History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. I, Part 77

Author: Roberts, Charles Rhoads; Stoudt, John Baer, 1878- joint comp; Krick, Thomas H., 1868- joint comp; Dietrich, William Joseph, 1875- joint comp; Lehigh County Historical Society
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Allentown, Pa. : Lehigh Valley Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1158

USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. I > Part 77

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In November, 1776, shortly before the fall of Fort Washington, he visited the American camp on Harlem Heights, and was received and lodged at his headquarters by General Washing- ton with great politeness.

liam Allen on June 1, 1765, for a yearly-quit rent of nine shillings sterling.

On February 7, 1776, a tract of 61 acres and 66 perches, in Salisbury township, adjoining the above, was also deeded to James by his father.

Although many writers credit James Allen with the founding of Allentown, or Northamp- ton, as it was formerly called, his father, Judge William Allen was the founder. At the time it was laid out, in 1762, James Allen was a youth of twenty, studying law at the Temple in London.

In James Allen's Diary, published in the

alle

JAMES ALLEN.

On January 5, 1767, William Allen deeded to his son James Allen, land amounting to 3,338 acres (embracing the present City of Allen- town and its environs. A clause in the deed, ex- cepting certain lots, read as follows: "save and except certain Lotts of Ground situate in the Town of Northampton within the said tract which have heretofore been granted by the said William Allen to divers persons on ground rent forever." These lots were granted by Wil-

Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biog- raphy, in the first entry, under date of Novem- ber 6, 1770, he says: "Two days ago I returned from Trout Hall (a name I have just given my house), where I had been with Mr. Lawrence, my brother Billy, and Jemmy Tilghman."

September 13, 1771, he says: "Lord Dun- more passed thro' this town on his way to Vir- ginia; I dined and supped with him. This day I set off for Trout Hall with my wife and child

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ALLENTOWN FROM 1762 TO 1811.

and Mrs. Lawrence. They have not been there since I finished my house."

October 30, 1773: "I compute my business this year will be between three and four hun- dred pounds, which, added to my estate, will fall but little short of one thousand pounds per annum."

July 26, 1775: "My profession is visibly on the decline, and when it is no longer useful, I shall suffer considerably. My last year's profits were £600 and this year would have increased, and the governor has given up my house; these two articles would fall heavy on me; and re- duce me to the necessity of retiring to my house at Northampton."

October 14, 1775: "Last Thursday and the preceding Tuesday I appeared in Battalion in my uniform, as a private man in Capt. Shees company."

March 6, 1776: "The plot thickens; peace is scarcely thought of. Independence predomi- nates. Thinking people uneasy, irresolute, and inactive. The Mobility triumphant. Every ar- ticle of life doubled. Twenty-six thousand troops coming over. The Congress in equilibrio on the question of Independence or no. Wrapt in the contemplation of these things I cry out 'O! Rus · quando ego te aspiciam, etc.' I love the cause of Liberty, but can not heartily join in the prose- cution of measures totally foreign to the or- iginal plan of resistance."

May 15, 1776: "I am now a political char- acter; having been chosen a Representative in Assembly the first of this month for Northamp- ton county, without any opposition; having 853 votes and only 14 against me."

June 16, 1776: "This day I set off with my family for Northampton, with the chariot, phæton and sulky."

January 25, 1777: "Having let my house to Carter Braxton and some of the Virginia Dele- gates, with a great part of my Furniture, at £150 per annum, and left Philadelphia, which from the current Politics, began to grow dis- agreeable; I thought myself happy in having so good a Retreat in Northampton county." .

"The Country was to me delight- ful, and my Neighbor Mr. Benezet, Captain Symes, a prisoner, together with occasional Vis- its made the time agreeable enough."

"During October and November I remained at Trout Hall a calm spectator of the Civil War, but occasionally gave great offence to the violent Whigs in Northampton by enter- taining the regular officers, our prisoners, and was often threatened on that account."

When General Howe was expected in Phila- delphia, a persecution of Tories, (under which

name is included every one disinclined to Inde- pendence, though ever so warm a friend to consti- tutional liberty and the old cause,) began ; houses were broken open, people imprisoned without authority by private persons, and as was said, a list of 200 disaffected persons made out, who were to be seized, imprisoned and sent off to North Carolina; in which list, it was said, our whole family was set down; my brothers under this dreadful apprehension fled from Philadel- phia to the Union. Soon after, against my judg- ment, they all went to Trenton and claimed pro- tection from General Howe's army. From whence they went to New York, where they now are, unhappily separated from their families and like to be so for some time. I was informed of this by General Gates at Bethlehem-and of course became alarmed for my own safety.

"Accordingly on Thursday, December 19, 1776, at seven A. M., my house was surrounded by a guard of Soldiers with fixed Bayonets; I got up and when I came down stairs the officer who was at the front door, produced a warrant from the Council of Safety to seize me and bring me before them. I accordingly went to Philadelphia and appeared before them, and opened the scene by saying, that they had drawn me from my retire- ment unexpectedly; Mr. Owen Biddle then said, that they had received accounts of the un- willingness of the Militia of Northampton county to march, that they knew my influence and property there, and were afraid of my being the cause of it, and added that my brothers being gone over to the enemy the publick would expect that I should be put on my Parole and hoped I would have no objection to stay within six miles of Philadelphia. Mr. Matlack said, "at least Mr. Allen may chuse his place of Residence." I told them that my political principles were well known, that since I had not interfered in publick matters, further than in confidential conversa- tions with my friends and I wished always to re- main so during the present unhappy war. . In the afternoon they produced a certificate which they hoped I would not object to; wherein they set forth, my brothers departure, and the back- wardness of the Militia as reasons for sending for me; that I had given them satisfaction re- specting my prudent conduct; that my conduct did not appear unfriendly to the cause of Lib- erty, nor inconsistent of a gentleman; and I in return pledged my honor verbally not to say or do anything injurious to the present cause of America. So we parted amicably and as we began with great politeness on both sides."

"28th got home and continued quiet and happy for some time. This happiness was unfortunately interrupted by an unlooked for ac-

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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

cident. Being ignorant that any of the Militia were in the Town, Mrs. Allen with her daughter Peggy and Lyddy Duberry went to visit Mrs. Bond in the Chariot: entering the street a com- pany of Militia met them in front; Samson en- deavored to drive out of the road, but was stopt by a hollow way. The soldiers beat him with their muskets and pushed at him with their bay- onets, on which to defend himself he made use of his Whip. This so enraged them, that they pushed their Bayonets into the Chariot, broke the glass and pierced the chariot in 3 places ; dur- the whole scene my wife begoing to be let out and the children screaming; they also endeavored to overset it, while they were within it. David Deshler happening to be present prevented it and led the horses on, by which means they es- caped. Their design was to destroy the Chariot. I having walked across the field saw nothing of this till it was over and the company had marched on. Soon after Major Boehm and the Capt'n Buckhalter returned. The former, a violent man, countenanced the attack, whereupon a reencounter ensued between him and me, in which he attempted to draw his sword on me. This accident has disturbed my peace."

October 1, 1777: "Many of the Congress passed by this place (Northampton) and are since assembled, together with the officers of this government at Lancaster; Mr. Hamilton is now at my house. . Since the bat- tle of Brandywine many thousand Wagons pass- ed by my door and are continually passing in great numbers. All the baggage of our army is at Bethlehem and here; and what with Hos- pitals and Artificers these little towns are filled. Every day some of the inhabitants of Philadel- phia are coming up to settle here. The road from Easton to Reading, by my house, is now the most travelled in America. · My tenants whose rents are due in sterling, often pay off arrears of six or seven years in conti- nental money at the old Exchange and yet I dare not object, tho' I am as much robbed of five-sixths of my property, as if it was taken out of my drawer."

November 21, 1777, referring to General Howe's evacuating Philadelphia, he says, "Mr. John Adams, who passed thro' here a week ago, spoke of it as a certain event, and said the strug- gle was past and that Independence was now unalterably settled ; the Crisis was over. .

My situation is as before; I hear noth- ing from my friends in Philadelphia, and every species of oppression and waste of property con- tinue as before. My tenants set me at defiance, and I who am not the most patient man, am

forced to bear all-sed manet alta mente re- postum.

"The Genl. Hospital is still here and the Director Genl. Dr. Shippen and his assistant Dr. Bond, my old acquaintance, with my wife's cousin T. Lawrence, make out a good Society, and we endeavor to banish Politics."

The sick and wounded of the army had been sent to Bethlehem from time to time, some months prior to this date, until four hundred were quartered in the Brethren's house alone, and over fifty tents in the garden in the rear. In October, those who could not be cared for were sent to Allentown and elsewhere.

The last entry in the diary is on July 15, 1778, when he writes that he is not well and in- tends to go to France in the autumn.

He died in Philadelphia, September 19, 1778, in his 37th year, two months and four days after the last entry in his diary.

His will dated May 23, 1778, and probated April 13, 1782, bequeaths to his wife all the furniture, plate, horses, carriages, books and stocks absolutely. "Also all moneys or interest due, the house and lot on Chestnut street, and office lot adjoining, the same which her father, John Lawrence, Esq., gave to me on my mar- riage. To my son James a tract of 812 acres in Salisbury Township on the River Lehi, of which 50 acres were sold to Mr. David Deshler, including the Lehi Island, and the town lots with the ground rents arriving from the lots heretofore granted away; also a tract of 50 acres on the hill contiguous to the above, and a tract of 200 acres on the Lehi River and Jor- dan Creek, now in the tenure of Simon Peter Gehris, he paying to each of his sisters the sum of £150 each at their several ages of 15 years, free of interest. To my eldest daughter, Anne Penn Allen, a tract of 501 acres situated on Trout Creek with the saw mill thereon contig- uous to land of George Stout and Rudolph Smith, and to land sold to George Blank and George Keck. To my second daughter, Mar- garet, a tract of 500 acres situated on the Little Lehi Creek, etc. To my youngest daughter, Mary, a tract of 541 acres contiguous to the above, etc. The rest of my estate I bequeath to my son James and my three daughters to be equally divided among them, as Tenants in Com- mon, not as Joint Tenants. My three negro slaves, Francis, Sampson, and Harry, shall be henceforth free and manumitted, I having ever been persuaded of the Injustice of Slavery." His sword he bequeathed to his brother Andrew, and his watch to his brother William. His

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ALLENTOWN FROM 1762 TO 1811.

wife and brothers Andrew and William were appointed executors.

James Allen married March 10, 1768, in Christ church, Philadelphia, Elizabeth, only child of John Lawrence, Esq., and his wife, Elizabeth Francis, a cousin of the mother of his brother Andrew's wife. She was born in Phil-

ANNE PENN ALLEN.

adelphia, November 30, 1750, and after the death of her husband, James Allen, in 1778, mar- ried Hon. John Lawrence, a United States Sen- ator from New York. Her father, John Law- rence, was born May 30, 1724, and died Janu- ary 20, 1799.

James and Elizabeth Allen had four children, viz :

Anne Penn Allen, born February 19, 1769.

Margaret Elizabeth Allen, born April 21, 1772.

Mary Masters Allen, born January 4, 1776.

James Hamilton Allen, born January 24, 1778.

Anne Penn Allen, eldest daughter of James Allen, was born in Philadelphia, February 19, 1769. She has been described as one of the most splendid beauties this country has produced-a brunette with a warm, high color and auburn hair. Gilbert Stuart painted three portraits of her, of which it is said Thackery was enrap- tured with, when he visited Philadelphia. She married, April 26, 1800, at Christ church, Phil- adelphia, James Greenleaf, then of Washington, D. C. Greenleaf was born in Boston, Mass., June 9, 1765, the son of William Greenleaf, a merchant of Boston, and Sheriff or Suffolk county in 1776. He was the twelfth of a

family of fifteen, and descended from a family that settled in Newbury, Mass., in 1635. One of his sisters married Dr. Noah Webster, the compiler of Webster's Dictionary, and the poet, John Greenleaf Whittier, was descended from the same family.

In 1793 Greenleaf was appointed United States Consul at Amsterdam. He had been a resident of Holland for some years, being a partner in a mercantile house. In 1788 he married the Baroness Antonia Cornelia Elber- tine Scholten van Aschat, from whom he was afterwards divorced.

Greenleaf was a speculator in lots in the early days of Washington, D. C., having at one time owned over 1,300 lots, and a third interest in over 7,000 more. He became a partner of Rob- ert Morris and John Nicholson in the immense land purchases which ruined them and him. They organized in 1795, the North American Land Company, with Greenleaf as secretary, for the sale of 6,000,000 acres, which they had jointly selected, guaranteeing to the stockholders an an- nual dividend of six per cent. Morris and Nich- olson contracted for the purchase of his share, giving him $1,150,000 in drafts on each other, which they never paid, and on which he was sued as indorser.

JAMES GREENLEAF.

In 1795 he bought General Philemon Dick- inson's house on Chestnut street, Philadelphia for $28,000, and also Governor John Penn's country seat, Lansdowne, of his widow for $37,- 000. In 1797, Lansdowne was sold by the sher- iff for $55,100, and the Chestnut street prop- erty was re-purchased by General Dickinson.

Because of the insolvency of Greenleaf, Miss

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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Allen, prior to her marriage, executed a deed conveying all her real estate to William Tilgh- man and John Lawrence, in trust. After their death, the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, passed an act in 1828, appointing Walter C. Livingston trustee.

During the last years, Mr. and Mrs. Green- leaf lived apart, Mr. Greenleaf residing in Washington, D. C., and Mrs. Greenleaf in her home at Fifth and Hamilton streets, in this city.

The beautiful grove of trees at the rear of her residence was a favorite spot for public meetings seventy-five years ago. Mrs. Green- leaf entertained lavishly until blindness pre- vented her active participation in society.

Mr. Greenleaf died in Washington, Septem- ber 17, 1843, and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery.

Mrs. Greenleaf died at Allentown in 1851. The Allentown Friedensbote of September 25, 1851, has the following notice: "Died, on last Sunday (September 21, 1851), in this town, of old age, Ann P. Greenleaf, in her 83d year."

She is buried in North Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia. James and Anne Penn Green- leaf had two daughters; the eldest, Mary Liv- ingston Greenleaf, was born January 31, 1802. She was married at Allentown, July 12, 1824, by Rev. Rodney, to her cousin, Walter C. Liv- ingston, of New York. The second daughter, Margaret Tilghman Greenleaf, was born in 1803, and married Charles Augustus Dale, of London, England, in July, 1832. Shortly after this Dale committed suicide by shooting himself, on account of the disgrace of his imprisonment in the old jail here in Allentown, in which he had been confined by reason of a family dis- agreement. They had one son, Allen Dale, a civil engineer in the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad, who was drowned in the Raritan canal near Princeton, in September, 1895. Mrs. Dale died shortly after, in her ninety-third year.

Margaret Elizabeth Allen, second daughter of James Allen, was born April 21, 1772. She was married in Philadelphia, July 1, 1704, to William Tilghman, for twenty years Chief Jus- tice of Pennsylvania, a son of James Tilghman. She died in Philadelphia, September 9, 1798, but her remains were brought here for interment under St. Paul's Lutheran church. Upon the erection of the present church, the remains were placed in the tower where a tablet marks the spot with this inscription: "A memorial of Margaret Elizabeth Tilghman, wife of Willian Tilghman, of the City of Philadelphia. En- dowed with warm affection and an excellent un- derstanding, she enjoyed the flattering prospect

of an useful and Happy Life, but it pleased Al- mighty God, whose Providence, tho' unsearch- able, is all-wise, that she should be cut off, in the flower of youth, from this transitory world. She died, surrounded by mourning friends, the 9th day of September, in the year of our Lord, 1798, and of her age the 27th.

She had one child, Elizabeth Margaret Tilgh- man, born in Philadelphia, April 19, 1796. She married Benjamin Chew, son of Benjamin Chew. and his wife, Katherine Manning. She died in Philadelphia, June 16, 1817, and left one son, William Tilghman Chew, who died without is- sue.

Mary Masters Allen, the third daughter of James Allen, was born January 4, 1776. She was married in Christ church, Philadelphia, No- vember 27, 1796, to Henry Walter Livingston, of Livingston Manor, N. Y. She was so famous for her graceful and profuse hospitality that she was long known in New York society as "Lady Mary." She died at Livingston Manor, December II, 1855. Her husband, Henry W. Livingston, son of Walter Livingston and his wife Cornelia, daughter of Peter Schuyler, was born in 1768; graduated from Yale University ; studied law and was secretary to Gouveneur Morris when Minister to France. He was a member of Congress from 1803 to 1807, and died at Livingston Manor, Columbia county, N. Y., December 22, 1810.

They had seven children; viz:

I. Henry W., of Livingston Manor. Died in Paris, France, February 19, 1848. Married Car- oline Marie de Grasse Depau, daughter of Fran- cis Depau. She died at Stuttgart, February 13, 1871. Their children were:

Henry W., married Angeline Urquhart, and had children, Mary, Henry W., and Bayard.

Silvia, died in 1873; married Johnston Liv- ingston, of New York, and had two children, Carola and Estella.

Walter, of the Brooklyn bar, Surrogate of Kings county, N. Y. Married Silvia Coster, and had one child, Stephanie.

Marie, deceased, married Samuel M. Fox, of Philadelphia, and had a daughter, Stephanie,. who died in 1878. She married H. B. Living- ston, and had one daughter, Mary Angelica.

De Grasse, who married Anna Hyslop.

Robert, died in February, 1877; married Mary S. McRae, and had children, Duncan, Mary, Allen, Jacqueline, and Robert McRae.

Stephanie, died without issue at Santander, Spain, February 10, 1856. She was married to Baron Adolph Finot.

Louis Phillipe de M. Died unmarried in 1881.

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ALLENTOWN FROM 1762 TO 1811.

II. Allen, who died unmarried at Rouen. France.

III. Walter Copake Livingston, the third son of Henry W. Livingston and his wife Mary Masters Allen, was a merchant, and his house at Eleventh and Girard streets, Philadelphia, was in the centre of the fashionable residence neighborhood in the '50s. He was at one time a member of the Senate of Pennsylvania, and was also United States Consul to Marseilles, France. He took his family abroad with him and repeated in France the brilliant entertain- ments with which he had dazzled Philadelphia society. After the family returned to this coun- try came the crash. Mr. Livingston had become heavily interested in some iron furnaces near Media. The venture proved unsuccessful and the attempt to make it pay swallowed up his for- tune. The family property in Allentown was also swept away. Mr. Livingston resided in Allentown part of the time in the old "Trout Hall," then called "The Livingston Mansion." He died January 31, 1872, aged 72 years.

Mr. Livingston married his cousin, Mary Liv- ingston Greenleaf, and had children, as follows:

Anne Greenleaf, who died without issue, March 28, 1846. She married Thomas C. Rockhill, formerly Minister to China.

Tilghman, who died unmarried.

James, who died unmarried.

Walter, who died unmarried.

Henry Walter.

Meta, who died February 28, 1907, aged 75 years, and was unmarried.

Marion, who died unmarried, February I, 1907, aged 68 years.

Florence, who died unmarried.

After Mr. Livingston's death, soon followed by that of his wife, two daughters and a son, but three members of the family remained, Mar- ion, Meta, and a brother, who went to sea, and was never heard from again. The sisters moved to 2227 South Clarion street, where they resided until their death. They were buried in the family vault, originally in Christ church grave- yard, but moved years ago to North Laurel Hill Cemetery. This vault has now been closed for the last time. The stone covering the vault is that of the father of Judge William Allen, and it bears this inscription: "Here Lyeth the Body of William Allen, Late Merchant of this City, who Dyed the 30th of August, 1725, aged 55 years."

ston Thompson, who died in Paris, April, 1882. Henry L., the second son, died unmarried.

V. Elizabeth, who was married to Wm. D. Henderson, of Boston, and died without issue.

VI. Cornelia, of Staten Island, N. Y., who. married Carroll Livingston, and had children, Charles Carroll, and Brockhorst Livingston, a Lieutenant of U. S. N., who died unmarried.

VII. Anne, of Staten Island, who married Anson Livingston, and had three children:

Mary, who married Capt. Harrison, of U. S. A., and died without issue.

Anne Ludlow, unmarried.

Ludlow, died unmarried.

James Allen, son of James Allen, born Janu- ary 24, 1778, died August 31, 1788, in his tenth year. His property then descended to his sisters, who, on May 17, 1798, made partition of the property in the town of Northampton, according to the opinion of Peter Rhoads, Thomas Mow- harter, and George Palmer. Eventually Walter C. Livingston received title to all the property, and from him it passed into alien hands.

In the words of E. F. DeLancey, it may be said both of Philadelphia and of Allentown, that "the name of Allen, for more than a century the synonym for high ability, political power, great wealth and the first social position, is there no longer known."

Trout Hall .- Trout Hall, built by James Allen, in 1770, still stands in Allen Park, at Fourth and Walnut streets. This building, since the destruction of the Greenleaf Mansion, at Fifth and Hamilton streets, is all that remains in our city to remind us of the founders of the town, and it should be restored to its original ap- pearance and preserved as a historic land-mark. It was originally a two-story and a half stone dwelling, about forty-five feet square, with a park on the north side and a beautiful lawn on the south side. A stone wall extended along Walnut street from Fifth to Jordan street. The front rooms, on the first floor of the mansion, which faced Union street, are wainscoted in black walnut and in every room is a rare marble mantel or fireplace. In later years, when the residence of Walter C. Livingston, it was called "The Livingston Mansion."

Later Tax Lists .- The tax list for 1773 gives the following names of residents of Allentown: Leonard Abel, Godlieb Ammore, George Brong, Simon Brenner, John Brotzman, Richard Back- house, Jacob Bachman, Melchior Danner, Mar- tin Derr, Martin Frelich, Nicholas Fox, Henry Gross, Caspar Grisinger, Conrad Hartzel, Lor- enz Hauck, Henry Hagenbuch, Barthol Huber, Peter Linn, John Lamm, Jacob Mohr, Peter

IV. Mary, died in Paris, April 14, 1880. She married James Thompson, and had two chil- dren, James, who married Amelia Parnell, sis- ter of Charles Stuart Parnell, M. P. for Ire- . Frantz Kuper, Philip Kugler, Michael Kraft, land. They had one son, James Henry Living-

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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Miller, John Miller, Dewalt Miller, John Mil- ler, Jacob Moritz, Matthew McHenry, Daniel Nunemacher, Valentine Nicholas, Lewis Nich- olas, Jacob Nunemacher, Peter Rhoads, An- drew Rieb, George Reeser, Mathias Ringel, George Schwab, George Schreiber, Abraham Sa- vitz, George Smith, Frederick Smith, William Tennis, Tobias Titus, James Taylor, Esq., Mathias Wagner, Jacob Yohe. Single men .- William Anderson, Philip Ebert, Nicholas Gobel, George Hoffman, Michael Kreps, John Maurer, Michael Nagel, Philip Ritter, and Augustine Schitz.

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History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. I, Part 77

Author: Roberts, Charles Rhoads; Stoudt, John Baer, 1878- joint comp; Krick, Thomas H., 1868- joint comp; Dietrich, William Joseph, 1875- joint comp; Lehigh County Historical Society Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Allentown, Pa. : Lehigh Valley Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1158

Author: Roberts, Charles Rhoads; Stoudt, John Baer, 1878- joint comp; Krick, Thomas H., 1868- joint comp; Dietrich, William Joseph, 1875- joint comp; Lehigh County Historical Society
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Allentown, Pa. : Lehigh Valley Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1158