USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania : from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time > Part 28
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The two contiguous five hundred-acre tracts, surveyed by mistake to Robert Heath in 1700, adjoined the Great spring tract, ex- tending to the Delaware, and embracing the site of New Hope. The surveys are dated 1703 and 1704, and the patent 2d month, 11th, 1710. Heath had agreed to erect a "grist or corn support mill" on the Great spring stream, and it was covenanted in the patent, that if he built the mill according to agreement he should have the exclusive use of the water so long as he kept it in repair.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
The mill was built in 1707, the first in that section of country, and was resorted to for miles. In his will, dated 7th of 8th month, 1711, Heath left his real estate to his five sisters, Susannah, Ann, Elizabeth, Hannah and Mary. From them it passed into several hands. In 1734 John Wells bought one hundred acres of it laying on the river. The fulling-mill on this tract was built before 1712 by Philip Williams. Joseph Wilkinson bought part of the mill tract about 1753. The first saw-mill was erected about 1740. In 1790 Nathaniel and Andrew Ellicott bought one hundred and fifty- five acres of what had been the Heath tract, on which was the Maris mill. Before 1745 Benjamin Canby owned two hundred and thirty-five acres, in two tracts of one hundred and one hundred and thirty-five, on the latter of which he built a forge. There were now on the stream flowing from the Great spring a grist, saw and full- ing-mill, and a forge. The forge was sold by the sheriff in 1750 or 1751, after Canby's death. His widow lived at the ferry until her death, about 1760, when that part of the property was sold to John Coryell. The old grist-mill continued to enjoy the exclusive right to use the water for grinding until about 1828, when William Maris bought it. He took the water from the stream to run his factory during the dry season, which was considered a forfeiture of the right, and other mills were erected lower down. When he dug the foun- dation for his factory, now belonging to the Huffnagle estate, a log, cut off with an ax, was found fifteen feet below the surface.
The Blackfans are descendants of John Blackfan,6 of Stenning, county of Sussex, England, whose son Edward married Rebecca Crispin, of Kinsale, Ireland, second cousin of William Penn, in 1688. At this wedding were William Penn, his wife, son and daughter, whose names are on the marriage certificate, in possession of the Blackfan family of Solebury. Edward Blackfan concluded to come to America, but died before he could embark, about 1690.7 The widow, with her young son, arrived about 1700, and was appointed to take charge of the manor house at Pennsbury, at a salary of ten
6 He must have been a zealous Friend from his rough treatment. In 1659 he was prosecuted for non-payment of tithes, in 1662, sent to jail for refusing to pay toward repairing a " steeple-house" (church), and in 1663 and 1681 he was prosecuted and excommunicated for not attending public worship.
7 From the frequent mention, in Penn's letters, in 1689, of Edward Blackfan being about to fetch official documents to the council, he was probably on the point of sail- ing when death arrested him.
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pounds a year, 8 paid by the council. They lived there many years. In 1721 the son married Eleanor Wood, of Philadelphia, and in 1725 the mother was married to Nehemiah Allen, of that city. About this time Edward Blackfan removed to a five hundred acre tract in Solebury, surveyed to him in 1718, and confirmed in 1733. He had six children, the two eldest being born at Pennsbury. At his death, in 1771, at the age of eighty, his real estate was divided between his sons, Crispin and William, the former marrying Martha Davis, had nine children, and the latter, Esther Dawson,9 had the same number. All these children but two lived to marry and left numerous descendants. John Blackfan, of Solebury, born in 1799, and married Elizabeth R. Chapman, of Wrightstown, in 1822, was the son of John, who was the eldest son of William, and the fourth in descent from the first Bucks county ancestor.10
The first progenitors of the Eastburns are believed to have been Robert and Sarah, who came to America with William Penn at his second visit, in 1699, or about that time, and settled in Philadelphia.
8 James Logan writes to Hannah Penn, under date of May 31st, 1721: "Thy cousin, Blackfan, is still at Pennsbury."
9 She was the granddaughter of John Dawson, of Suffolk, England, born about 1669, who was a soldier at the Boyne, in 1690, married Catharine Fox in 1696, came to America in 1710, and settled on a five hundred acre tract in Solebury in 1719. His will was proved May 26th, 1729.
' 10 William Crispin, the ancestor of this family, came into England at the Norman conquest, and bore an important part at the battle of Hastings. Sir William Crispin took part in the strife between Robert Duke, of Normandy and his brother, where he attacked the king and cut through his coat of mail. For his feats in horsemanship, he had three horse shoes for his coat-of-arms. In the contest between Charles I. and the Parliament, William Crispin was one of Cromwell's train band, and afterward captain of his guard. He served with Admiral Penn (they having married sisters), in his attack upon Hispaniola and Jamaica. Subsequently Cromwell gave Crispin a forfeited estate in Ireland, near the Shannon, not far from Limerick. When William Penn received the grant of Pennsylvania from Charles I. he appointed his cousin, William Crispin, his surveyor-gener al. The vessel he sailed in reached the Delaware, but finding contrary winds went to Barbadoes, where heshortly died. Penn appointed to the vacancy, Thomas Holme, who had been living with William Crispin in Ireland. Holme had been a midshipman in the West India expedition. Thomas Holme brought with him to Philadelphia, Silas, the eldest son of William Crispin, who mar- ried Holme's eldest daughter soon after their arrival. They settled on a tract of five hundred acres in Byberry, on the Pennypack, given him by William Penn. Their first child, a son, was born in the wigwam of an Indian chief. By a second wife he had six children, Joseph, Benjamin, Mary, Abigail, Mercy and Silas. One of the daughters married John Hart, ancestor of the Harts of Warminster. Silas Crispin, the son of William, first appointed surveyor-general, had a sister, Rebecca, who mar- ried Edward Blackfan, the ancestor of the family of this name in Bucks county. There are numerous descendants bearing the name of Crispin, in this State and elsewhere.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
In 1728 their son Samuel married Elizabeth Gillingham in Abing- ton meeting, and soon afterward removed to Solebury on a farm near Centre Hill. Among their children were two sons, Robert and Joseph. Joseph married Mary Wilson, of Buckingham, in 1753, and purchased a portion of the Pike tract, on which he lived to his death. They had nine children, seven sons and two daughters, whose descendants are numerous in both the male and female line.
The Inghams, who made their home in Solebury for a century and a quarter, were descended from Jonas, an English Friend, who came from Old to New England about 1705, thence to Solebary in 1730. His son Jonathan succeeded to the farm and fulling-mill at the Great spring, and became an influential citizen. The latter left three sons, John a religious enthusiast, Jonas a student of the exact sciences, and author of many useful inventions, who died at the age of eighty-two, and Jonathan who became a distinguished physician. He devoted his leisure to the languages, and paid court to the muses. During the Revolutionary war he gave his professional services to the army, when needed, and in 1793 he labored among the yellow fever at Philadelphia. Catching the disease, he started for Schoo- ley's mountain, accompanied by his wife and faithful slave, Cato, but died in his carriage on his way, at Clinton, New Jersey, October 1st, 1793, 1 and was buried in the edge of the graveyard. The most distinguished member of the family was Samuel D. Ingham, son of Doctor Jonathan, born on the farm near New Hope, September 6th, 1779. The death of his father interrupted his classical studies at the age of fourteen and he was indentured to learn the paper-mak- ing business at the mill on the Pennypack. He was a close student during his apprenticeship, being assisted in his studies by a Scotch immigrant in the neighborhood, named Craig.12 . At twenty-one he returned home and took charge of the farm and mills. He was much in public life. He was elected to the assembly in 1805-6-7, was in Congress from 1812 to 1829, except three years while secre- tary of the commonwealth, and was a leading member during the war. He was secretary of the treasury under General Jackson, which office he filled with distinguished ability. He died at Tren-
11 His death from the fever, created great consternation in the neighborhood, and the masons, building the wall around the graveyard, left and would not return until cold weather set in.
12 On one occasion young Ingham walked to Philadelphia and back the same night, thirty miles, to obtain a much coveted volume.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
ton, New Jersey, June 5th, 1860. The homestead of the Inghams is now owned by Andrew J. Beaumont, and is the same which James Logan granted to Jonathan Ingham May Ist, 1747.13
Andrew Ellicott, the descendant of a respectable family, resident of Devonshire, England, from the time of William the Conqueror, settled in Solebury about 1730. He followed farming and milling. About 1770, his three sons, Joseph, Andrew and John, purchased a large tract of land in Maryland, at what is now known as Ellicott's Mills, and removed thither,1+ taking with them mechanics, tools, animals, wagons, laborers, and several settlers and their families. There in the wilderness they built mills, erected dwellings, stores, opened roads, quarries, built school-houses, and established the seat of an extensive and profitable business. They became wealthy and influential, and occupied prominent positions in the community. They and their sons were men of sterling merit; they introduced the use of plaster of Paris into Maryland, and were the authors of several useful inventions. They first advocated the introduction of a good supply of water into Baltimore. John Ellicott died suddenly in 1795. Joseph, the eldest brother, was a genius in mechanics, to which he was devoted from boyhood. About 1760, he made, at his home in Solebury, a repeating watch without instruction, which he took to England in 1766, where it was much admired, and gained him great attention. After his return, in 1769, he made a four-faced musical clock, the wonder of the times, which played twenty-four tunes, and combined many other wonderful and delicate movements. This clock is now in Albany. Joseph Ellicott died in 1780, at the age of forty-eight. His son Andrew, born in Solebury in 1754, became a distinguished engineer. He was surveyor-general of the United States in 1792, and adjusted the boundary between the United States and Spain in 1796, laid out the towns of Erie, Warren, and Frank-
13 This tract was granted by Penn to Logan, on ship-board in the Delaware, No- vember 3d, 1701, for five hundred acres, but the survey made it five hundred and uinety-six and three-fourths, and it was confirmed to him September 12th, 1735. Jona- than Ingham received three hundred and ninety-six and three-fourths acres at a ground-rent of £21 sterling a year for seven years, and then £25 sterling a year for one hundred years afterward ; a new valuation to be put upon the property at the end of each hundred years. The remaining two hundred acres was conveyed to Jacob Deane, Mr. Ingham's brother-in-law, at the same time, on ground-rent. By his will, James Logan left the income from this property to the Loganian library company of Philadelphia, and limited the office of librarian to his eldest male heir, probably the only hereditary office in the country.
14 Andrew did not permanently leave Bucks county until 1794.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
lin, in this state, and was the first to make an accurate measurement of the falls of Niagara. He was the consulting engineer in laying out the city of Washington, and completed the work which Major L'Enfant planned. He was appointed professor of mathematics at West Point, in 1812, where he died in 1820. George Ellicott, a son of Andrew, was one of the best mathematicians of the times, and died in 1832. The Ellicotts owned the mill at Carversville, and what was known as Pettit's mill, in Buckingham. They were Friends.
Richard Townsend, a celebrated minister among Friends, of Lon- don, a Welcome passenger, and a carpenter by trade, settled near Chester in 1682 with his wife and a son, born during the voyage. . He removed first to Germantown and then to near Abington, whence his grandson, Stephen, came to Solebury about 1735. He was a carpenter and miller, and assisted Samuel Armitage to erect the first grist-mill built on the Cuttalossa. One end of the old Townsend house, probably the oldest in the township, was built in 1756 by Stephen Townsend, and the other end some thirty or forty years later. The windows had broad sash and small folding shutters, the fire-place was wide and capacious, and the outside door was gar- nished with a wooden latch. It was taken down in 1848 by the father of Cyrus Livezey, who erected a handsome building on the site. It was on this farm that the celebrated Townsend apple is said to have originated. Tradition says that this apple took its name from Richard Townsend, who, hearing of a wonderful apple tree, got the Indians to take him to it, which he found standing in a large clearing, near Lumberville. He bought the clearing, but the In- dians reserved the free use of apples to all who wished them. Sam- uel Preston said that in his time Stephen Townsend owned the original tree from which he, Preston, cut grafts in 1766.
John Schofield, of Buckinghamshire, England, settled in Solebury when a young man, probably before 1720. He was married at the Falls meeting to Ann Lenoire, a French Huguenot lady, who had been banished from Acadia. They had nine children, from whom have descended a numerous offspring in this and other states. In this county we find their descendants among the Williamses, Scho- fields, Fells, and other respectable families. A grandson married Rebecca, a sister of the late John Beaumont, and his daughter Sarah, who married Benjamin Leedom, was the mother of the late Mirs. M. H. Jenks. John Schofield was the great-grandfather of Joseph Fell, of Buckingham, who descends in the maternal line
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
from Samuel, the fourth son of the first progenitor in the county. It is related of John Schofield, that hearing his dog barking down in the meadow one evening, he took his ax and went to see what was the matter. He saw there a large animal up a tree, and the dog a few feet off. Striking the tree with the ax, the animal leaped down on the dog, and while they were struggling he struck the varmint on the back with the ax and killed it. It proved to be a large sized panther.
The Elys of Solebury are descended from one of three brothers who immigrated from England at an early day. The first of the name in this county came from New Jersey, and bought a large tract of land between Centre Hill and Phillip's mill. He was an Episcopalian, but joined the Friends and became an elder. He had four sons and three daughters, who left a numerous offspring. Joshua, the oldest son, who married Elizabeth Hughes, of Plum- stead, was the grandfather of the late Jonathan Ely. He was an active whig in the Revolution and died in 1805. Joshua, the second son of this marriage, and father of Nathan Ely, born September 12th, 1760, married Mary Griffith, of Lower Merion, in 1784, had eight children and forty grandchildren. Several of the descendants removed to the West many years ago.
The Rices came into the township about one hundred and forty years ago. Edward Rice, the great-grandfather of Samuel H. Rice, was born in the parish of Killaman, county of Tyrone, Ireland, where he lived until he immigrated to Pennsylvania. He brought with him a certificate of good character, signed by the rector and church wardens, and a protection or passport from the proper autority, both dated June 12th, 1736. It is presumed he came immediately after- ward, and probably made his first home in Solebury.
The Riches are descended from John Rich, who purchased land at the head of Cuttalossa creek, in 1730. He could trace his descent it is alleged, to Richard Rich, who came to America in the May- flower, and settled at Truro, on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. In 1740, John Rich bought a large farm in Plumstead township, south of the meeting-house. He had several sons, only one of which, Joseph, is known to have any descendants in Bucks county. He married Elizabeth Brown, and had one daughter, Mary, who mar- ried Jonathan Wells, and removed to Chester county. Of his five sons who lived to manhood, Alexander, Jonathan, John, Joseph and Josiah, Alexander married Mary Michener and had three sons, John
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Joseph, and William, Jonathan married Rosanna Kemble, and had one son, Anthony, and after her death he married Mary Snodgrass, and by her had two sons, Doctor James S., and Josiah, John mar- ried Mary Preston, and had one son, Moses, and three daughters, Susan, Martha, and Elizabeth, Joseph married Elizabeth Carlile, and had two sons, John and Joseph, and two daughters, Sarah and Elizabeth, Joseph, the youngest son of Joseph Rich, married Martha Preston, and had one son, William, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary. The descendants of these several families are quite numerous, and live mostly in Bucks county.
We do not know when the Hutchinsons came into Solebury, but early in the last century. Matthias, a descendant of the first settler, born in 1743, was a remarkable man in some respects, and wielded considerable influence. He carried on mason-work and plastering extensively, and used to walk twenty miles to his work in the morn- ing and be the first man on the scaffold. Such energy brought its reward, and he became wealthy. He enjoyed the confidence of his fellows, and was appointed justice of the peace, and afterward associ- ate-judge, which he resigned about 1812. About 1765 he married Elizabeth Bye, whose mother was Elizabeth Ross, sister of Thomas Ross, the preacher. Mr. Hutchinson owned the fine farm now William Stavely's, where he died in 1823, at the age of eighty. He was a soldier in the French and English war, and was near Wolfe when he fell on the Plains of Abraham.
William Neeley, the first of the name in the county, was born in Ireland, August 31st, 1742, and came to this country when a small boy with his widowed mother. She married Charles Stewart, of Upper Makefield, with whom her son lived in his minority. He learned the milling business with Robert Thompson,15 of Solebury, and married his daughter June 24th, 1766. His father-in-law erected buildings for him on his tract, where he lived and died. While Washington's army was encamped in that neighborhood, in 1776, several officers quartered at his house, and James Monroe spent some time there after being wounded at Trenton. William Neeley died July 10th, 1818, and his widow, February 13th, 1834, in her eighty-sixth year. He had two children, a son and daughter;
15 Robert Thompson had the reputation of never turning a poor man away from his mill with his bag empty, whether he had money or not. The old Thompson-Neeley mill stands near the Delaware canal, but was ruined when that improvement was made.
20
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
the son, Robert T., married Sarah Beaumont, from whom descends John T. Neeley, of Solebury, and the daughter, Jane, married John Poor, who was the principal of the first young ladies' seminary estab- lished in Philadelphia.
The distinguished Zebulon M. Pike, who fell at York, in Canada, in 1813, spent several years of his life in Solebury, if he was not born there. As will be remembered, the Pikes were early settlers in Solebury, Joseph being there before 1703. The general is said to have been born at Lamberton, now the lower part of Trenton, New Jersey, January 5th, 1779, and that his father, Zebulon Pike, with his family soon afterward removed to Lumberton, where he re- sided several years. 16 That was his home in 1786, when himself and wife conveyed to Jonathan Kinsey, of Solebury, a tract of land in Northumberland county. In the deed he is styled captain. Gen- eral Pike probably received all the school education he got, in Sole- bury. The family lived in a red frame house, torn down in 1834, on the site of Paxson's mill. While living there the father subscribed the oath of allegiance to the colonies. He was a soldier in the Revolution, served in St. Clair's expedition in 1791, was commis- sioned captain in the regular army in March, 1792, lieutenant- colonel in 1812, and died near Lawrenceberg, Indiana, in 1834, at the age of eighty-three. General Pike entered the army as lieuten- ant, March 3d, 1799, and his military life is too well-known to be repeated. Among his services to the government were several valuable explorations, that to discover the headwaters of the Arkan- sas and Red rivers, in 1806, leading to his capture and imprisonment in Mexico. The author has been in the old adobe building in which he was confined at Santa Fe. A distinguishing feature of General Pike was a fine head of bright red hair.17
The Kenderdines, a prominent family in Solebury for several years, came into the township less than half a century ago, although much longer in the state. The name is rarely met with. The family is supposed to have been driven from Holland to Wales, by religious persecution, sometime in the seventeenth century. Sev- eral of the name are now living in the vicinity of Stafford, England,
16 There is a tradition that General Pike was born on the farm now owned by Ezekiel Everitt, in Solebury, and a further tradition among the old men, that when a boy he was noted for his cruelty.
17 It is claimed that the family of Pikes, from which the general was descended, was settled at Newbury, Massachusetts, as early as 1635, whence a member removed to Middlesex county, New Jersey, where his father was born in 1751.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
near where the Holland refugees settled. The tradition of descent runs down through two branches of the family, and is believed to be correct. Thomas, the ancestor of the American Kenderdines, im- migrated from Llan Edlas, North Wales, about 1700, and settled at Abington, Philadelphia county. Of his three children, Mary mar- ried a Hickman and probably went to Chester county, Richard settled on the property lately owned by John Shay, in Horsham, as early as 1718, and Thomas on the Butler road, half a mile below Prospectville, whose dwelling is still standing, with the letters T. and D. K. cut on a stone in the gable. The late John E. Kender- dine, the fourth in descent from Thomas, was born in 1799 and died in 1868. He removed to Lumberton in 1834, and spent h's life there in active business pursuits-milling, farming, lumbering, erect- ing buildings, etc. He was identified with all improvements, and gave the locality a greater business repute than it had enjoyed be- fore. He was an active politician. In 1843 he was defeated for the state senate by two votes, and again in 1866 for associate-judge, with his whole ticket. His two sons, Thaddeus S. and Robert, served in the late civil war, the latter being killed at Gettysburg.18
The Ruckmans settled early in Plumstead, where the late John. Ruckman of Solebury was born in 1777. The family trace the descent back to John Ruckman, who immigrated from England to Long Island at a very early day. Thence they removed into New Jersey, where John's grandson, Thomas, was born in 1721. John Ruckman's father, James, was born in 1748, married Mary, a sister of Colonel William Hart, of Plumstead, whither he removed, and died there in 1834. John Ruckman moved into Solebury on his marriage, and probably settled at Lumberville, where he was living in 1807, which year he removed out into the township on the farm where his family now reside and where he died in 1861. He was prominent in politics, and was associate-judge of the county several years.
The first flour-mill in Solebury was undoubtedly that of Robert Heath, on the Great spring stream, in 1707, before that time the inhabitants getting their supply of flour from Middletown and the Pennypack. About 1730 Ambrose Barcroft erected a " water corn- mill" near the mouth of Pannacussing. In 1765 the mill at Car-
18 The distinguished English authoress, Miss Muloch, makes use of the name for two of her heroines in "Woman's Kingdom," Edna and Lettie, out of respect for a very intimate friend of her mother's, named Kenderdine.
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