferer by fire, " whereby he and his family is in great distress," and col- lections were made for his benefit. His wife became a recommended minister among Friends in 1717. In 1733 he married Esther, widow of Peter Hunter, of Middletown.

John Hurford, son of John and Elizabeth, born in Aston, 5, 14, 1712, married, 3, 11, 1732, at Chester Meeting, Hannah Fairlamb, born 9th mo., 1711, daughter of Nicho- las and Katharine. In 1733 they removed to New Garden township and became members of Londongrove Meeting. Their children were Samuel, John, Joseph, Isaac, Elizabeth, Hannah, Caleb, Katharine, Eli, Sarah, and Nicholas. The last was the father of Michael Hurford, of New Garden.

Caleb, son of John and Hannah Hurford, married Mar- tha, daughter of John Maris. Their children were John, Aaron, Caleb, Lewis, Eli, Maris, and Hannah.

MARIS HURFORD, the sixth child and son, was born about the year 1790, in the neighborhood of Londongrove Meeting-house, and moved with his parents in 1816 into West Fallowfield township. Soon after this he started a store near old Sadsbury meeting-house, which he and his brothers kept about one year. He then moved his store to a house on the Gap and Newport turnpike, near to where

by amuel Bartal

MARIS HURFORD.

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BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL.

his parents first located, and where he spent the remainder of his life. This store they kept about a year, while a store-house was being built adjoining his father's house, to which he removed, and where he and his brother Eli were engaged in the mercantile business about thirty years. He was married Jan. 8, 1868, died July 20, 1873, and was interred in the old Sadsbury burying-ground. Ho left one child, Annie Maris, who, with her mother, occupy the old Hurford homestead. His wife, Martha Buffington, the daughter of John and Marie Buffington, was born in 1828. Her grandparents were Thomas and Elizabeth Buffington, who located in Northumberland County, where they owned and operated a paper-mill. On her mother's side her grandparents were Jacob and Marie Keylor, who came from Germany at the breaking out of a war between Germany and other European powers, and purchased land and settled in Chester County.

Maris Hurford was one of the leading business men in the county, and never held office, thoughi often solicited to do so by his fellow-citizens, but was often selected to per- form services requiring good judgment and a clear mind. He settled many estates, and was frequently appointed guardian by the courts. He possessed rare social qualities, and was most hospitable and kind ; accumulated a com- petency of this world's goods, and his pure character and upright business life gained him the respect and confidence of the community.

HUTTON, JOSEPH, son of Thomas Hutton, of Ireland, was a settler in New Garden, where he married, in 1714, Mary, daughter of John and Mary Miller. He died in the fall of 1735, and his widow in the winter following. They lad children,-Jolin, Thomas, Joseph, Susanna, Samuel, William, Benjamin, Nehemiah, and Ephraim.

NEHEMIAH HUTTON, a brother of Joseph, also came to this country, and in 1723 married Sarah Miller, sister to Joseph's wife. They finally removed to Berks County, where their descendants were numerous.

JOHN HUTTON, brother of Joseph and Nehemiah, mar- ried, in 1724, Sarah, a daughter of Michael Lightfoot, and had a son Thomas and other children.

INGRAM, JOHN, a blacksmith, residing in Goshen as early as 1717, left several children, of whom a son, William, settled in Bethel, Delaware Co., and followed the calling of his father. Other children were Robert, John, and Lea- thum Ingram.

WILLIAM INGRAM, son of William, was born June 8, 1788, in Delaware County, and came with his parents to Chester County about 1800. He married, Jan. 16, 1817, Rebecca, daughter of Jolin and Alice (Crossley) Pyle, born March 4, 1795, died Jan. 28, 1869. In 1822 he went to Philadelphia, but returned in 1836 to his farm, a short dis- tance from West Chester, iu East Bradford. The sub- stantial stone house thereon, now occupied by Richard Darlington, Jr.'s, school, was built by him. Being a stonc- mason by trade, he did the mason-work of many public buildings of note in connection with Chalkley Jefferis. Among others were the court-house and prison of our county, Girard College, House of Refuge, and Cherry Hill Prison, of Philadelphia. He died July 20, 1865, leaving several children.

IRWIN, REV. NATHANIEL, was born at Fagg's Manor, Chester Co., Oct. 17, 1756. He graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1770, and was a contemporary there of James Madison, David Rittenhouse, Judge H. H. Brack- enridge, and others who subsequently rose to emincnee. He was ordained and installed pastor of the Neshaminy Presbyterian Church, in Bucks County, May 3, 1774, and continued in that relation until his death. He was a man of much shrewdness and of superior business tact, and his advice was much sought. He was popular with his people, and ranked high as a preacher. He possessed much seien- tifie knowledge, and made it of practical benefit to the com- munity. He was the first person who encouraged John Fitch, the inventor of the steamboat. Fitch was a Bucks County man, and his autobiography, in the Philadelphia Library, is addressed to Mr. Irwin, in token of his gratitude for the encouragement which he received from him. When the question of the location of the county-seat of Bucks County was being agitated, Mr. Irwin advocated with ardor its location at Doylestown, and his influence had much to do with fixing it there. A printed caricature of him was cir- culated at the time, representing him with hat and coat off and sleeves rolled up, tugging with all his strength to pull the court-house in the direction of Doylestown. He was moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly in 1801, and died March 3, 1812.

JACKSON, JOB H .- Nicholas Jackson, of Kilbank, in Seatlıwaite, Lancashire, England, had a son Thomas, born in that place, who removed thence to Ireland, where he married Ann, daughter of Francis and Judith Man, at Mountmellick, Queens County, and emigrated to this county iu 1713. Of their ten children, Jonathan, the ninth, mar- ried Mary, the daughter of Henry Hayes. Of Jonathan's six children, Thomas, the second, married Sarah Taggart, by whom he had no children. He afterwards married Mary, daughter of Samuel, and a granddaughter of the aforementioned Henry Hayes, by whom he had thirteen children, of whom Job H., the youngest, was boru 2d month 27, 1810. At the age of seven, his father dying, he was placed with his oldest brother, Obed, to earn his support and schooling, and learn farming. With early- formed habits of industry, he felt the need of a better ed- ucation, and spent seven months in a boarding-school in Wilmington, Del., taught by the worthy John Bullock. Afterwards for several years he spent a few months at dif- ferent institutions, occasionally teaching school in the winter, and working on the farm in summer. He next was em- ployed as clerk and general agent for the firm of Buffing- ton & Jackson, doing all the bridge-work for the Philadel- phia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad in the State of Delaware. After this he was employed over a year by Betts & Stotsenburg, iron-founders, in Wilmington, as book-keeper and cashier. He then engaged in store-keeping from 1840 to 1846, in connection with farming, at the Rising Sun, Md. Shortly after embarking in the store he married, 2d month 15, 1843, Ann, daughter of Jesse and Ann (Pennington) Conard, of New London township, Chester Co., Pa. She was then principal in the boarding- school of Samuel Martin, of Kennet Square, having filled the station of teacher for the space of thirteen years with

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marked success. Their only child, Milton, graduated in 1867 at the University of Michigan ; afterwards spent seven years as principal of an academy in Wilmington, Del., and is now settled in a successful manufacturing busi- ness in Philadelphia. Quitting the store, Job H. purchased a farm in Londongrove township in 1849, and by industry, coupled with his indefatigable energy, which has character- ized his life, he made this so-called " slow business" a suc- cess, embracing the period from 1848 to 1866. During this time the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad was constructed, an enterprise which received his efficient support, and of whose board he was a director, and for several years its secretary and acting treasurer. At the period when hopes were cherished of rendering " The Farmers' High School" (now the State College) a success, his interest io a practical character of education was at- tested by advocating (with the pen) the bestowal of the income arising from the Congressional land grant fund upon that struggling institution. He thought to increase its practical benefits by coupling with the college the three experimental farms well supported, and thus to invite the coveted patronage to this school. And the law was passed under the express condition of the adequate maintenance by the college trustees of these three farms; and, with some deference to assistance rendered, the eastern experi- mental farm was located near the village of West Grove, Chester Co., Pa. He also aided in the establishment of the " Friends' School" at Swarthmore. A thorough friend of temperance, he adopted in 1874 the plan of offering prizes, hoping to seeure a valuable treatise on the general subject, which work it is expected will soon be published. The above-named Friends reside at West Grove, in their pleasant residence, shown by the accompanying engraving. They are interested in works of reform, and ever ready to obey duty's call.

ISAAC JACKSON, born in Ireland, was a member of the Society of Friends, and of eminent piety. When about sixty years of age he began to look to America as the place of his future home. His eldest daughter, Re- becca, who had married Jeremiah Starr, was already settled in Pennsylvania. There is an old family memoir, still ex- tant, which states that Isaac Jackson and his wife had the subject of their emigration "under weighty consideration" for several years, and they at length informed their friends of it. "While they were under exercise and concern of mind," I quote from the memoir, "and desirous that best wisdom might direet, Isaac had a dream or vision to this import,-that having landed in America, he traveled a con- siderable distance back into the country till he came to a valley between two hills. Through this valley ran a pretty stream of water. The prospect and situation of the place seemed pleasant, and in his dream he thought his family must settle there, though a wilderness unimproved."

Whether this remarkable dream influenced his determi- nation we are not told, but, however that may be, he and his family soon after embarked on the ship "Lizar" at Dublin, and after a tedious passage landed at New Castle, Sept. 11, 1725. From New Castle he proceeded to the house of his son-in-law, Jeremiah Starr, who was residing on a farm he had purchased in Londongrove township.

There Isaac Jackson related his dream, and, as the memoir continues, " was informed of such a place near. He soon went to see it, which to his admiration so resembled what he had a foresight of that it was a cause of joy and thank- fulness."

Thus far the memoir; but tradition, as it existed some seventy years ago, when several of the grandchildren of the venerable patriarch, to whom the visionary picture of his future home was thus presented, were still alive, and having seen and conversed with their grandsire, may have heard the singular story from his own lips, added, that he was shown in his dream, on the hill-side a spring of water, near which he and his family should settle; and that it was im- pressed upon him that not only he and they should dwell there, but that his descendants should occupy the land for generations .* By the same tradition it was further said that a single tract of four hundred acres of land, including the pleasant valley seen by the dreamer, was the only one in that vicinity which had not already been taken up by previous settlers. He doubtless regarded it as a land of promise to himself and family, and he hastened to become master of it by lawful title. Isaac devised this tract to his eldest son, William, who, dying in the year 1785, gave three hundred acres of it, by will, to his youngest son, John. This devise included the mansion-house and build- ings, and John continued to occupy it as long as he lived. He applied himself industriously to its cultivation and im- provement, and was an active man of business till consider- ably past middle life. He possessed no small amount of botanical knowledge, and delighting in the culture of plants and flowers, of which he collected a great variety, both of foreign and domestic origin, he planted a large and .beauti- ful garden, which he cultivated with assiduous care, and to which'he devoted almost his whole attention during the later years of his life. Dr. William Darlington, with whom he was well acquainted, in his " Memorials of Bartram and Marshall," thus refers to him,-

"John Jackson, of Londongrove township, Chester Co., was one of the very few contemporaries of Humphry Marshall who sympa- thized cordially with his pursuits. He commenced a garden soon after that at Marshallton was established, and made a valuable collec- tion of rare and ornamental plants, which is still preserved in good condition hy his son, William Jackson. John Jackson was a very successful cultivator of curious plants, a respectable bolanist, and oue of the most gentle and amiable of men."

John Jackson married, under the age of twenty-seven, Mary Harlan, a daughter of Joel and Hannah Harlan, and raised a family of seven children, to whom he gave advan- tages of education superior to those usually accorded in his day to farmers' children, and as they grew up they brought around them, by their information and culture, an agreeable and interesting circle of friends and acquaintances, so that Harmony Grove, as the old family-scat was designated, be- came a place of rare attractions. Nowhere, indeed, in Chester County was better society to be found than beneath the roof and at the table of John Jackson, who long maintained, and dispensed with a liberal hand, the tradi-

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History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 162

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts Number of Pages: 1162

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162