History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 190

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

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nal revenue under the administration of President Johnson. He was married, October 11, 1858, to Miss Susannah, daughter of Michael and Mary Snyder. She was born Jan, 12, 1840. They are the parents of the following children,-John D., born April 17, 1861, died June 23, 1864; Charles E., born Sept. 14, 1863; Allison M., born March 29, 1866, died July 28, 1866; W. Norman, born Sept. 28, 1867; Mary, born May 17, 1870; Arthur S., born Jan. 4, 1877.

The father of Mrs. Morris was a son of Jacob and Elizabeth Snyder, who were born in Bucks County, Pa. The mother of Mrs. Morris, Mary Snyder, was a daughter of Isaac and Susanna Rosenberger, of Hat- field township, Montgomery Co.

ISAAC R. ROSENBERGER.

Isaac, the grandfather of Isaac R., was a well- to-do and highly respected farmer, living in Mont- gomery County, Pa., near the village of Line Lex- ington, on the farm now owned by Milton Jenkins. Mr. Rosenberger was of German descent, his parents, Isaac and Christiana, emigrating to this country about the middle of the last century, and located where Isaac lived nearly or quite all his lifetime. He died leaving children as follows : Martin, now living at or near Broad Street, Bucks Co., Pa .; Isaac D., now living at North Wales, this county ; Joseph, father of Isaac R., the subject of this sketch ; William, who died in Philadelphia; John; Eliza- beth, married, first, a Mr. Eckert, and for her second husband, she married Michael Snyder, also deceased ; she is still living, and resides in Bucks County ; Sarah, deceased, left her husband, Jacob Ruth; Mary, married - Snyder, and became the mother of Mrs. Oliver G. Morris.

Joseph Rosenberger, father of Isaac R. Rosenberger, was born September 15, 1811, and died March 30, 1877, at the age of sixty-five years, six months and fifteen days. Ile married Mary, daughter of Henry Ruth, of Bucks County. She was born February 4, 1815, and died July 1, 1881, aged sixty-six years, five months , and seven days. They were the parents of children as follows: Susannah, married Reuben Alderfer, of Hilltown, Bueks Co., Pa; Emeline, de- ceased, married, first, Abram Hursberger, and for her second husband, William Sonder ; Anna Mary, married Mahlon Myers, who resides at Perkasie, Bueks Co., Pa .; Isaac R., born July 15, 1846; Joel, married Sally, daughter of the late Dr. Joseph Moyer, deceased; Lizzie, married Edwin Jones, and now resides at Doylestown; Charles R., married Amanda Fluck, of Hilltown, Bucks Co., and is now a partner with his brother, Isaac R., in the coal, flour, feed and hay business, at Colmar and at Doylestown, Pa.

Joseph Rosenberger, the father of these children, was a farmer, merchant and lumber dealer at Mount Pleasant, Bucks Co., Pa., where he loeated after mar- riage and where he died. He was one of those well

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and favorably known popular men who always looked upon the bright side of life, beloved and respected by all who knew him, and especially by the poor and needy, who well remember his acts of kindness, many of whom he had, from time to time, in his employ. He was prominently identified with township and county affairs, yet in no sense of the word a poli- tician. He was for many years prior to his death one of the directors of the Doylestown Bank. His demise left a void iu the community still unfilled.

Isaac R. Rosenberger spent his early life upon the farm of his father during the summer months, and at

business, having all the facilities of a large and com- modious warehouse, with all the necessary railroad facilities. In the early part of 1885 the Rosenberger Brothers extended their business by building a large warehouse, with railroad accommodations, at Doyles- town, where they are also engaged in the same kind of trade as at Colmar Station.

Isaac R. was married December 4, 1866, to Miss Har- riet, daughter of William and Sarah Bruner, of Chal- font, Bucks Co. His wife was born February 16, 1848. They are the parents of children,-Mary Alice, born April 12, 1868, died September 29, 1881 ; Ilarrington,

the district school in the winter season, until he was ' born October 27, 1869; Flora Estella, born June 4, fifteen years of age. From that time until he arrived 1861, died June 20, 1876; Ella Blanche, born March 4, 1873; Charles Grant, born December 4, 1874; William, born September 20, 1878. at the age of twenty-one years he performed such work as was necessary for him to do upon his father's farm, in the store and in the lumber-yard. After William Bruner, father of Mrs. Rosenberger, was a son of Henry Bruner, who for many years lived in Bneks County, near the county line, and was well and favorably known as one of the substantial, honest old farmers of Bucks County. Her maternal grandparents were of the well-known and highly respected Clymer families of Bucks and Berks Counties. that he worked a farm on his own account for six years, and in 1872 he located at Colmar Station, on the North Pennsylvania Railroad, and engaged in the whole- sale and retail flour, feed, coal, hay and phosphate business. Here he conducted the business alone until 1881, when he admitted his brother, Charles R., as a partner. They are doing a large and prosperous

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

CHAPTER LVIII.

HORSHAM.1

HORSHAM is one of the eastern tier of townships, and is bounded on the northeast by Bucks County, northwest by Montgomery, south by Upper Dublin, southeast by Moreland and west by Gwynedd. It is of regular form, five and a half miles in length and three in width, with an area of nine thousand nine hundred and sixty six acres. Its surface is moderately rolling, and the soil in the central and lower sections is a fertile loam, but as it approaches the Montgomery line becomes more of a red shale. It is watered by several branches of the Neshaminy, one of which pro- pels within its limits two grist-mills and a saw-mill. The Pennypack has its source in this township, about two miles west of Horshamville, and propels a grist and saw-mill.

The chief public improvements of Horsham are the Doylestown and Willow Grove turnpike, which passes through its eastern angle nearly three miles; the Whitehall turnpike, four miles; and the Bethlehem turnpike, for a few perches across its extreme western corner. The population in 1800 was 781; in 1840, 1182; and in 1880, 1315, showing a decrease of sixty- seven inhabitants since the census of 1870. The real estate for taxable purposes in 1882 was valued at $1,348,390, and including the personal, $1,447,020. The number of taxables is 482, possessing an average of $3380, and thus in point of wealth ranks the sixth in the county, being surpassed by Springfield, Abing- ton, Cheltenham, Moreland and Whitpain. It con- tains three public schools, open ten months, with an average attendance of one hundred and five scholars for the school year ending June 1, 1882; in 1856 the average was one hundred and three. For 1883 we find one hotel, three general stores and two dealers in flour and feed licensed. Friends' Meeting-house is the only place of worship. There is a hall for lectures and literary purposes at Horshamville and another at Prospectville. The villages are Horshamville, Pros- pectville and Davis Grove, each possessing .a post- office.

According to Holme's map of original surveys, the first purchasers of land in Horsham were the follow- ing, beginning at the Moreland line: Samuel Carpen- ter, Mary Blunston, Richard Ingels, Thomas Potter, Sarah Fuller and John Barnes. These tracts embraced half the township and extended from the Bucks County line to the Horsham road. The next, following in the same order, whose tracts extended from the southwest side of said road to the Upper Dublin and Gwynedd line, were George Palmer, Joseph Fisher and John Mason. There is no doubt that the whole of the

aforesaid tracts were located here before 1710. As respects dates the map is calculated to deceive, for though it may have been commenced near the' close of 1681, yet there is positive evidence from the sale of the tracts that it was filled up even after 1730. The following are given as land-holders and taxables here . in 1734: Lady Ann Keith, 800 acres; Thomas John- son, 200; James Coddy, 100; Richard Shoemaker, 100; Ellis Davis, 200; William Dunbar, 100; John Cadwallader, 150; John Cadwallader, Jr., 150; Richard Thomas, 100; Alexander McQuee, 150; Thomas Palmer, 300; Widow Iredell, 200; Peter Lukens, 75; Evan Lloyd, 250; John Barnes, 229; John Garret, 200; and Widow Parry.

Sammel Carpenter's purchase of five thousand and eighty-eight acres was made from Penn's commis- sioners of property May 26, 1706, and although a portion extended into Bucks County, yet it may have comprised over one-third of the area of the present township. It had a front on the Horsham road of four miles, or almost to Prospectville. Horshamville, Davis Grove and Græme Park are located on it. The executors of Samuel Carpenter, a distinguished mer- chant of Philadelphia, sold twelve hundred acres of the same, February 3, 1718, to Andrew Hamilton for five hundred pounds. The latter, March 5, 1718, conveyed the same to William Keith, Lieutenant- Governor of Pennsylvania, and this became the origi- nal Græme Park tract. George Palmer's purchase of three hundred acres, through his early death, came in possession of his son, Thomas Palmer, and lay in the corner of the township adjoining Moreland and Upper Dublin and extended up to the present Hors- hamville. Ile arrived from England in September, 1682, and, according to tradition, soon thereafter set- tled on his tract, and it is supposed that he was the first European who made his residence in the town- ship. He here dug a saw-pit, and with a whip-saw ent the lumber with which to build a two-story house, which stood for nearly a century. His de- scendants state that on his first arrival here he caught shad and herring in the Pennypack Creek, near the present turnpike bridge. In the list of 1776 for Hors- ham we find the names of John Palmer, two hundred and eighty acres, and Thomas Palmer. Several de- scendants of the family have here been conveyancers and justices of the peace. .

Thomas Iredell came from Horsham, in Sussex, and settled in the present township perhaps as early as 1709, where he purchased two hundred acres, on which he built a house about half a mile north of the meeting-house, and beside the present turnpike. Ac- cording to the records of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting he was married in that city, in 1705, to Sarah Williams. In 1717 he was one of the overseers of the meeting, and in 1722 one of the jurors in laying out the Governor's road, which passed by his house. He died before 1734, when the property came in pos- session of his widow. There was preserved an iron

1 By Wm. J. Buck.

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HORSHAM TOWNSHIP.

door-knocker, from the door of his house, that had drilled on it "T. I. 1720," probably the date of its erection. Tradition states that the township received its name through him, being applied from the place of his nativity. We find that it is both the name of a borough and parish, and where William Penn preached in 1672. The earliest mention yet found of Horsham here is in the meeting records of 30th of Fifth Month, 1717, and it is probable that about this time or a little sooner it was formed into a township, though its population must have been quite sparse, judging by the list of 1734. Robert Iredell, son of Thomas, was born here in 1720, and in the list of 1776 owned here one hundred and fifty-five acres, four horses and four cattle, and had a son, Robert. We find near this date also Charles, Thomas and Abraham Iredell, surveyor, who were probably brothers and sons of the aforesaid Robert Iredell, Sr. Robert Iredell, so long proprietor of the Norristown Herald and at present postmaster there, is a descendant, born here October 15, 1809.

The Kenderdine family was also an early one in Horsham. Thomas Kenderdine came from Wales, and we know, if not a resident, owned land here be- fore 1718. His son, Richard Kenderdine, settled in Chester in 1703, and died in Horsham in April, 1733, aged fifty years, which will account for the name not being on the list of 1734. He is stated to have been a diligent attender of the meetings here from the beginning. In the list of 1776 we find here Joseph Kenderdine, three hundred and ninety acres and a grist-mill ; Thomas Kenderdine, one hundred and fifty acres ; Benjamin Kenderdine, one hundred and fifty acres; and Joseph Kenderdine. John E. Kenderdine, the noted improver of the Cuttelossa Valley, Bucks Co., was born near Prospectville in 1799, and was the son of Joseph and Aun Kenderdine. After following millwrighting here for several years, he purchased the old mill property, near Lumberton, in 1833, to which he removed, and continued to reside there until his death, in January 1868. He was de- feated by only two votes as a candidate for the State Senate in 1843.

The Lukens family of this township, as in Towa- menein, has been a noted one. Peter, one of the sons of Jan Luken, the German immigrant, was born at Germantown in 1696, and how soon he settled in Horsham is not exactly known, but it was before 1734, when he is mentioned as residing on a tract here of seventy-five acres. The following year the Hors- ham road is mentioned as having been laid out from his house up into the centre of Montgomery township. He had a son, Abraham, who is represented as "a gentleman of a philosophie turn of mind," who left here a numerous posterity. In the list of Horsham for 1776 we find rated William Lukens for 293 acres, a saw-mill, and nine chiklren in family; Joseph Lukens, 178 acres; John Lukens, 150 acres; Abraham Lukens, 120 acres; and as single men, Jonathan,

David, Peter and Seneca Lukens. Few families have done more to encourage literature and promote a love for knowledge among the people during the colonial period of Pennsylvania. Peter and John Lukens were among the founders of the Union Library, at Hatboro', in 1755, and furnished to the same no less then eight members prior to 1776. Jonathan, Levi and Samuel L. Lukens were the active promoters and incorporators of Horsham Library in 1808. The saw- mill of William Lukens was erected in 1740, was rebuilt in 1844, and is now owned by James Iredell. John Lukens was a collector of taxes in Horsham in 1742.

John Lukens, the mathematician and philosopher, was the son of Peter, and when a young man served his time with Nicholas Scull as a chain-carrier and practical surveyor. In 1774 he sold his farm a short distance southwest of Horshamville, to William Lukens, at the gate of which, by the road-side, he planted two white-pine trees when a young man, which grew upwards of three feet in diameter and to an extraordinary height. One blew down in a storm about 1850, and the other survived thirty years later. They are yet well remembered by the writer, who could not pass that way without gazing in ad- miration at their tall and noble trunks, associated as they were with the memories of over a century. We learn from the records that John Lukens was one of the active founders of the Hatboro' Library, July 19, 1755, and November 6, 1756, was elected one of its directors and continued for several years ; was author- ized by them in 1757 to purchase books to the extent of ten pounds. He was appointed by the American Philosophical Society to assist David Rittenhouse to observe the transit of Venus, in June, 1769, and of Mercury, in November, 1776. On the death of Nicholas Seull, the surveyor-general, he was commissioned, December 8, 1761, to fill the place, and continued in the position until his death, in the fall of 1789,-the long period of almost twenty-eight years, from the colonial period to the establishment of the State government. He was appointed one of the four com- missioners to run the boundary line between Penn- sylvania and Virginia in 1784-85. Barton, in his "Life of Rittenhouse," calls him "the ingenious astronomical observer, Mr. Lukens." His farm is now owned by Charles Dager, Jr.

Seneca Lukens, who was the grandson of Peter, was a prominent man in the township, and an ingenious clockmaker by profession, who was taxed in 1805 for two hundred and thirty-one acres. It was at his house that the celebrated Mrs. Ferguson made her last home, from near the close of the last century until her death, in February, 1801. Ilis farm was located about half a mile above Horshamville, on the west side of the turnpike, and is now the estate of Chalkley Kenderdine. His will is dated February 8, 1829, and he died in the following fall, appointing his wife, Sarah, and his son Joseph executors. His surviv-

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

ing children were Isaiah, Moses, Joseph, Rachel, Tabi- tha and Martha. Isaiah died in 1846, aged sixty-seven years; Moses, 1852, aged seventy-one; Joseph, 1875, aged ninety; Tabitha (widow of John Kirk), 1882, ninety-two, and Martha B. (widow of Samnel Shoe- maker), the last of the family, December 2, 1883, in her ninety-second year. All except the first were well-known to the writer, and in talents decidedly above mediocrity, possessing force of character and excellent business qualifications.

Isaiah Lukens, the son of Seneca, was born August 24, 1779, in Horsham, where he received but a common English education, but by subsequent dili- gent study he acquired a profound knowledge of the sciences. lIe learned clock-making from his father, and the excellency of the workmanship of his high-standing clocks, spreading far beyond the circle of his neighborhood, formed the basis of his future reputation. He made the clock of Loller Academy, Hatboro', in 1812, and the large clock in the State-House steeple in 1839, for which he received five thousand dollars. In early youth his mechanical skill exhibited itself in constructing wind-mills for pumping water, and air-guns of improved construc- tion, besides other ingenious applicances. While a young man he made a voyage to Europe, spending some time in England, France and Germany, in visit- ing the greatest objects of interest, particularly those involving a high degree of mechanical knowledge. He finally settled in Philadelphia, and became a member of its several literary and scientific institu- tions, and was one of the founders and a vice-president of the Franklin Institute. He died in the city No- vember 12, 1864, in age the youngest of the family.

Alexander McQuee, on the list of 1734 for one hundred and fifty acres, we find is represented in 1776 by Seth McQuee, who had now become the owner of the tract. Richard Shoemaker, with one hundred acres in 1734, was still living in 1776, and is mentioned as " aged ;" John Cadwallader, one hundred and fifty acres, and John Cadwallader, Jr., one hundred and fifty ; in 1776 two of the names are again mentioned, one with one hundred and seventy-five acres and the other sixty, and Benjamin Cadwallader, fifty aeres. John Barnes, two hundred and twenty-nine acres in 1734; in 1776 the name is still here, with one hundred and fifty acres, one negro, four horses and five cattle ; besides, as single men, John and Earl Barnes. John Barnes was one of the jurors in laying out the Gover- nor's road in 1722, and advertised in 1750 his farm of one hundred and forty acres, in Horsham, with buildings, sixty acres cleared and two orchards. He was probably a son or relation of John Barnes, the early settler near Abington Meeting-house, who was a man of note. Of the Jarrett family we do not remem- ber having seen any account whatever. In the Ger- mantown Court records mention is made in 1703 of Jacob Gerrets, which is reason for believing this family to be of German origin. John Garret is thus

called in the list of 1734 as owning two hundred acres. He was one of the founders of the Hat- boro' Library in 1755 and a director from 1761 to 1764. In 1776, William Jarrett was rated in Horsham for one hundred and seventy-six acres; Jonathan Jarrett, one hundred ; and William Jarrett, in 1805, two hun- (red and thirty-seven acres. William Penrose, of Græme Park, married Hannah, daughter of the latter, in 1810. William Dunbar is in the list of 1734 for one hundred acres, and in 1776, Andrew Dunbar ninety acres. We have thought probably that this may be the present Dunn family, who have been land-holders in the township for some time ; yet this name is not so found in early records.

Evan Lloyd came from Wales and purchased, in 1719, two hundred and fifty acres half a mile north- east of the meeting-house. He was a minister among Friends, and we find that he was still living here after 1734. He had a son John, who settled on an adjoining farm, and who, in 1776, was rated for one hundred and fourteen acres, and his brother, Hugh Lloyd, sixty acres. The latter, in 1777, married ('hristianna, daughter of Enoch Morgan. He had three children,-David, Enoch and Miriam. Of Da- vid Lloyd, who was born in 1778, the writer prepared a biographical sketch published in the Bucks County Intelligencer February 3, 1862, and also in the Norris- ristoun Register. Like his father and grandfather, he was brought up a farmer and received in his youth but an ordinary education. Possessing a studious disposition, he became, in the course of time, a man of intellectual ability. Though brought up a Friend, he differed from some of their principles. In the late war with England he joined the rifle company of Captaiu McClean, and drew for his services several bounties in public lands. As respects the Sabbath, he maintained the doctrines of the Seventh-day Baptists. In whatever related to education or the dissemination of knowledge in his neighborhood he took an active part. Our earliest personal knowledge com- menced in 1848, while attending the Hatboro' Lyceum, at Loller Academy, and the Horsham Debating Society. His first literary attempts were probably published in the Norristown Register in 1827. For the Germantown Telegraph he wrote a series of articles, chiefly on agriculture. These were collected in 1832 in a small volume of one hundred and twenty pages, entitled " Economy of Agriculture." In 1845 he had published " The Gentleman's Pocket-Piece: being a Repository of Choice Selections and Golden Precepts taken from the best of Authors," contained within the compass of one hundred and fifty-six pages. He still continued to contribute, during his times of leisure, to the periodical publications of the day, among which may be mentioned the Norristown Her- ald and Free Press. He collected these various effu- sions and had them published, in 1848, in an octavo volume of two hundred and sixteen pages, under the title of "The Modern Miscellany," which contains the

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HORSHAM TOWNSHIP.

greater portion as well as the best of his writings. In his eightieth year his mind became impaired, which no doubt helped to bring on his financial em- barrassments, when his personal property was sold by the sheriff in the beginning of 1860, and in the month of April his real estate. On the following 29th of July l'e died, aged eighty-three years, lacking one day, completely enfeebled in body and mind, the last survivor of his father's family.

Tunis Conderts arrived in October, 1683, with the German Friends who shortly afterwards founded Germantown, where he died in 1729. At his house William Penn preached before the meeting-house was built. His family consisted of his wife, Ellen, and four sons and three daughters. Three of the sons -Conrad, Mathias and John,-were born in Germany, and, with their father, were naturalized in 1709. John Conard, as it is now called, settled in Horsham, but at what time we have not ascertained. In the list of 1776 we find John Conard rated for one hundred and twenty acres; Dennis Conard, ninety acres; and Den- nis Conard, Jr., a single man. The two preceding, no doubt, are the sons of John Conard, who first set- tled here. Descendants still exist in this section, and the family is now numerous in Montgomery County.

Archibaldl McClean was for sixteen years a justice of the peace in Horsham, and in 1772 was elected to the Assembly. He died December 1, 1773, in his seventy-fifth year, having resided in the same place for forty years. He was buried in the graveyard attached to Abington Presbyterian Church. On the list of 1776 we find his estate rated at 220 acres ; William McClean, 220 aeres; Mary McClean, 45 acres ; and Robert Loller, 15 acres. The latter was his son-in-law and also a colonel in the Revolutionary army, of whom a sketch will be given in the account of Hatboro'. Dr. Archibald McClean, a distinguished physician, was a son of the aforesaid, educated at Princeton College, surgeou in the Revolutionary army, and in January, 1783, was appointed surgeon of the First Battalion of Philadelphia County militia. This year he also became a member of the Hatboro' Library. He was a noted wit, a poet and a mau of extensive acquirements, and possessed a very large medical practice. It is said he was six feet six inches in height, a lover of strong drink and a free thinker. For these reasons Mrs. Ferguson wrote a poem, enti- tled his "Epitaph," which she sent him, signed " Anonymous," for which he retaliated, as is noticed elsewhere. In attempting to cross the Wissahickon in a high freshet at the present town of Ambler. on horseback, he was drowned, May 13, 1791, leaving a widow and four children. Ile resided near the centre of the township, adjoining his father's place. His writings and family record were accidentally destroyed by a fire about eighteen years ago. De- scendants of the family still reside in the vicinity.

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History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 190

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