History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 155

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534

USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania > Part 155

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

farming, which was continued until his son, Franklin W., assumed control of the land, when he retired from labor other than that involved in the management of his private business. Though a decided Whig and Republican in politics, he has never accepted office, and has filled no official position other than that of treasurer of the Fox Chase and Huntington Turn- pike Company. He is a birthright member of the Society of Friends, and worships with the Abington Meeting. Mr. and Mrs. Hallowell celebrated in 1884 the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage, when a most interesting reunion of relatives and friends oc- curred at their hospitable home.

Jos. 9. Hallowell

completion of his studies, entered the flouring-mill owned by his father, and became proficient in all branches of milling, which engaged his attention for several years in connection with farming. In 1834 he married Rachel, daughter of Anthony Williams, of Cheltenham, whose children are Williams, who mar- ried Sallie, daughter of Edwin Tyson, and died leav- ing one child, also deceased ; Elizabeth ; and Franklin W., who cultivates the farm, and is married to Sallie, daughter of William and Caroline Fenton, of Abing- ton. The children of the latter are Carrie F. and Helen R. Mr. Hallowell, after conducting the mill for a period of years, devoted his time exclusively to

JOSEPH W. HALLOWELL.

John Hallowell, the grandfather of Joseph W., was descended from English stock. He resided iu Abington township, where he owned and operated a grist-mill, located upon the Pennypack stream, prior to the war of the Revolution. His death oc- curred in 1793, of yellow fever, contracted while prosecuting his business in Philadelphia. He mar- ried Martha Roberts, of Quakertown, Bucks Co., Pa., and had three sons-Isaac, Israel and Jolin R.,- and one daughter, Ann, who married Joseph Williams, of Plymouth township. John R. Hallowell was born at the homestead in Abington township, and spent the

ABINGTON TOWNSHIP.

693

earlier years of his life in the mid owned by his father, after which he became the owner, by purchase, of the farm now the residence of his son, the subject of this sketch. He married Ann, daughter of Wil- liam Jarrett, of Horsham township, . for tgomery Co., and had children,-William J., Lydia (Mrs. Morris Paul), Martha (Mrs. Edwin Satterthwait). Joseph W. and Penrose. Joseph W., of this number, who was born February 18, 1823, on the homestead, re- ceived his education at the schools immediately near his home and later at Alexandria, D. C. On his re- turn he at once became familiar with the labor of the farm and assisted his father until his marriage, in 1851,

tional Bank, as also of the York Road Turnpike Com- pany and member of the Huntington Valley Building and Loan Association. Mr. Hallowell is descended from Quaker stock, and is by birthright a Friend, his association being with the Abington Friends' Meeting.

WILLIAM T. MORISON.

John Morison, the father of Willian T. Morison, was born in Keith, Scotland, in 1760, came as supercargo from a Scottish port to America, and settled in Petersburg, Va. In 1801 he removed to Philadelphia, and soon after purchased the property

win y moreson

to Hannah S., daughter of John Lloyd, of Moreland township. The children of this marriage are Edwin S., Emma, Fannie and Anna. Mr. Hallowell, on his marriage, rented the farm, and on the death of his father, in 1856, became, by inheritance and purchase, possessor of the property. He has since that date been devoted to the pursuits of an agriculturist, though the cultivation of the land has recently been given up to his son. Mr. Hallowell votes the Repub- lican ticket and adheres to the principles of that party, but has never been actively engaged in the work of gist, formerly of New Orleans and now of Philadel- the party and has filled no office other than that of school director. He was one of the incorporators and is at present director of the Jenkintown Na-

on which his son now resides. He was, in 1790, united in marriage to Ann Coke, a native of Virginia, and had children,-Jolin P., a physician, who died in 1849 ; Jane (Mrs. Robert Montgomery), who died in 1875; Mary Ann (wife of Rev. Nathan Harned, a native of Rockingham County, Va., and a clergyman of the Presbyterian Church), whose death occurred in New York, October 9, 1854; Robert (deceased), a druggist in Philadelphia; William T .; Agnes, de- ceased ; George N., a merchant and wholesale drug- phia ; Robert, deceased ; James, cashier of Adans Express Company ; and Charles S., deceased. Mr. Morison continued farming employments until his

694

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

death, which occurred at his home on the 28th of December, 1838. His son, William T., was born at the homestead October 7, 1809, and has made it his lifetime residence. After a preliminary course of study at the public school near his home, he became a pupil of a classical school under the direction of Dr. Robert Steel, of Abington township. Immediately on the completion of his studies he returned to the farm, and soon became interested in its routine of labor and responsibility. On the death of his father a portion of the property became his by inheritance and the remainder by purchase, since which date he has been actively employed as a farmer. Mr. Morison is in polities a Democrat, as a representative of which party he was elected justice of the peace and served for several years. He was, in 1849, elected to the State Legislature and re-elected in 1850, serving on varions important committees. In 1851 he was made a member of the board of canal commissioners, and on the completion of his three years of public service retired from the field of politics. He has since that date been devoted to the more tranquil and congenial employments attending the life of an agrienlturist. Mr. Morison is a Presbyterian in his religious faith, and a pew-holder in the church of that denomination in Abington village.

DAVID NEWPORT.

David Newport, son of Jesse W. and Elizabeth New- port, was born Dec. 18, 1822, in the city of Philadel- phia, Pa. He is a descendant in the sixth generation from Thos. Newport, of London, England, who settled in New Jersey about 1698. It is stated of him (Thomas) that the people of his neighborhood were in the habit of meeting at his house on the Sabbath day for the purpose of social worship, and that he having a remarkably fine voice, was in the habit of singing with them. On one occasion he felt it his dnty to speak to those assembled, and thus became their minister. Afterwards, on becoming acquainted with the Society of Friends, he connected himself with that people.

Thomas Newport married Elizabeth Lockwood, and had two children,-Jesse and Mary. The New- port family at an early date removed and lived near Duck Creek, Del. Mary Newport went to Philadel- phia and engaged in profitable business in that city, but never married. The fund now in possession of the Philadelphia Meeting was left to that meeting by her.

Jesse Newport was the father of ten children, most of whom lived to old age. Their names were Thomas, Aaron, David, Jesse, Benjamin, Richard, Elizabeth, Lydia, Mary and Sarah. Jesse's son Da- vid often spoke of the difficulties to which they were subjected during the Revolutionary war, and that his father purchased, outside of the productions of the farm, nothing but iron and salt he being opposed to war.

In 1786, Jesse Newport purchased the Overington farm in Oxford township, and, with his family, became members of the Abington Monthly Meeting. In 1794, Jesse, with seven of his children, removed to Westmoreland County, Pa., and it is related of these seven children that they became the parents of seventy children, or an average of ten each, all ot whom arrived at adult age.

Elizabeth Newport, the mother of David Newport, was the daughter of James and Margaret Ellison, of Burlington, N. J. James Ellison was a descendant from John Ellison, who settled on the coast of East Jersey, at Tom's River, Monmouth Co., near the close of the seventeenth century. His son, John Ellison, second, married a granddaughter of Gryffyth ap Gryf- fyth, and in accordance with the annals of that family he was a lineal descendant of Lewellyn ap Gryffyth, who was the last Welsh Prince of Wales.

On the maternal side of the Newport family, Da- vid, the subject of this sketch, is the eighth in de- scent from John Rodman, an Englishman, who settled on Barbadoes Island about 1650, and whose sons, Thomas and John, afterwards emigrated to New England. All the different ancestral branches of the family were members of the Society of Friends, and six of them were ministers of that denomination. The great-great-grandfather of David Newport, Thomas Wood, was, however, disowned by the society for taking part in the Revolutionary war.

David, besides learning the practical duties of a farmer, while yet in his teens attended a Philadelphia School, and later was sent to the Friends' school, at Alexandria, Va. When at the age of twenty-one years he was fully initiated into the duties and re- sponsibilities of a farmer, near the beautiful farm upon which he now resides, near Willow Grove, Montgom- ery Co. Early in life, hetook a deep interest in the moral and political subjects of the day, and was es- pecially interested in the slavery question that was being forced upon the country about the time of his majority. Being born a Friend, he naturally inherited all the peculiar hatred of oppression possessed by one of that religious faith, and enthusiastically esponsed the cause of freedom with fervor and zeal, and lifted up his voice and wielded his pen against "the sum of all villainies," as slavery was termed by liberty-loving old John Wesley. In the Presidential contest of 1848, Mr. Newport was one of the seven fearless advocates of freedom in Moreland township, who dared to stand up and vote for the Free-soil candidate, Martin Van Buren. Previous to the election of Abraham Lincoln, there was none more so, and few as active citizens concerning public affairs as Mr. Newport. With his natural taste for agricultural pursuits, he also acquired a taste for the literary field, and often contributed in- teresting articles for both the Herald and Free Press and the Republican, both published in Norristown.

Accordingly, after the war began, and the new system of internal revenue was framed by Congress,

David Newhart

695

ABINGTON TOWNSHIP.

President Lincoln appointed him collector for the Congressional district composed of the counties of Montgomery and Lehigh, with his office in the court- house at Norristown. He chose Samuel Homer and Howard M. Jenkins as his deputies, and during the four years from 1862 to 1866, about $2,500,000 of di- rect tax was received and paid over by him. He held the position till the tragic death of Mr. Lincoln placed Andrew Johnson in the Presidential chair.

" Mr. Newport's courtesy, fidelity ind uprightness," says Mr. Auge in his history, "were conspicuous while he held the place, and no man ever retired from a fiduci- ary trust with a cleaner reputation. Some time after his retirement from office he was busy with his pen, being an almost constant contributor to political, re- ligious and scientific publications of the country. He also frequently courted the muse, and the following lines were written on hearing of the re-election of President Lincoln in 1864:

" From where the placid Delaware winds onward in its course, To where Niagara's waters flow with their resistless force ; From where New England's stalwart sons amidst the woods of Maine, The axe rings forth the anthem-ring forth the glad refrain.

" The miner in the land of Penn, the boatman at the var, The farmer in the teeming West among his garnered store, The sailor on the ocean amidst the surging sea, All, all have caught the glad acclaim-' Lincoln and Liberty !'

"And o'er Pacific's gentle wave far toward the setting sun, From where the sands with gold are mixed, and silvery waters run ; From where Nevada rears his head and winter's chaplet crowns, Where nature both in mount and tree in giant growth abounds.

" There in that land where Broderick lived, there where he fought and fell,

In freedom's ranks his friends have ranged, and freedom's cohorts swell. The tide from out the Golden Gate is ebbing towards the sea ; Amidst the shrouds the sailor sings -- ' Lincoln and Liberty." "

Mr. Newport is also the author of a small volume of poems, containing many gems of poetic thought, that have become very popular where known. He is also the author of another small volume entitled, " Indices, Rational and Historical," written about 1869.

Having been born a member of the Society ot Friends, and as the weight of years bore down upon him, he became more and more impressed with the things pertaining to religion than in his younger days, and in 1871 he felt a call to the ministry, and thus became a minister of the Society of Friends, which position he continues to fill to the satisfaction of his friends.

Ilis utterances at meetings are those of plainness and earnestness, and he feels it his duty as a Christian to call men to the Spirit of Truth in themselves, in- stead of directing them to mere declarations of truth as authority. Divine Truth he believes is to be real- ized by the inspiration of the Spirit as "the Gift of God" to His children, who are "heirs of God and joint-heirs with ('hrist." He is a member of Abing- ton Monthly Meeting, where, as well as by all who know him, he is held in the highest esteem for his

many good qualities as a Christian gentleman and a kind neighbor.

Since about 1841-42 he has been engaged in farm- ing as his principal business, until within the last few years he has added the cares and responsibilities in- cumbent upon him as a member of the firm of Wil- liam C. Newport & Co., manufacturers of phosphates, at Willow Grove, Montgomery Co., l'a.

David Newport was married, April 8, 1847, to Susan Satterthwaite. They have two children,-William C. Newport, now a manufacturer of phosphates at Willow Grove, and Emma N. Tyson, the wife of Canby S. Tyson.

Susan S., wife of David Newport, is the fourth in descent from William Satterthwaite, of Hawkshead, England, who emigrated to this country and settled in Bucks County, Pa., in 1733. He married Miss Pleasant Meade, who was a relative of the family of the late Major-General George G. Meade.

William Satterthwaite was the grandson of Clem- ent Satterthwaite, who was born at Hawkshead in 1600.

On the maternal side, Susan S. Newport is a de- scendant of James Claypoole, who came to Pennsyl- vania in 1683. He was a particular friend of William Penn, and purchased from him five thousand acres of land in the new province. James Claypoole's brother, John, married Oliver Cromwell's daughter Eliza- beth. JJames and John Claypoole's father, John, was an intimate friend of the Protector, and was knighted by him 16th of July, 1657. He was the grandson of James Claypoole, who was knighted, as Mark Noble, in his history, says, by James I., June, 1604. He also says that his father's name was James, and that he was buried at Narborough October 16, 1599.

The family have also a letter of Benjamin Clay- poole to his nephew, George Claypoole, dated Lon- don, 22d March, 1706-7, giving the family history much as above.

Susan S. Newport's grandmother, Elizabeth Clay- poole, was a woman of much mark in her day. She had the honor of making the first American flag; as for details see Harper's Magazine, June, 1873.

JACOB P. TYSON.

John Tyson, the father of Jacob P., was born August 27, 1772, and married Sarah Paxson, whose birth occurred November 30, 1782. Their children were Mary Ann, born in 1811; Joseph C., in 1813; Jacob P .: Elwood, in 1817; Agnes and Sarah, in 1818; Rebecca, in 1820; Ruth Anna, in 1822; and John S., in 1824; all the sons being now deceased. John Tyson resided in Abington township, where he was a successful lime-burner and also cultivated a farm. His death occurred August 9, 1848, and that

696

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

of his wife September 30, 1854. Their son, Jacob P., was born July 8, 1814, on the homestead farm in Abington township, as were all the children, the property having been for generations owned by the family. He attended the neighboring school and later, became a pupil of Joseph Foulke's celebrated boarding-school in Gwynedd township, after which, for a brief period, he engaged in teaching. His time was, however, chiefly employed on the farm until his marriage, to Mary B., daughter of William Michener, of the same county, when he removed to a tract of land, belonging to his father, in the same township. Mr. Tyson eventually inherited this farm, but was

judgment in all matters of business. He was iden- tified with most public enterprises in the township -notably the Independent Mutual Fire Insurance Company and the Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company as director, and as treasurer of the Willow Grove and Germantown plank-road, of which he was one of the projectors. He was, from its organization, a director of the Jenkintown National Bank, which passed a series of resolutions on the occasion of his death, Decembe . 19, 1876, commemorative of his character and services. Jacob P. Tyson was by birth- right a Friend and worshiped with the Abington Friends' Meeting.

Jacob . Jysom

obliged to relinquish active employment, his health, at no time robust, preeluding the hard labor ineident to the life of a farmer. Having acquired a knowledge of mathematies and surveying, he entered at once upon a pursuit where these attainments could be made available. His ability and serupulous integrity speedily rendered his services much in demand in the

GEORGE HAMEL. John C. Hamel, the father of George Hamel, was a native of Amsterdam, Holland, and when a youth was drafted into the French army under Napoleon. Preferring freedom to this arduous service, he deserted and fled to America, landing in New York, from whence he came to Philadelphia, settlement of estates and the survey of lands in the ! aud entered a packing-house, when, after some years county. He was frequently appointed guardian and executor, these important trusts engaging his atten- tion until the date of his death. Jacob P. Tyson enjoyed the most absolute confidence of the community as a citizen of high moral character and excellent

experience as assistant, he embarked in the business. He remained until 1834 engaged in mercantile pur- suits, at which date a farm was purchased in the suburbs of the city, and later one in Abington town- ship. His death occurred in Philadelphia in 1854, in

ABINGTON TOWNSHIP.

697

his sixty-fifth year. Mr. Hamel married Mrs. Catherine Zink, daughter of Henry Zink, whose children were Margaret (Mrs. Daniel Williams), Henry W., George, Amanda L. (Mrs. Robert Zane), Emeline (who died in youth) and John C. whose death also occurred at an early age. Mrs. John Hamel's death occurred at Jenkintown in her ninety-sixth-year, and that of her sister, Mrs. Hildebrandt, in her ninety-fourth year. George Hamel was born June 6, 1821, in the city of Philadelphia, where his boyhood until his sixteenth year, was spent. He then removed to Montgomery County and resided upon his father's farm, meanwhile

Montgomery Co., and in 1854 made agriculture the business of his life. On his farm is a product known as gannister-stone, chiefly used in lining cupolas and converters in Bessemer Steel-Works. Those quarries are worked by him, and produce the only stone which it is possible to utilize for the purpose above men- tioned, in the country. Mr. Hamel's political con- victions led to his affiliation with the Democratic party, which he represented during the years 1856-57 and 1858 in the State Legislature, serving on the com- mittees on banks and banking, agriculture and others of equal importance. He is largely identified with the

George Hamel

educating himself with what books and papers he interests of Abington, having beeu for thirty years could obtain from different sources. He became in- auditor of the township, and filled the office of school director. He was for many years a director of the Willow Grove and Germantown Plank Road Com- pany, and is actively identified with Tacony Grange, No. 59, of Montgomery County. Mr. Hamel is a member and an elder in the Carmel Presbyterian Church, at Edge Hill, having formerly filled the same office in connection with the Abington Pres- byterian Church, and been superintendent of the Sabbath-schools at Edge Hill, from which grew the present church organization since its commencement, terested in the various branches of labor incident to a farmer's life, and on the 26th of August, 1841, married Miss Hannah, daughter of John and Rachel Tyson. The children of this marriage are John C., Mary C., Margaret, George, Rachel T. (Mrs. Joseph Drucken- miller), Ida Amanda, Harry I. and four who are de- ceased. On his marriage Mr. Flamel removed to his present home, then the property of Mrs. Hamel's grandfather, Benjamin Tyson, and later to another farm located in the same township. He embarked for a brief period in mercantile ventures at Willow Grove, 'in 1872.

698

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

SAMUEL N. KULP.

Mr. Kulp is of German descent, his grandfather, Isaac Kulp, having been a weaver at Milestown, now the Twenty-second Ward of Philadelphia. He married Elizabeth Moore, whose children were Joseph, Philip, Jacob, Mary Ann (Mrs. George Wentz), Hannah (Mrs. Jacob Wentz) and Eliza (Mrs. John Pierson). Philip, of this number, was born at Milestown, and followed the trade of his father until his later purchase of a farm, which he cultivated. He married Ann, daughter of John and

married to Mary Ann, daughter of John and Kitty Ann Blake, of Abington. Their children are Mar- garet B. (Mrs. Samuel R. Livezey), Joseph (who re- sides at home, and is married to Viola S. Tomlinson ), Ida A. (Mrs. John R. Reading), John B., Emma L. and William. Mr. Kulp, three years after his mar- riage, purchased a farm within the limits of the city of Philadelphia (Twenty-third Ward), and for eigh- teen years resided upon it. He then removed to his present home, in the township of Abington, where he has since 1873 been employed in farming of a gen-

Samuel, M, Kulp

Sally Nice, of Milestown, and had children,-Isaac ((leceased), John (deceased), Samuel N., Sarahı N. (Mrs. Reuben Ilarper, deceased), Margaret H. (Mrs. Alfred Buckman), Maria L. (Mrs. John Hawkins), Eliza A. (Mrs. Franklin B. Thompson). Samnel N. was born November 29, 1826, at Milestown, now a part of Philadelphia, and in youth became familiar with farm labor. At the age of seventeen, after a period of attendance at the neighboring public school, he learned the trade of millwright in Abington township, and continued to follow it until twenty-six years of age. He was, on the 16th of December, 1852,

eral character, as also to a limited extent in real estate operations.

His political associations are with the Repub- lican party, though his various business interests have left no leisure for participation in political movements either of a local or general char- acter. lle is a supporter of the Lower Dublin Baptist Church, of which Mrs. Kulp is a member. Mr. Kulp began life with no aids other than were supplied by his own industry and ambition, and is consequently indebted to no other agencies for his success in life.

699

ABINGTON TOWNSHIP.

WILLIAM BLAKE.

John Blake, the grandfather of William Blake, emigrated to America prior to the war of 1812, in which he served as a soldier. He, on the completion of his term of service, made the present Twenty-third Ward of Philadelphia hisresidence, and there followed his trade of carpenter. He married Catherine Stev- ens, of Bucks County, whose death occurred in her eighty-ninth year. Their children were Abram, John,

having purchased the property now owned by his son William. He was identified with the interests of the township, having for twelve years been supervisor of roads. He died July 3, 1860, in his eightieth year. His wife died in her ninety-second year.

William Blake was born in September, 1814, on the farm he now occupies, and spent his youth in labor, varied by attendance at the district school of the neighborhood. He then rented a farm in Cheltenham, Henry and Jacob, all of whom followed the trade of 'from which he removed to Bucks County, but finally their father. Mr. Blake's death occurred on the 6th ; returned to the homestead, a portion of which came

William Blake

of November, 1829, in his eighty-sixth year. Hisson, ; to him by inheritance and the remainder by purchase Henry Blake, was born in 1780 in Philadelphia County, and early removed to Montgomery County, where most of his life was spent. He married Rachel, daughter of Jesse Hawkins, who was an extensive farmer. He was of Welsh extraction and a prominent representative of the Society of Friends. The ehil- dren of this marriage are Mary, Kesiah, William and Elizabeth. Mr. Blake for many years pursued his trade of carpenter, but ultimately became a farmer,

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 155

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534