USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume II > Part 22
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Jacob C. Swartley was married to Martha Gross Hunsicker, at Kulps- ville, Pennsylvania, May 12, 1886, daughter of William Z. and Susan Hunsicker. Mr. and Mrs. Swartley are the parents of three children: I. Grace Estelle, born September 26, 1887. 2. Ralph Hunsicker, born May 29, 1893 ; is connected with the State Highway Department in the capacity of engineer at Erie, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Lansdale High School. During the World War he enlisted in Company E, 25th Engi- neers, December 5, 1917, and served with the American Expeditionary Forces from February 27, 1918, until May 23, 1919. He assisted in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, and was awarded a Victory Medal by the United States Government, and was honorably discharged June 2, 1919,
George A Highly
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at Camp Dix, New Jersey. 3. Henry Cassel, born September 29, 1896; is assistant to his father in the real estate business. He also is a graduate of Lansdale High School.
GEORGE NORMAN HIGHLEY, M. D .- One of the best known and most highly esteemed men of Conshohocken is Dr. George Norman Highley, who for more than thirty years has been engaged in general practice in Montgomery county. There are few families in Conshohocken who have not had reason to be grateful for the skill and faithfulness of Dr. Highley, and a very large proportion of the citizens of that place were assisted into the world by him.
(I) Dr. Highley comes of an old Pennsylvania family which traces its ancestry to Hendrick Heilig, who, according to the Pennsylvania Archives, was naturalized April 11, 1749. The naturalization laws of the Colonies at that time required that an applicant for citizenship must have been a "resident of the Colonies for at least seven years, without having been absent from some of them for a longer period than three months, at any one time." He must also "have produced to the Court a certificate of having taken the sacrament of the Lord's Supper in some Protestant or Reformed congregation within two months before said Court." The certificate presented by Hendrick Heilig shows that he took the com- munion on March 26, 1749. From these facts it is evident that Hendrick Heilig must have come to America prior to April 11, 1742. On May 16, 1749, he bought a farm of 160 acres in Upper Hanover township, paying William Parsons, of whom he made the purchase, sixty-four pounds and seven shillings. About a year later, May 1, 1750, he purchased an adjoin- ing farm of 145 acres from Caspar Schlecker, who had purchased it the year before, when Henry bought his first farm, and of the same man, William Parsons. On December 15, 1762, Henry purchased a third farm, in Providence township, and this farm, which has been owned by his descendants, or those who married his descendants, ever since, con- tained according to the deed 16034 acres, for which he paid 635 pounds. It is situated along Egypt road, about a mile east of Shannonville, and later surveys show that it contained about 163 acres. Henry sold his second purchase, the farm in Upper Hanover, to his son, George, for 500 pounds, November 15, 1766, and in the deed of conveyance his residence is given as Providence township. On November 14, 1772, he deeded to his son, George, for 675 pounds, the Upper Hanover farm, and at that time Cheltenham township is mentioned as his residence. On April I, 1773, he sold his Providence farm to his son, John, Cheltenham township being mentioned as his place of residence at that time, and also in his will, probated May 26, 1775. It is evident from these facts that he lived in Upper Hanover from 1749 to 1762, or a short time thereafter, when he moved into Providence township. About the year 1772, he moved to Cheltenham township, where he continued to live until his death, May 14, 1775. He was buried in the graveyard of the Methacton Mennonite Church, Worcester township, and the original stones marking his last
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resting place are still in good condition, the inscription giving the date of death as above stated, and his age seventy-five years. He must, therefore, have been born in 1700. In all the deeds given by Hendrick Heilig (or Henry, the form he used in this country, usually) his wife's first name is given as Susanna. In Barton's "Memoirs of David Ritten- house," the astronomer, published in 1813, it is stated that Susanna Rit- tenhouse, daughter of Nicholas, married Henry Heilig, of Goshenhop- pen. That was the name given to the region in which Henry lived in Upper Hanover, and a half century later, two or three of his grandsons lived along the turnpike road on part of the property which Henry had owned. Others built homes in that locality and a village grew which, naturally enough, came to be called "Heiligville." It was known by that name until 1843, when a meeting of citizens was called at the house of Jacob Hillegas, Sr., to decide upon a permanent name for the growing village. Three names, Pennsburg, Buchanansville, and Heiligville were proposed, but no agreement reached until a second meeting was called, at which time Pennsburg, the name by which it has since been known, was adopted. Hendrick (Henry) Heilig married Susanna Rit- tenhouse, a descendant of William Rittenhouse (Wilhelm Ruttynhuysen, as he wrote it in his native land, Holland), who came to this country in 1688, with his two sons, Nicholas (Claus) and Gerhart, his daughter Elizabeth, who married Hewit Papen, and his grandsons, sons of Nicholas, William, Henry, and Matthias, the last-named being the father of David Rittenhouse, the astronomer. William Rittenhouse, the father, a Mennonite preacher, made himself famous by establishing the first paper mill in America in 1690, two years after his arrival in this country. It was located on a small stream which empties into the Wissahickon creek, about one mile from its mouth. Nicholas Rittenhouse married, in 1689, Wilhelmina Dewees, and they were the parents of five children : William Henry, Matthias, Catherine, who married Jacob Engle; and Susanna, who married Hendrick (Henry) Heilig, and became the parents of four children: George; John, or Johannes, of whom further; Anna Maria, who married Michael Sloanacre; and Susanna, who married Henry Deamy. Of these, George, the eldest of the two sons, living at the time of Henry's death, remained at Goshenhoppen, the Upper Han- over home, and retained the original spelling of the name, as have most of his descendants. John, or Johannes Heilig, the younger of the two, settled on the Providence farm, among English speaking people, where the name became Highley. The people of Goshenhoppen being a German speaking people, George Heilig retained the original form of the name, as have most of his descendants.
(II) John or Johannes Highley (as he spelled the name), son of Hendrick (Henry) and Susanna (Rittenhouse) Heilig, was born in August, 1745, and died November 11, 1821, aged seventy-six years and three months. The place of his birth is unknown, but the naturalization of his father in 1749 is proof that he was born on American soil. He was nearly four years old when his father purchased the farm in Upper
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Hanover township, and was about twenty-eight years of age when his father deeded to him the 160 acres of land in Providence township in 1773, the deed being executed April 1, 1773, and recorded at Norristown, Pennsylvania (Deed Book 10, page 797). The transfer of the property was therefore made thirteen years before the formation of Montgomery county, but the deed was not recorded until eleven years after that event. There are two other deeds on record at the same place (Deed Book 35, pages 10 to 13), which show the disposition of this property, and also the genealogical line, to members of the family recognized by the present generation. These two deeds were given by John Highley and Elizabeth, his wife, one to their son, John, for 101 acres of land, the other to their son, Jacob, for 61 acres. Both deeds were executed on the same day, May 28, 1818, and in the first deed, the one to their son, John, it is stated that the whole tract was acquired from Henry and Susanna Heilig (or Heilich), of Cheltenham, and that he, John Highley, purposes giving a deed of conveyance to his son, Jacob, for the remaining portion, on the same day. This he did, as above stated. The difference between the number of acres given in the deed of Henry and Susanna Heilig, to their son, John Highley, and the sum of the number of acres mentioned in the two deeds given John and Elizabeth Highley, to their two sons, John and Jacob, was probably due to differences in surveys, the identity of the property being clearly established. Two farms were later created out of this tract, the larger of these being later owned by David Funk, who married Elizabeth Highley, daughter of John Highley, the younger, and still in the possession of the Funk family. An interesting story is told of the courtship of John Highley. He had long been attentive to Eliza- beth Taney, who was reared on a farm near the one purchased by John in 1773, but had lacked the courage to ask her to be his wife. Then a rival appeared upon the scene and made earnest effort to win the affection of Elizabeth, and to defeat the backward John. John regularly took produce to the Philadelphia market once or twice a week. One day, while on the way home he overtook Elizabeth, who was also going home, and invited her to ride with him, which she readily consented to do. John began to tease her about his rival and ended by saying, "Lizzie, I thought I was to have you." "Do you mean that, John?" she replied. "I do, indeed," said he. "Then I'm yours," was the answer. Elizabeth Highley died July 20, 1803, aged sixty-one years, and her husband sur- vived her some eighteen years. John Highley's will, executed December 6, 1818, and recorded October 18, 1821 (Will Book 5, page 338), names his son, Jacob, to whom he gave the old family Bible, and Joseph Craw- ford, as executors, bequeathed a house and lot to his daughter, Mary, wife of Robert Patterson, and $266.67 to his daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Rittenhouse, the remainder of his estate being equally divided among his five children. Children of John and Elizabeth (Taney) High- ley were: Henry, of whom further; John, married Mary Zimmerman ; Mary, married Robert Patterson ; Elizabeth, married Joseph Rittenhouse ; and Jacob, Esq., who married Sarah Roberts. The order here given is that in which they are mentioned in the will.
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(III) Henry Highley, eldest son of John and Elizabeth (Taney) Highley, was born in the Lower Providence homestead in 1772. He received his education in the local schools, and in 1792, he then being a young man of twenty years, purchased of Edward Lane a farm of about 100 acres in Schuylkill township, Chester county, in the angle made by the Pickering creek as it flows into the Schuylkill river. It was on the lower side of the Pickering and southeast side of the Schuylkill and was one of the most fertile farms in Eastern Pennsylvania. In 1802 he built a new barn and about two years later, a new dwelling house. The barn was destroyed by fire in 1894, though the walls were still standing in 1898, as was the dwelling house, which is still in good condition. Henry Highley married Hannah Saylor, daughter of Valentine and Hannah (Shanaholtzer) Saylor. Valentine Saylor was brought to this country by his parents, Peter and Catherine Saylor, when but three years of age. He was kept at his mother's breast until after his arrival, that payment for his passage might be avoided. They came on the ship "Johnson" (David Crockett, master), the last from Rotterdam, arriving September 19, 1732. Valentine Saylor married (first) Catherine Shanaholtzer. She died and he married (second) Hannah Shanaholtzer. To the first mar- riage three children were born: Peter, Katherine, who married David Sower, founder of the Norristown "Herald;" and Mary, who married Daniel Sower (a brother of David), and they were the ancestors of the Sowers of Norristown and Upper Providence. To the second marriage five children were born: Hannah, Barbara, Sarah, Joseph, and one other. Hannah, born in 1765, married Henry Highley. Valentine Say- lor died July 20, 1803, aged seventy-nine years, six months, and is buried at the old Trappe Graveyard. An unmarked grave by his tomb is prob- ably that of his first wife. His second wife is buried at Mennonite Graveyard, near Lawrenceville, Chester county. Henry Highley died July 8, 1846, aged seventy-four years, and his wife, Hannah, died April 8, 1831, aged sixty-six years. Both are buried in Mennonite Graveyard, Phoenixville. They were the parents of six children: Catherine, who married (first) Edward Anderson, (second) Jacob Hart; John, married Elizabeth Placker; Eliza; Mary; George, of whom further; and Willi- mina, born in 1803, died November 5, 1812.
(IV) George Highley, fifth child of Henry and Hannah (Shana- holtzer) Highley, was born December 10, 1800, and died November 18, 1873. He married Ann Francis, daughter of John Francis, and lived on their farm in Lower Providence township, a mile southeast of Shannon- ville. John Francis, father of Ann Francis, was the son of Arnold and Elizabeth Francis. Arnold Francis, who died in 1803, was the son of Thomas Francis, who was born in 1701 and died August 14, 1765. Thomas Francis bought a farm at public auction, April 2, 1771, of the Pennsylvania Land Company, located near the village of Shannonville. This he later sold to his son, Arnold, and the deed for this is the first on record in Montgomery county. John Francis married Elizabeth Penny- packer, daughter of Jacob and Ann (Pawling) Pennypacker. She died
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June 15, 1815, aged forty-three years, and her husband, John Francis, died September 10, 1822, aged fifty-one years. Their daughter, Ann, who married George Highley, died July 11, 1875, aged seventy-eight years; they are all buried in Lower Providence. George and Ann (Francis) Highley were the parents of seven children: Henry, who married Mary Parry; Hannah (twin sister of Henry), who married William E. Corson ; Eliza, born April 23, 1828, died September 8, 1883; Thomas, who married Audora Nichols; Felix Francis, of whom further ; Mary P., born October 26, 1834; and Deborah, born October 7, 1839, died April 16, 1896.
(V) Felix Francis Highley, son of George and Ann (Francis) Highley, was born August 4, 1832, and settled on the farm which Henry Highley, grandfather of Felix F., purchased in 1792, where he lived dur- ing the remainder of his days, and where the father of Felix F., and all his children were born. This old farm in Schuylkill township passed, in ownership, from Henry to his son, George, from George to his son, Felix F., who in 1874 sold it to the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company. In 1875 Felix F. Highley removed to a farm near Jefferson- ville, Montgomery county, and in 1883 to Norristown. Felix Francis Highley married, January 1, 1857, Susan Rogers Corson, daughter of Charles Corson, and they were the parents of six children: Albert Crawford, born March 22, 1858, died March 30, 1870; George Norman, of whom further; Ione B., born November 11, 1860, married Henry L. Everett ; Charles Corson, born February 23, 1862; Sarah Corson, born October 18, 1863, married George M. Holstein; and Nannie Pawling, born May 5, 1873.
(VI) George Norman Highley, son of Felix Francis and Susan Rogers (Corson) Highley, was born August 13, 1859. He received his early education in the public schools of his native district, and then entered the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated March 15, 1881, with the degree Doctor of Medicine. After practicing in Roxborough, Philadelphia, for about eight months, he removed to Con- shohocken, where he has since lived and practiced his profession. For more than forty years he has ministered to the needs of the steadily growing population there and such has been the faithfulness and efficiency of his service that few, if any, are held in higher esteem in the region round about Conshohocken.
Dr. George N. Highley is a member of the State and County Medical societies. One of the monuments to Dr. Highley is the bridge spanning the Schuylkill river and the railroad tracks. He worked hard and unceas- ingly for its erection, being chairman of the bridge committee, covering a period of twelve years. He served as burgess of Conshohocken two terms, is a director in the Tradesmen's National Bank, and president of the Building and Loan Association for many years.
Dr. George Norman Highley married, June 1, 1887, Mary Wood Wilson, daughter of William and Annie H. (Yerkes) Wilson, through both of whom she is descended from old Pennsylvania families. On the
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paternal side, Mrs. Wilson is descended from Jan Lukens, one of the first settlers of Germantown, who died in 1739. William Wilson bought a farm in Schuylkill township, Chester county, near the Highley home- stead, where, in 1870, he died, leaving three daughters: Laura H., who married, in 1884, George W. Wood, of Conshohocken; Mary Wood, who married George N. Highley ; and Caroline L., died at the age of three years. William Wilson was the son of James Wilson and grandson of Hampton Wilson. His mother was Harriet Lukens, great-great-grand- daughter of Jan Lukens. Jan's son, William Lukens (1687-1739), mar- ried Elizabeth Tyson. Their son, William Lukens (died 1803), married Elizabeth Pennington, daughter of Daniel Pennington ; their son, Thomas Lukens (1758-1831), married Jane Parry, daughter of Stephen (a Welsh- man) and Esther (Walmsley) Parry. Mrs. Parry was a granddaughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Walmsley, who came from England in the ship "Welcome" with William Penn. Thomas Lukens' daughter, Har- riet, married James Wilson, and they were the parents of William, father of Mary Wood Wilson, who married Dr. George Norman Highley.
Annie H. Yerkes, who married William Wilson, is a descendant of Harmon Yerkes, a German, who married, in 1711, Elizabeth Watts; their son, John Yerkes (1714-1790), married Alice McVaugh; their son, John Yerkes, born in 1743, married Ann Coffin; their son, Harmon Yerkes (1774-1845), married Elizabeth Weaver, daughter of John and Susanna (Keyser) Weaver, and great-granddaughter of Peter Dirck Keyser, one of the first settlers of Germantown ; Harmon's son, Joseph Yerkes (1806- 1847), married Mary Harry, and their daughter is Annie H. (Yerkes) Wilson.
Mary Harry was the great-great-granddaughter of David Harry, who, in about the year 1699, bought a large tract of ground in Plymouth township, upon a part of which the borough of Conshohocken has since been located, some of the ground still being owned by members of the Harry family. David Harry's wife was Lydia Powell; their son, Reese Harry, born in 1704, married Mary Price, daughter of Reese Price; their son, David Harry (1736-1800), married Alice Meredith, daughter of David Meredith; their son, David Harry (1771-1849), married Ann Davis, daughter of Thomas and Lydia (White) Davis; their daughter was Mary Harry, who married Joseph Yerkes; and they were the par- ents of Annie H. (Yerkes) Wilson.
It will be seen from the above genealogical outline that several of the ancestors of Dr. Highley and of his wife were among the early settlers of Pennsylvania, who came to this country immediately after the time (1681) when Penn acquired his proprietorship. Several of them were of that group of families who founded Germantown, and one of the latter, Peter Dirck Keyser, is an ancestor both of Dr. Highley and of his wife, Mrs. Highley being in the seventh generation and Dr. Highley in the sixth generation from him. In the case of both, the ancestral blood is drawn from England, Wales, France, and Holland, and perhaps other countries, a large share having come from Holland.
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The children of Dr. George N. and Mary Wood (Wilson) Highley are: Albert Wilson, born December 15, 1888, died May 23, 1893; Annie Wilson, born April 4, 1893, died, aged sixteen, while in Glasgow, Scot- land; and Charles Corson, Jr., born June 8, 1895.
BENJAMIN K. TOMLINSON-Among the successful business men of Conshohocken is Benjamin K. Tomlinson, who after three years of successful activity in the moving picture field came to Conshohocken and engaged in the real estate business, in which line he has been suc- cessfully engaged since 1914.
Mr. Tomlinson is a descendant of those hardy pioneers who founded Montgomery and Bucks counties, and to whose labors in the early days is due the development of the Keystone State. His grandfather, John Tomlinson, was a native of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, who after receiving his education in the public schools, engaged in farming and successfully followed that occupation throughout his active life. He was an intelligent, well-read man, who exerted a helpful influence in his community, and was a loyal member of the Society of Friends. Politi- cally he gave his support to the Whig party, but he neither sought nor held political office. He married Miss Tomlinson, who was not a rela- tive, and they became the parents of a large family of children, among whom was Robert.
Robert Tomlinson, son of John Tomlinson, and father of Benjamin K. Tomlinson, was born on the old homestead in Bucks county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1814, and after receiving a practical education in the public schools of his native district, assisted his father on the farm until he had passed his twenty-first birthday. He then removed to Horsham town- ship, Montgomery county, where he continued to successfully engage in farming until the outbreak of the Civil War. When the war began, he traded and sold his property and removed to New York State, where he remained until the close of the war. When peace once more promised a return to normal conditions, he returned to Horsham township and there remained to the time of his death. He was a public-spirited and active citizen, deeply interested in the public welfare of his community, and always ready to contribute his share toward the furtherance of the highest good of his community. Politically he gave his support to the principles and candidates of the Republican party, and throughout the region he was known as one of the able and substantial citizens of that locality. He married Hannah Kenderdine, daughter of Thomas Kender- dine, who conducted a saw mill in Horsham township and was familiarly known as "Saw Mill Thomas," the Kenderdine family being one of the most prominent in Montgomery county. Robert and Hannah (Kender- dine) Tomlinson were the parents of eight children : Edward K., Isadore, Algernon, Selina, Sarah, Rachel, Frank L., and Benjamin K., of whom further. Robert Tomlinson, the father, died in 1879, his wife surviving him until 1893.
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Benjamin K. Tomlinson was born near Prospectville, on the home farm in Horsham township, known as the old Armitage farm, September 9, 1848. He received his early education in the public schools of his native district and then entered Shortledge's Academy, Concordville, Delaware county, Pennsylvania. At this time the Civil War broke out, and, although young Benjamin K. tried to enlist in three different com- panies, he was each time rejected because of his youth, and finally served his country in the next best way by engaging in farming. His first prac- tical experience in this work was gained on the farm of Daniel Foulke, of Gwynedd township, with whom he remained for a short time, going from there to the city of Philadelphia, where, in association with his brother, he engaged in the coal business, then for two years was a farmer, after which he entered the commission business, handling poultry, butter and eggs, then returned to farm life, which he followed for sev- eral years. After a few years spent in Philadelphia, his next removal was to Roxborough, where he returned to his first occupation, that of farming. A few years later, in 1890, he purchased the old Freas farm of thirty-nine acres in Whitemarsh township, and this he continued to cultivate until 1906, when he came to Phoenixville and engaged in the moving picture business. In this venture also he was successful, but at the end of two years, after having profited largely in his last undertaking, he went to Conshohocken and opened a real estate office at No. 400 Ford street. In July, 1917, he removed his offices to No. 121 Ford street, and here he has remained to the present time (1922). His business is a large and important one and is steadily growing. His wide experience in various lines of business activity together with his large executive ability and his capacity for handling details, have made his last venture a most eminently successful one. He is an honored member of the Society of Friends at Plymouth Meeting, and is highly respected as an able business man, a public-spirited citizen, and an upright Christian gentleman.
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