History: Local: CHAPTER LVIII - Part I: Horsham Township : Bean's 1884 History of Montgomery Co, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Susan Walters USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/montgomery/beantoc.htm URL of html Table of Contents and illustrations. ¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼ BEAN'S HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA ¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼ 874 CHAPTER LVIII. HORSHAM. By Wm. J. Buck. 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 propels 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 passed 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 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 Abington, Cheltenham, Moreland and Whitpain. It contains 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, Prospectville 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 following, beginning at the Moreland line: Samuel Carpenter Mary Blunston Richard Ingels Thomas Potter Sarah Fuller 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 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 Johnson, 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. Samuel Carpenter's purchase of five thousand and eighty-eight acres was made from Penn's commissioners 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 Graeme Park, are located on it. The executors of Samuel Carpenter, it distinguished merchant of Philadelphia, sold twelve hundred acres if 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 original Graeme Park tract. George Palmer's purchase of three hundred acres, through his early death, came in possessed on of his son, Thomas Palmer, and lay in the corner of the township adjoining Moreland and Upper Dublin and extended up to the present Horshamville. He arrived from England in September 1682, and, according to tradition, soon thereafter settled on his tract, and it is supposed that he was the first European who made his residence in the township. He here dug a saw-pit, and with a whip-saw cut the lumber with which to build a two-story house, which stood for nearly a century. His descendants 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 Horsham we find the names of John Palmer, two hundred and eighty acres, and Thomas Palmer. Several descendants 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. According 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 possession of his widow. There was preserved an iron door-knocker, from the door of his house, that had drilled on it "T. I. 1720," probably the date of its erection. 875 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 before 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 Ann 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 defeated by only two votes as a candidate for the State Senate in 1843. The Lukens family of this township, as in Towamencin, 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 Horsham 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 philosophic turn of mind," who left here numerous posterity. In the list of Horsham for 1776 we find rated William Lukens for 293 acres, a saw-mill, and nine children 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 admiration 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 authorized 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 Scull, 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 commissioners to run the boundary line between Pennsylvania 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. His 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 surviving children were Isaiah Moses Joseph Rachel Tabitha 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 Samuel Shoemaker), 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. 876 Isaiah Lukens, the son of Seneca, was born August 24, 1779, in Horsham, where he received but a common English education, but by subsequent diligent study he acquired a profound knowledge of the sciences. He 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 construction, besides other ingenious applicances. While a young man he made a voyage to Europe, spending some time in England, France and Germany, in visiting 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 institutions, and was one of the founders and a vice-president of the Franklin Institute. He died in the city November 12, 1864, in age the youngest of the family. Alexander McQuee, on the list of 1734 for one hundred and fifty acres, is represented in 1776 by Seth McQuee, who had now become the owner of & 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 acres. 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 Governor'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 remember having seen any account whatever. In the Germantown 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 Hatboro' 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 hundred and thirty-seven acres. William Penrose, of Graeme 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 northeast 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 Christianna, daughter of Enoch Morgan. He had three children, -David, Enoch and Miriam. Of David 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 "Norristown 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 be joined the rifle company of Captain 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 commenced 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 Herald and Free Press." He collected these various effusions and had them published, in 1848, in an octavo volume of two hundred and sixteen pages, tinder the title of "The Modern Miscellany," which contains the 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 embarrassments, 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 he died, aged eighty-three years, lacking one day, completely enfeebled in body and mind, the last survivor of his father's family. 877 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 Dennis Conard, Jr., a single man. The two preceding, no doubt, are the sons of John Conard, who first settled here. Descendants still exist in this section, and the family is now numerous in Montgomery County. Archibald 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 acres; 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, surgeon 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 man 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, entitled 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. He 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. Descendants of the family still reside in the vicinity. In the list of 1776 we find rated Benjamin Holt, one hundred and two acres and eight children, and Mordecai Holt, one hundred and ten acres. The latter was collector of taxes in 1781, and became the owner of the old Iredell homestead, situated on the east side of the turnpike, above the meeting-house. He had an only child, Nathan Holt, who inherited the estate and retained it during his lifetime. He died in 1848, in his eighty-fourth year, and donated by his will nearly all his property to the Hatboro' Library Company. He was a member of that library fifty-seven years, and stated, not long before his death, that for most of his knowledge he was indebted to this institution. The amount realized was five thousand eight hundred dollars, whereof three thousand eight hundred dollars was applied to the erection of a new building, completed in 1849, and the balance invested and the income used in the purchase of books. The earliest public highway that extended into Horsham, most probably, was the Welsh road, which was laid out in 1712 from the "Ford" over Pennypack, at the present Huntingdon Valley, along the whole southwest line of the township, and separating it from Upper Dublin and Gwynedd. In 1731 complaint was made to the court by the inhabitants of Upper Dublin that the Horsham overseers did not keep their part of said road in proper order, when a division of the same was made; and the respective townships required to attend to it in the future. The road from Graeme Park by way of Horsham Meeting-house to the York road, at Willow Grove, was opened in 1722, and also the same year from the former place down the county line, to Hatboro'. As these were laid out from Governor Keith's settlement, the former was long known as the "Governor's road." The road from the present Spring House to Horsham Meeting-house was laid out and confirmed in 1723. The Horsham road extends through the centre of the township; was laid out from near the meeting-house up into Montgomery township in the spring of 1735. The Butler road, which extends in a northern direction across Horsham, must have been opened near the aforesaid date, having received this name from leading to Simon Butler's mill, on the northwest branch of the Neshaminy, in New Britain township, near the present Whitehallville. Butler was quite a prominent man; appointed justice of the peace in 1738, and continued therein for over twenty years. The County Line road, from Graeme Park to the present Line Lexington, was opened in 1752. The supervisors of roads in 1767 were Daniel Jones and Abraham Lukens; in 1773, Robert Iredell and Samuel Conan; in 1785, Abraham Lukens and William Miller; in 1810, Joseph Kenderdine and Joseph Parry. James Craven, was constable in 1774. Horsham, or better known as Horshamville, on the Doylestown and Willow Grove turnpike, is in the midst of a fine agricultural district, contains about twenty houses, a Friends' Meeting-house, two school-houses, a store and several mechanic shops. The post-office was established here before 1816, when Charles Palmer was postmaster. In January, 1826, Charles Jarrett was appointed, and its name changed from Horsham Meeting-house to Horsham. This is an old settlement, the meeting house having been commenced in 1722, if not earlier. The Pennypack flows near by into which empty several streams of water that have their sources near by. A hall was built in 1855 in which literary exercises and lectures are held. A library was founded here in 1799 and incorporated in 1808, having in 1853 thirty-two members. Owing to a lack of interest, in 1874 its remaining nine hundred volumes were sold, and thus became scattered in a day, the accumulation of three-quarters of a century. 878 Prospectville, situated at the intersection of the Whitehall turnpike and Horsham road, contains eight houses, a store, hall and several mechanics. The post-office was established before 1858. Here, in 1779, Thomas Roney kept an inn, succeeded by David Caldwell in 1785. This place formerly bore the name of Cashtown. Davis Grove is within half a mile of the Bucks County line, and about that distance from Graeme Park. It contains four or five houses, a store and blacksmith-shop. Mary Ball kept an inn here in 1790, sign of the "Yellow Ball," succeeded afterwards by Wm. Yerkes, about 1800, followed by Jesse Kirk before 1807, and, on the death of the latter, by his son, Jacob Kirk, who discontinued it about 1850. The elections, in 1824 were required to be held at Hatboro', but several years after were removed to this place. A hamlet of four or five houses, schoolhouse and a smith- shop, in the centre of the township, on the Horsham road, has for a long time borne the dignified name of Babylon. The people of this agricultural township have long been noted for their intelligence and generous social qualities, and hence we do not wonder at the number of noted persons who have either been born or resided within its limits, particularly when we come to regard its small population, barely exceeding thirteen hundred. Here have been the homes of such literary or distinguished characters as Sir William Keith Dr. Thomas Graeme Mrs. Elizabeth Ferguson John and Anna Young Dr. Archibald McClean Robert Loller David and Joseph Lloyd Samuel and John Gummere John, Abraham and Isaiah Lukens Hiram McNeal and others that could be mentioned. Here, too, lived for several generations the Simpson family, a daughter of who became the mother of General Ulysses S. Grant. Graeme Park, so rich in memories of the colonial period, will form a subject of sufficient interest to be treated by itself. THE SIMPSON FAMILY. -We are not at present prepared to give the earliest history of this family, but it is known from records that before the Revolution Samuel Simpson resided in Abington township, the owner of a farm of one hundred and eighty-eight acres and a few years later there was Benjamin Simpson, who probably was his son. John Simpson, the great grandfather of General Grant, was a collector of taxes in Horsham in 1776, and we find him rated for this year as holding one hundred fifty acres, four horses four cattle and fourteen sheep, taxed £14. 14s. For several reasons we are inclined to believe that the latter was the son of Samuel Simpson, of Abington, and probably the first ancestor of the family in this country. It has been stated that this family is of Scotch- Irish origin, about which we have doubts. The name is found in Friends' records, and there was a minister of Abington Meeting in the last century of the name of James Simpson. A close examination has been made of the numerous tombstones in the graveyard of Abington Presbyterian Church, and none have been discovered there bearing the name. The aforesaid John Simpson, as we learn, purchased his property in Horsham at sheriff's sale November 30, 1763, which really contained one hundred and sixty-four acres, situated in the extreme northern corner of the township, adjoining Montgomery and extending to the Bucks County line. It is presumed that he must have moved on it soon after the purchase. He is stated to have had at least three children, -a son John and two daughters. Respecting the latter, we possess no information. he must have been a man of some note to possess this property, and likewise of responsibility to be invested with the powers and duties of a collector of the revenue, and that, too, in the most memorable year of the Revolution. It is stated he died near the beginning of this century, when his son became the owner of the homestead, whereon he was born in 1767. He is said to have married Rebecca Wier, a daughter of a substantial farmer in Warrington, or New Britain. He was probably married in 1793, for his eldest daughter, Mary was born in 1795, and Hannah, the mother of General Grant, in November, 1797. His son Samuel was still living, at a very advanced age, in the spring of 1883, near Bantam, Ohio. John Simpson, Jr., continued to reside in Horsham until his children were grownup, when, with the idea of going westward, he sold his farm, in the fall of 1817, to John Meyers, and in the following year moved with his family on a farm he had previously purchased near Bethel, Clermont Co., Ohio. All the school education that he or his children had received was obtained near by, at the stone schoolhouse on the county line. He died August 20, 1837, in his seventieth year. His daughter Mary had married James Griffith in 1818. Hannah was married, Jane 24, 1820, to Jesse Root Grant, who was a son of Noah Grant, and also a Pennsylvanian, born in Westmoreland County January 23, 1794. To Dr. Jackson, of Pittsburgh, we are indebted for an interesting relation made to him by Jesse R. Grant, in 1867, on the subject of his marriage into the Simpson family, which refutes several errors that have been current on the subject,- "In 1820" (he states), "I settled temporarily at a small place called Point Pleasant, situated on the Ohio River, twenty-five miles above Cincinnati, and in June, 1820, I was married to Miss Hannah Simson, and commenced house-keeping at that place. Mrs. Grant was an unpretending country girl -handsome but not vein. She had previously joined the Methodist Church, and I can truthfully say that it has never had a more devoted and consistent member. Her steadiness, firmness and strength of character have been the stay of the family through life. She was always careful and most watchful over her children, but not austere, and not opposed to their free participation in innocent amusement. At Point Pleasant, on the 27th of April, 1822, our first child, Ulysses Grant was born. The house in which this event occurred, is still standing. Five other children, three daughters, and two sons were subsequently added to our family. Mrs. Grant was the second daughter of Mr. John Simpson, of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. She was burn and brought up in that County, about twenty miles from Philadelphia. When in her nineteenth year, she moved with her father to Clermont County, Ohio. The family were highly respectable -people of veracity and integrity, but licit of any particular ambition beyond that of independent farmers. Mrs. Grant's father was with some property, but it was all inland, and which he kept until he died. It was nearly three years after their removal to Clermont that we were married. A few of the neighbors expressed their surprise that one of Mr. Simpson's daughters should marry a young man hardly yet established in business. But this did me no harm, and as soon as it was seen how I was getting along I heard no more of it." 879 The children of Jesse R. Grant were Ulysses Simpson Samuel Simpson Orville L. Rachel Virginia Payne and Mary Frances. The father died June 27, 1873, and Mrs. Grant at New York, May 11, 1882, aged eighty-four years and six months. Mary, the eldest sister, was still living in the spring of 1883, in her eighty-seventh year, which shows remarkable longevity in the family. It is stated that Samuel Medary, late Governor of Ohio, was brought up in the vicinity of Horsham and was a schoolmate of John Simpson's children, and an intimacy was thus early formed that had much to do with his rise to future eminence. As a young man he went West in 1825, and through their former acquaintance in Montgomery County, was induced to make his home with Mr. Simpson, who, through his influence, secured him a school in the neighborhood, where he taught all of three years, which enabled him, with economy, to start a newspaper called the "Clermont Sun," which advanced him onwards until he was elected, in 1856, chief executive of his adopted State. Nearly forty years ago the writer was acquainted with several Simpsons residing in Moreland Township and vicinity. They bore a close resemblance to General Grant, and were of the same physical organization, and therefore, without doubt, were members of the same family. The old homestead in Horsham has long since become divided into several farms. John Duddy owns the portion on the east of the turnpike, on which the buildings stood. From what has been ascertained, John Simpson, Jr., was highly respected by his neighbors in Ohio and regarded as a man of intelligence. Here are materials in a brief family sketch that seem to border on romance. FRIEND'S MEETING-HOUSE IN HORSHAM. -Respecting this early meeting we have seen no account beyond that given in the "History of Montgomery County," as published in Scott's Atlas in 1877. Having secured additional matter, it was made the subject of an article in "The Local Historian," published in the spring of 1882. With a few more facts we now enter on a third concise attempt. The earliest mention whatever that we could find of Horsham is in a minute of Abington Monthly Meeting under the date of 30th of Fifth Month, 1717, which states that "It is agreed that there be two overseers chosen for Horsham Meeting, viz: John Michener and Thomas Iredell." Samuel Smith states, in his "History of the Province," that it was established the 24th of Seventh Month, 1716, "at first only in the winter season." Respecting these overseers, the former settled in Moreland, nearly four miles distant, in the spring of 1715, and the latter about half a mile north of the meeting-house. Hannah Carpenter, the widow of Samuel Carpenter, by a deed of trust, conveyed to John Cadwallader, Thomas Iredell, Evan Lloyd and Richard Kenderdine, the 27th of Third Month, 1719, for the use of Friends, fifty acres of land from his great tract, on which the meeting-house was built, most probably in 1721, for we know from the jurors' report on the laying out of the Governors road along here, April 23, 1722, that it was located by the Meeting-House. John Fothergill, of England, mentions in his journal attending this meeting, 17th of Eleventh Month, 1721-22, in company with Lawrence King. We next find in the monthly records that the members had made application the 28th of Seventh Month, 1724, "for some assistance towards ye finishing of their new Meeting-House; ye meeting, having taken it into consideration, order that the four meetings shall assist those friends in Horsham." By this is meant the members composing the Monthly Meeting, comprising Abington, established 1697; Germantown, 1704; Byberry, 1716; and of Horsham. We thus perceive that as small or humble as this structure may have been, some three or four years must have elapsed before it was fully completed. We believe it was of stone and stood until 1803, when it was demolished, and the present substantial and commodious two story structure occupies its place. For her donation Hannah Carpenter deserves some mention. She was born in Haverford West, in South Wales, her family-name being Hardiman, and was married to Samuel Carpenter, in Philadelphia, the 12th of Tenth Mouth, 1684. Like her husband, she was highly esteemed for her well-directed efforts in benevolence. She died on the 24th of Fifth Month, 1728, in her eighty-third year. Samuel Carpenter, had, in 1711, executed a deed of trust for a lot of ground for a meeting-house, burying-ground and pasture to Friends in Bristol, Bucks Co., on which was erected a house for worship in 1713, only a year previous to his death. Toward the close of his life we regret to state this worthy, enterprising man experienced financial embarrassment, thus rendering the gift the more noble or self-sacrificing on the part of his widow. Evan Lloyd was one of the first ministers of this congregation, of which also John Cadwallader was an elder. 880 In 1782 it had become so strong that the Quarterly Meeting formed it into a Monthly Meeting, to be called Horsham, to which Byberry was attached. How long this organization continued we are unable to say, but probably into the beginning of this century or until the formation of the latter into a Monthly Meeting, when Horsham was again attached to Abington. From an advertisement in the "Pennsylvania Gazette" in the beginning of 1753 we learn that the Friend's school-house was then built, for which, as the committee, John Lukens, surveyor, Abraham Lukens and Benjamin Cadwallader, "living near the Meeting-House in Horsham township," desired the services of a teacher, -very probably, the present stone school-house, in which Isaac Comly, of Byberry, the author and editor, also taught in 1799. The ancient graveyard here is an object of interest, and since 1719, no doubt, fully two thousand have been interred here. To meet the increasing demand for space, it has been enlarged again and again. It now comprises several acres, and on the roadside is inclosed by a substantial stone wall, recently repaired. In examining this ground at leisure, we find here many tombstones bearing the time-honored names of Spencer Walton Hallowell Palmer Jarrett Lukens Longstreth Kirk Paul Cadwallader Thomas Iredell Comly Lloyd Wood Parry Jones Kenderdine Michener Shoemaker and others. We propose to give a short list of names, copied therefrom, which may prove of interest to some of their surviving kindred or friends residing beyond the neighborhood. For brevity the months and days are omitted: William Penrose, 1863, aged 81 years Jane S. Homer, 1864, 33 Nicholas Kohl, 1866, 76, and wife, Martha, 1873, 76 Moses Lukens, 1852, 71 Martha Paul, of Willow Grove, 1857, 90 John Walker, 1872, 81 Jesse Homer, 1850, 20 Jacob Leidy, 1850, 28 Charles Hallowell, 1858, 78 T. Elwood Comly, 1863, 38 John Iredell, 1869, 69 Jacob Walton, 1875, 76 Samuel Shoemaker, 1845, 52 Thomas Iredell, 1865, 63 Isaac Warner, 1877, 89, and his wife, Elizabeth, 1877, 94 Daniel Lloyd, 1875, 64 Daniel Longstreth, 1846, 45 Joseph S. Lukens, 1875, 90 Gove Mitchell, no date, 74 Robert Roberts, no date, 79. With all of these we had a personal acquaintance, which alone induced us at the time to transcribe them. One grand object here cannot fail to arrest attention, -we mean its noble sassafras-tree, that, out of curiosity, was measured in 1852, and was found to be, at sixteen inches from the surface of the ground, thirteen feet in circumference and carrying, with little diminution, the same width on the trunk for ten or twelve feet. Though thirty-two years have since elapsed, it has probably grown but little. It appears now to be on the decline. At a distance it presents the appearance of a majestic and venerable chestnut- tree. It may, perhaps, be the largest of its kind in the country. This meeting-house, as is usual with Friends, is surrounded by noble shade-trees, particularly buttonwood and oak, some of the latter undoubtedly remnants of the ancient forest. Here, too, on nearly all sides, are extensive sheds for the protection of horses from the inclemency of the weather in all seasons. It is calculated to do one good at the close of the quiet Friends' worship, as we have more than once experienced here, to enter into a general hand-shaking, as is the custom, thus renewing friendship and reviving recollection. HORSHAM TOWNSHIP ASSESSMENT FOR 1776. Robert Iredell, assessor, and John Simpson, collector. Andrew Dunbar, 90 acres 2 horses and 4 cattle Isaac Parry, 64 a., 2 h, 2 c Charles Iredell, 1 h., 1 c Edward Walker, 1 h, 1 c Benjamin Kenderdine, 150 a., 3 h., 3 c Jabez White, 100 a., 3 h, 4 c John Woodman, 50 a., 2 h., 3 c William Dean, 50 a., 3 h., 1 c Jacob Brown 2 h, 1 c Thomas Roney Jacob Needler William Jarrett, 176 a., 1 servant, 4 h., 7 c Mary McClean, 45 a., 1 h., 1 c Hercules Roney, 5 a., 1 h., 1 c Samuel Murray, 100 a., 2 h., 3 c Hugh Lloyd, 60 a., 2 h., 3 c John Lloyd, 114 a., 2 h., 4 c Henry Stewart, 35 a., 2 h., 3 c Jonathan Jarrett, 100 a Dennis Conard, 90a., 2 h, 4 c Joseph Miller, 2 h., 4 c Benjamin Holt, 102 a., 2 h 2 c., 8 children Mordecai Holt, 100 a., 3 h., 3 c Benjamin Cadwallader, 50a., 2 h., 1 c John Cadwallader, 175 a., 2 h., 4 c John Cadwallader, aged, 60 a., 1 h., 1 c William Lukens, 293 a., 5 h., 9 c., saw-mill, 9 children Job Lancaster, 18 a., mill, 1 c Thomas Barnes, 50 a., 2 h., 4 c., 5 children John Palmer, 280 a., 3 h, 5 c Thomas Palmer, 1 c Leonard Stemple, 2 h., 2 c John Hallowell, 80 a., 1h., 1 c John Lukens, 150 a., 3 h., 3 c Samuel McNair, 200 a., 4 h., 4 c James Craven, 100 a., 3 h., 5 c John Mann, 150 a., 2 h., 4 c. John Conard, 140 a., 1 servant, 2 h., 4 c David Marple, 55 a., 2 h., 2 c John Shoub, 73 a., 2 h., 3 c John Marple, 45 a., 2 h., 2 c Thomas Hallowell, 100 a., 3 h, 3 c Sent Quee, 150 a., 4 h., 4 c John Barnes, 150 a., 1 negro, 4 h., 5 c Atkenson Hughs, 150 a., 3 h., 2 c Jacob Needler, 50 a., 2 h., 4 c Enoch Armitage, 30 a., 2 h., 3 c George Snap, 36 a., 1h Edward Bright, 100 a., 3 h., 3 c Samuel Dehaven, 150 a., 2 h., 3 c Charles Ravecomb, 50 a., 2 h., 2 c Robert Edwards, 76 a., 2 h, 3 c John Adams, 125 a., 3 h., 5 c John Kastner, 2 a., 1 c John Nailor, 2 h., 3 c Joseph Ships, 2 h., 4 c Charles Mullen, 100 a., 3 h 5 c John Williams, 190 a., 4 h., 7 c Benjamin White 1 c John Wilson, 74 a., 2 h., 3 C Benjamin Sutch, 60 a William Davison, 50 a., 2 h., 2 c Samuel Conard, 150 a., 2 h., 2 c John Carver 1 c George Stitch, 1h.1 c Thomas Davis. 140 a., 1 negro, 3 h., 8 c Robert Loller, 1 h., 2 c William McClean, 220 a., 4 h., 3 c Archibald McClean, 220 a., 2 h, 2 c Thomas Kenderdine, 150 a., 5 h., 6 c., 1/2 a grist-mill Joseph Kenderdine, 390 a., 4 h., 6 c., 1/2 a grist-mill William Mullen, 2 h., 5 c Cadwallader Ervin John Nash, 100 a., 2 h., 2 c Paul Dowling, 200 a., 3h., 6 c Jacob Wright, 160 a., 2 h., 4 c Joseph Slaughter, 8 children, 2 h, 2 c John Simpson, 150 a., 4 h., 4 c Philip Summers, 150 a., 3 h., 4 c Daniel Jones, 200 a., estate Samuel Jones, 150 a., 3 h, 3 c Hugh Ferguson, 800 a., 6 h., 6 c., 1 negro Jesse Murray, 75 a., 2 h., 2 c Abraham Lukens, 120 a., 3 h., 2 c Joseph Lukens, 178 a., 3 h., 5 c Joseph Gilbert Robert Iredell, 155 a., 4 h., 4 c Richard Shoemaker, aged SINGLE MEN.- Robert Armstrong Lewis Woolman Michael Denison Peter Lukens Dennis Conard, Jr Jonathan Lukens David Lukens Thomas Barnes William Stemple John Stemple Earl Barnes John Barnes Israel Mullen Mathias Heise David Davis Joseph Kenderdine Dominic Shallada William Jamison John Andrews Samuel Collet Malcolm Mosler Seneca Lukens James Stephens Robert Iredell. [NOTE: The rest of page 880 through the top of page 901 are in the next section, Horsham Township - GRAEME PARK.] 901 (cont.) BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. CHARLES S. RORER. Charles S. Rorer is a son of the late Joseph Rorer, who was born in Philadelphia County, Pa., November 14, 1758, and died in the same county December 15, 1854. He was the son of a farmer, and was himself a farmer all his adult life. Having been born some eighteen years previous to the date of the declaration of Independence, he naturally felt quite an interest in the celebration of the formal declaration of such an undertaking as that then seemed to be, and took an active part in the celebrating of that instrument on the 4th of July, 1776. Later, he was an eye-witness of the battle of Germantown, on the old York road, at a place known as Branchtown, and after the battle, assisted in the interment of several of the militia of the Maryland Line that had been killed in the battle, and previous to the close of that eventful struggle he was enrolled as a soldier in Washington's army, but it being so near the close of the struggle, was not permitted to aid in gaining the freedom of the young and struggling colonies. In after-years, when the colonies had become States, and compacted into one strong bond of Union, never to be severed, it seemed to be a pleasure to him to relate to his listening auditors the many incidents and hairbreadth adventures that had come to his notice during those eventful years. He died at the ripe old age of ninety-six, honored and respected by all who knew him. His son, Charles S. Rorer, who takes his middle name from his mother's maiden name, Smith, was born in Philadelphia County, Pa., April 14, 1811, and made that his home until 1851, when he removed to Horsham, Montgomery Co., Pa., where he now resides. He was also born prior to the occurrence of several important events that transpired in the early part of the present century, in some of which he was an active participant. The first was upon the occasion of the visit of the Marquis De Lafayette to the city of Philadelphia, in 1824, when that hero was honored with a public reception. He also took part in the funeral ceremonies held in Germantown, in 1826, in commemoration of the death of two of our late Presidents, Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams. He was also honored with a commission in the infantry in the parade that took place in Philadelphia in honor of George Washington's one hundredth birthday; also on the occasion of President Andrew Jackson's visit to Philadelphia, he participated in the parade as one of the escort and in the evening, at the reception given at the residence of General Robert Patterson, was an invited guest, and was personally introduced to the "Hero of New Orleans." He witnessed the breaking of ground, not far from what is known as Turner's Lane, for the building of the Germantown and Norristown Railroad, which was built in 1832-33. In 1837 he assisted in planting an elm-tree to commemorate the memory of the old treaty tree, at the Commissioners' Hall, Kensington. In 1840 he led the forlorn hope of the Whig party as candidate for the State Legislature against a Democratic majority of three thousand in his district, and, as it result not unexpected, was defeated. In 1849 he was elected one of the directors of the old Germantown Bank, and served as such until his removal to Montgomery County. In 1864 he was the standard-bearer of the Republican party in his legislative district against the usual fifteen hundred Democratic majority, and against suffered defeat. 903 In 1874 he was elected one of the directors of the Hatboro' National Bank, which position he still holds. He has for the last twenty-five years been honored by his townsmen with a seat in the public school board, over which he presided more than fifteen years, and to his energy and perseverance in behalf of the educational interest of Horsham township is due probably more than to any other, the efficiency and high character of the schools with which he has to do. In 1875 he was elected a justice of the peace for Horsham Township, a position he still holds. Since he was twenty years of age he has been art active and energetic worker in the cause of temperance. Drinking liquor at that early period being the rule, it required organized effort to break up the habit. Societies and organizations multiplied under various names, first openly by lectures and the old Washingtonian Society, followed by the Sons of Temperance and Good Templars, the two latter organizations being represented in their Grand Lodges of the State by Mr. Rorer. PICTURE OF CHARLES S. RORER, APPEARS HERE. During the four eventful years of the slave-holders rebellion Mr. Rorer was engaged in aiding the government in the suppression of the natural results of such a strife, and was active in forming a Union League for the township of Horsham, the object of which was to assist in filling the quotas as called for, and to encourage enlistments for the same, and in appointing and sustaining public meetings which had that object fully in view. He has, by much labor, brought his farm under a high state of cultivation, and made his home pleasant and attractive, and has thus far been unselfish in all the relations of his life where he could be useful to his fellow-creatures. For the past forty-eight years he has been an active member of the Baptist Church, and since 1851 a member of the Hatboro' Baptist Church. 904 Mr. Rorer was married, in 1835, to Miss Caroline, daughter of the late Hugh Roberts, of Philadelphia. Their children are Clementine, married Albert French; Bartlett T., married Emeline Williams; and Adelaide, married William Hill. Mrs. Rorer, mother of these children, died February 24, 1872. Mr. Rorer's second wife was Miss Hannah, daughter of Thomas and Jerusha Taylor, of Philadelphia, whom he married June 17, 1875. JOSHUA PAUL LUKENS. The Lukens family in Horsham, Montgomery Co., descended from Jan (or John) Lucken, who came from Holland in the latter part of 1688. In 1709, January 10th, John Lucken purchased from Samuel Carpenter five hundred and five acres of land, a part of which is now owned by William J. Hallowell, near Davis Grove, Montgomery Co., and in 1720, John and wife, Mary Lucken, sold to Peter Lucken one hundred and fifty acres of said five hundred and five acres. PICTURE OF J. P. LUKENS, APPEARS HERE. Whether this Peter Lukens is a son of John or not is unknown. However, Peter and his wife, Gainor, deeded to John Lucken, Jr., and a parcel of land out of the one hundred and fifty acres. The John Lucken first named (anglicised into Lukens) was, in all probability, the great-great- grandfather of Joshua H. Lukens, who is a grandson of Seneca Lukens, who for many years resided at what is now known as Davis Grove, Montgomery Co., formerly known as the old "Kirk Tavern," on the old Philadelphia and Easton road. At that place Seneca Lukens reared a family of children, one of whom was Joseph S. Lukens, born First Month 21, 1786, father of Joshua P. Lukens, This Joseph S. Lukens married Susan, daughter of Joshua Paul, of Bucks County, Pa., and had children as follows: Isaiah, born in 1816 Hannah, born Third Month 14, 1819 (now the wife of Lukens Paul) Joshua P., born May 30, 1822 Sidnea Ann, born in 1825 Jervis S., born in 1828, died First Mouth 21, 1861 Sarah, born in 1833, died Eighth Month 7, 1872. Of these children, Joshua P. remained on the old homestead at Davis Grove until twenty-four years of age, performing such work as is usual for young men upon their father's farm. His educational advantages were such as were afforded in the old pay-schools of half a century ago, though, with his inclination to study, he obtained a good common-school education. He has always been one of those quiet, unobtrusive, honest, industrious men, seeking not the honors of this world, but seeking, rather, the comforts of home and the pleasant associations of his family. 905 The many and devious ways of the politician he never sought, and has never held a political office. The beautiful farm upon which he resides came to him by inheritance through or from his father-in-law, Mr. Root. The large, comfortable and convenient buildings have been erected and the beautiful grounds laid out and shrubbery planted since he came in possession of the property, in November, 1851, making it one of the very desirable farm properties in Horsham township. The farm, containing eighty-five acres, is under a high state of cultivation, and is one of the most productive in the township. Mr. Lukens married, March 25, 1847, Elizabeth, daughter of Conard and Sarah Root, of Philadelphia, Pa.; she was born December 16, 1823. The result of this union has been three children, as follows: First, Joseph C. Lukens, born December 5, 1847, married, November 2, 1881, Miss Louisa Stanhope, of Philadelphia; second, Emma N., born February 4, 1851, married, March 23, 1882, to Edwin Moore, of Upper Merion township, Montgomery Co., Pa.; third, Missouri Florence, born March 12, 1855, died September 6, 1883. JARRETT PENROSE. Samuel Penrose, grandfather of Jarrett Penrose, was born at Quakertown, Bucks Co., Pa. (we have no record of the date of his birth or death). He married Sarah, daughter of Abel Roberts, of the same place. They had ten children, as follows: Abel, born in 1778 Gainor, 1780 William, 1782 Everard, 1784 Mary, 1787 Benjamin, 1791 Susanna, 1793 Samuel, 1796 Margaret, 1798 Morris, 1801. He purchased Graeme Park property, and removed thereto in the year 1801. Sometime afterwards he purchased a farm in Warminster, Bucks Co. (which is now owned by Joshua Bennett), to which his son Benjamin moved. On the marriage of his son William (father of Jarrett) he sold him the Graeme Park property and moved to the Warminster farm. PICTURE OF JARRETT PENROSE, APPEARS HERE. William Penrose, son of Samuel and Sarah, was born at Quakertown, Pa., March 14, 1782, and came to Horsham with his father in 1801. He married Hannah, daughter of William and Ann Jarrett, of Horsham, and having bought of his father the Graeme Park property, he resided thereon until a few years before his death, when he purchased an adjoining property, and resided there until his death, which occurred on the 20th day of November, 1863, in his eighty-second year, his wife, Hannah, having died in 1850. They had seven children, four boys and three girls, as follows: Ann J., born September 25, 1811 Samuel, April 18, 1813 Jarrett, April 1, 1815 Abel, May 3, 1817 Hannah, February 28, 1820 William, March 26, 1822 Tacy S., October 14, 1823. 906 Ann J. married Abraham Iredell, of Horsham. Samuel died unmarried, aged thirty-five years Jarrett married Tacy A. Kirk, of Abington Abel married Sarah Beissel, of Allentown, Pa. Hannah married Isaac W. Hicks, of Newtown, Pa. William died in infancy Tacy S. married Morris Davis, of Warminster, Pa. Jarrett Penrose, the subject of the present sketch, was born at Graeme Park April 1, 1815, and resided thereat until his marriage with Tacy S. Kirk, daughter of John and Tabitha Kirk, of Abington, Montgomery Co., Pa., January 20, 1842. He then bought of Abraham Iredell's estate the farm in Horsham on which he now resides. His children are five in number, four now living, as follows: Ellen S., born January, 1843 Elizabeth H., January 4, 1845 William, July 31, 1847 Alfred, May 14, 1849 (who died in infancy) Samuel, May 5, 1852 They married as follows: Ellen S. married Edward T. Betts, of Warminster, Pa., now residing at Buffalo, N. Y. Their children are C. Walter, William P., Edward T., Jr., and Lizzie P. C. Walter married Lidie P. Haslam, of Philadelphia, Pa., and now residing in Buffalo. Elizabeth H. married Alfred Moore, of Horsham resides on the homestead farm. Their children are Ellie B. and Bertha A. William married Hannah Paul, of Warrington, Pa. and resides there. Their children are J. Howard, Morris P., William, Jr., and Lydia. Samuel married Mary C. Farren, of Doylestown, Pa., and resides there. They have one child, Cyril Farren. PICTURE OF ABEL PENROSE, APPEARS HERE. ABEL PENROSE. Abel Penrose, owner of Graeme Park farm, is the grandson of Samuel Penrose, who came from Richland Township, Backs Co., Pa., in 1801, and settled on the farm now, owned by Abel Penrose. The Penrose family was probably among the early settlers of that part of Bucks County from which Samuel emigrated. Samuel married Sarah Roberts, and, had children, as follows: William married Hannah daughter of William and Ann Jarrett (she was born Tenth Month, 1783 died in 1850) Abel (died Twelfth) Month 7, 1824, aged forty-six years and four months) Benjamin, married Rachael Fratt Morris, married Rebecca, daughter of Dr. Mitchell Everard (died Eighth Month 30, 1823, aged thirty-eight years, ten Months and twenty-three days) Margaret; Gainor; Mary (died Ninth Month 19, 1795, aged eight years, four months and eight days) Susanna (died Eighth Month 8, 1799, aged six years and thirteen days) Samuel (died Sixth Month, 1797, aged nine months and twenty-six days). Of these children, William, the oldest, was born Third Month 14, 1782, married as above stated, and died in 1863, aged eighty-one years, eight months and six days. William and Hannah Jarrett Penrose were the parents of children, as follows: Ann Jarrett (born Ninth Month 25, 1811), married Abraham Iredell Samuel (born Fourth Month 18, 1813, died Second Month 24, 1848, aged thirty-four years, ten months and six days) Jarrett (born Fourth Month 1, 1815), married Tacy Ann Kirk, and is one of the substantial farmers of Horsham township Abel (born Fifth Month 3, 1817) Hannah L. (born Second Month 20, 1820), married Isaac W. Hicks William (born Third Month 26, 1822, died Seventh Month 12, 1822) Tacy S. (born Tenth Month 14, 1823), married Morris Davis. 907 About the time William Penrose, the father of these children, was married he purchased from his father (Samuel) the old homestead, where he was born, lived and died. He was one of the sturdy yeomanry of Horsham, and a man of solid worth, steady habits, honored and respected by all who knew him. Abel Penrose, the fourth child of William, was married, December 25, 1856, to Sarah C., daughter of Daniel and Mary M. Beisel, of Allentown, Lehigh Co., Pa. She was born April 3, 1836. The children of Abel and Sarah C. Penrose have been as follows: Hannah J. (born 1858), married, November 16, 1882, A. D. Markley, M.D., of Hatboro', Pa., she is the mother of two children, - Penrose and Anna Markley; Morris B., 1860, unmarried; William, 1870; Mary M., 1877. The parents of Mrs. Penrose were natives of Catasauqua, Northumberland Co., Pa. Abel Penrose has thus far through life borne well his part in the business affairs of a farmer's life, to which all his energies have been devoted. His every act in his long and busy career has been devoid of offense to any one with whom he had occasion to transact the ordinary business affairs of life, and he is honored and respected by all who know him. He has been one of the progressive farmers of the period, attending strictly to his own business, leaving the political affairs of the township to be looked after by those who have a taste in that direction, being content himself with the right of suffrage. Mr. Penrose, unlike many farmers in our country, attended not only to the routine duties of the farm, but has found time to devote to seeking a knowledge of public men of all nations, and a personal inspection of not only his own country, but portions of Europe as well. He has visited Europe twice, and in 1844 he spent eight months in England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland, and is familiar with the everyday affairs of his own country to a degree beyond that of most men. With the large and beautiful farm he owns is connected a bit of history worth noting in connection with this sketch. For this historical sketch of the farm we are indebted to Mrs. Penrose, whose diligent researches brought the matter to light: "Keith House, in Horsham, was commenced in 1721; the coat-of-arms of the family, with the exception of the motto, 'Remember thy End,' was placed on the contract by Sir William, which proves the exact date of the house (1722). "The plate in the chimney was placed there by Dr. Graeme in 1728. Sir William Keith received the appointment through William Penn, and was, through his elegant manner of living, unpopular with the Quakers. He returned in 1728 and published in England and account of the colonies, and urged their taxation for the defense against the French and Indians. This is supposed to be the first suggestion of taxation which brought on the war of the Revolution. "Keith never returned to Pennsylvania, and died in the Old Bailey Prison, London, November 18, 1749. When Governor Keith came to Pennsylvania he brought with him his wife, who had been the widow of Robert Jiggs, of England, and his stepdaughter, Ann Jiggs, and also Dr. Thomas Graeme, who. lived in the city, north side of Chestnut Street, above Sixth. Dr. Thomas Graeme married Ann, step-daughter of Sir William Keith, November 12, 1719. After Sir William left for England, Dr. Graeme moved to what is now Horsham, and then named the place Graeme Park, which comprised a tract from Keith of twelve hundred acres. Keith had it as a hunting park, and grand fetes of hunting-parties of lords and gentlemen assembled at the house, and from there started out for deer, pheasants and other game. "As in the old country, Lady Keith lived in seclusion at Horsham and in Philadelphia, and died July 31, 1740, aged sixty-five years. "Dr. Graeme was in the course of his life a member of the Council, port physician and many years collector of the port of Philadelphia. Dr. and Ann Graeme, his wife, had a daughter who married a Ferguson. "Mrs. Elizabeth Ferguson lived at Graeme Park, and became noted through her alleged complicity in attempting to bribe Joseph Reed during the Revolutionary war. "Jane Graeme, sister of Dr. Graeme, lived also at the park, and married James Young and had three children; one of them married William Smith, M.D., a graduate of Pennsylvania University, in 1771, and father of Samuel F. Smith, for many years president of the Philadelphia Bank. "During the Revolution Graeme Park was the headquarters of General Lacey, commanding the Pennsylvania militia, in operations against the British. The drawing-room of the mansion was occupied as the guard-room and the lawn occupied by the headquarters camp. Graeme Park remained in the family of Dr. Graeme for a short time after the Revolutionary war, when it passed into other hands, and in 1801 came into possession of the Penrose family, where it still remains." The old stone mansion built by Keith is still standing, and in as good a state of preservation as when first built. It stands but a few rods from the residence of Mr. Penrose, and occupied by some of his tenants. Mrs. Penrose has in her possession an oil painting of Mrs. Ferguson, painted when she was a little girl of probably three or four summers. The work was evidently done by one of the old masters of the art, and is still perfect in every detail, and, to one of artistic taste is a painting of rare excellence, and is highly prized by its owner. 908 WILLIAM LUKENS JARRETT. William Lukens Jarrett is a lineal descendant of the pioneer family of that name who located in what is now Montgomery County, then Bristol township, Philadelphia Co. William J. Buck, in his "History of Montgomery County" speaks of Thomas and Levi Jarrett as living in what is now Upper Dublin township. John Jarrett, the great-grandfather of William L., was born in 1702, and Mr. Buck speaks of him as one of the first or original officers of the Hatboro' Library Company, in 1775. This John was married and had a son, Jonathan, who became the father of children, as follows: John, born in 1779; Richard; Isaac and Jonathan. John, who was, born in 1779, was married, Fifth Month 20, 1803 to Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan Lukens, of Horsham township; John was a farmer, and owned a farm near Babylon, -the farm now owned by Charles M. Jarrett. John Jarrett became the father of the following children: Jonathan, born in 1805, married Agnes Roberts, of Horsham township, and died in 1884. Agnes is also deceased. Ann, born in 1807, married Chalkley Kenderdine, and died in 1871; he died Second Month 23, 1885. James died in infancy. Mary, born in 1811, married Charles L. Dager, and now lives in Gwynedd township; Hannah, born in 1814, died in 1860; Tacy, born in 1816, married Richard S. Moore, of Horsham township. PICTURE OF WM. L. JARRETT, APPEARS HERE. William L., the subject of this notice, was born Sixth Month 28, 1819. He remained at home assisting in the duties and labors pertaining to farm-life, and at the death of his father, in 1849, purchased the old homestead, and continued the occupation of a farmer, adding to his landed estate as it seemed to him desirable, and in 1870 sold the, old homestead to Charles M. Jarrett, retaining for himself the farm occupied by Charles Dager and the store property at Davis Grove, where he resides with his nephew, John H. Jarrett. Mr. Jarrett has thus far passed through life in single blessedness, and without the annoyances in many instances pertaining to the marriage relation. His journey thus far has been one of honest industry and uprightness of character, and he is highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens as one of the progressive men of the age, who could be trusted in whatever capacity he was placed. He has honored the position of school director of Horsham for six years, and the office of town auditor, for several terms. Mr. Jarrett adheres strictly to the religion of his ancestors, and is a member of Horsham Monthly Meeting. 909 WILLIAM J. HALLOWELL AND THE "JARRETT HOMESTEAD FARM." William J. Hallowell was the son of John R. and Ann J. Hallowell, and was born October 12, 1813. PICTURE OF WM. J. HALLOWELL, APPEARS HERE. He assumed farming as an occupation on the completion of his education, which was in his twenty-first year, and in 1844 removed to the farm belonging to his mother, situated in Horsham township, known as the "Jarrett homestead farm," which is one of the tracts of land of Montgomery County that has remained in the same family since its settlement by William Penn, particularly interesting as being the homestead of the Jarrett family, which has become so numerous and widely scattered, and of which the following history and genealogical sketch has been gathered. Samuel Carpenter, in 1702, obtained from William Penn five thousand and eight acres of land, for one English silver shilling for every one hundred acres, which he disposed of to different parties of the early settlers, and in 1709 that now known as the "Jarrett homestead farm," with a part of the land owned by George W. Jarrett, was conveyed to John Lukens, supposed to be the father of Mary Lukens, who married John Jarrett, into whose possession the farm came in 1726, who was the first of the Jarrett family to settle in the then new county. From an old English Bible in possession of the family, -printed in 1715, which John Jarrett, in 1751, presented to his son John "and the heirs of his body forever and ever," it is learned that the name was in those days spelled Jerrett, and that he and his wife, Mary, emigrated from Scotland and were members of the Society of Friends. No account is given of their having but one child, known as John Jarrett, Jr., born 3d, Third Month, 1719, to whom all their and was deeded in 1741. 910 John Jarrett, Jr., married Alice Conard, and from their twelve children are descended numerous Jarretts, scattered in various parts of the country. These twelve, with their births and deaths, are as follows: John Jarrett, born Eighth Month 12, 1741, died Seventh Month 19, 1819 Mary (unmarried), born Seventh Month 25, 1742 Elizabeth, born Fifth Month 19, 1744 (married Mordecai Thomas), died, aged ninety years Hannah, born Eighth Month 2, 1745 (married John Heston) Rachel, born First Month 14, 1747 (married Anthony Williams), died First Month 12, 1818 William, born Ninth Month 23, 1748, died Ninth Month 13, 1827 Alice, born Eleventh Month 13, 1750 (married Jonathan Thomas), died Ninth Month 8, 1824 Jonathan, born First Month 31, 1753 (married Hannah Mather), died Third Month 8, 1835 David, born First Month 15, 1755 (married Rebecca Cadwallader), died Fifth Month 16, 1815 Jesse, born Third Month 26, 1757 (married Eliz. Palmer) Tacy (died young), born Seventh Month 24, 1758 Joseph, born Ninth Month 7, 1761 (married Rachel Edge), died Eleventh Month 24, 1861. William Jarrett, the sixth child of John and Alice Jarrett, married Ann, daughter of John Lukens, of Philadelphia, and came into the possession of the "homestead farm" in 1774. The children of William and Ann Jarrett were as follows: Jane Jarrett, born Twelfth Month 18, 1775 (married Thomas Thompson) Mary, born Second Month 2, 1777 William, born Fourth Month 19, 1779 (unmarried), died Eighth Month 10, 1860 Mary, born Sixth Month 15, 1781 (married Israel Hallowell, of Abington township), and died Sixth Month 26, 1867 Hannah Jarrett, born Tenth Month 1, 1783 (married William Penrose) Tacy, born Ninth Month 16, 1785 (married Charles Stokes, of Burlington County, N. J.), died Ninth Month 15, 1877 Ann, born Eleventh Month 26, 1787 (married John R. Hallowell, of Abington township), died Seventh Month 26, 1867 Alice, born Seventh Month 15, 1791 (married Caleb Lippincott, of Burlington County, N. J.), and died Ninth Month 15, 1831. On the death of William Jarrett, in 1827, one hundred and forty-six acres were deeded to his daughter Ann, married to John R. Hallowell, and the remaining seventy-eight acres were bought by her husband from the heirs for seventy dollars per acre, so that they became possessors of all the original tract. For a period of fifteen years the same tract was rented to John Scott for the sum of three hundred dollars a year, which was finally increased to six hundred dollars. In 1844, Ann Jarrett Hallowell's son, William J. Hallowell (the present owner), took possession, and in 1863, for the average sum of one hundred and five dollars per acre, a deed for the same was transferred to him. On the 28th of Third Month, 1845, he was married to Tacy Ann Paul, daughter of Joshua Paul, of Bucks County, who was the possessor of a large tract of land joining the Jarrett homestead farm, a portion of the same five thousand and eight acres which Samuel Carpenter obtained of William Penn, transferred in 1727 to James Paul, a son of Joseph Paul, of Oxford township, who is supposed to have emigrated from Wales about 1700. This farm has also ever since remained in the same family, at present in that of the fifth generation. Of the five children of William J. and Tacy Ann Hallowell, the third, William J. Hallowell, Jr., is the only son. He married Anna E. Thomas, daughter of the late Abner and Sarah Ann Thomas, of Montgomery County, and in 1873 took possession of the "Jarrett homestead farm," which he still occupies. The Doylestown and Willow Grove turnpike, made in 1839, cut the farm, which was square in shape, diagonally in two, and supplanted the old Easton road, which was the route by which all the merchandise was conveyed from Philadelphia to Easton, that now passing by Davis Grove, then known as Jarrett's Corner, and forming the western boundary line of the farm, being a part of the same. On the western side of the same pike, buildings were erected in 1872, which have ever since been occupied by the present owner; thus the original tract, comprising two hundred and twenty acres, is divided into two farms of about one hundred and ten acres each, although as yet they are virtually one and the same, in that they continue, as heretofore, to be managed and cultivated. The "Jarrett homestead farm," one of the most productive and valuable in the county, is possessed of considerable historic interest, in that there are centered the numerous traditions connected with the large family of Jarretts. At present there reside on it three generations, and the ninth to-day is as loyal to the religious Society of Friends as were its ancestors of over a century and a half ago. The homestead farm well attests to the energy and capacity of its present owner and the ability, which characterizes him in all undertakings of a public nature. A man of education and culture, and so eminently successful as a farmer, he is prominent in Montgomery County as one who has done much in a practical way to lift hand-work from the contempt into which it has fallen, and to prove the entire compatibility of manual labor and mental culture. The following are the children of William J. and Tacy Ann Paul Hallowell: Annie J., born Eighth Month 10, 1846, married Elwood Lukens, and died Tenth Month 27, 1873 (they were the parents of one child, -Annie H., born Ninth Month 21, 1873, died Eleventh Month 29, 1873) Hannah P., born Eleventh Month 29, 1848 William J., Jr., born Tenth Month 9, 1851 Lizzie W., born Fifth Month 10, 1854 Mary P., born Fifth Month 17, 1858. 911 The following record is taken from same source as above. Children of Joseph Paul, son of James Paul and Mary, his wife, and Hannah Paul, daughter of James Paul and Sarah, his wife, - Sarah Paul, born Fifth Month 7, 1771; Sidney Paul, born Second Month 4, 1773; John Paul, born Sixth Month 23, 1774; Howard Paul, born Sixth Month 25, 1781; Yeamans Paul, born Twelfth Month 21, 1783. Children of Joshua Paul, son of Joseph Paul and Hannah, his wife, and Hannah Stokes, daughter of John and Susanna Stokes, - Susanna Paul, born Ninth Month 13, 1797 Joseph Paul, born Eleventh Month 11, 1799 Sidnea Paul, born Third Month 7, 1802 John Paul, born Seventh Month 29, 1804 Morris Paul, born Eleventh Month 30, 1807 Hannah and Commings Paul (twins), born Fifth Month 3, 1809 Rachel S. Paul, born Third Month 14, 1812 Yeamans Paul, born Ninth Month 5, 1814; Tacy Ann Paul, born Third Month 28, 1817. PICTURE OF GILBERT W. ELY, APPEARS HERE. Gilbert W. Ely is of English-Irish descent, as grandfather, George Ely, was a native or England and his grandmother, Sarah (McGill) Ely, was a native of Ireland, both emigrating to this country during the latter part of the last century, and locating in Bucks County, Pa., where they became the parents of a family, one of whom was William. Gilbert W. Ely, son of William and Rebecca Ely, was born Eleventh Month 17, 1804, in Newtown, Bucks Co., Pa., where he lived until 1828, when he married and moved to Montgomery County, Pa., where he, in 1854, purchased a farm, upon which he resided till 1877, when he purchased the property he now occupies in Horsham township and retired from the active duties of a farmer. Mr. Ely has lived upon a farm all his life, or until 1877, always attending strictly to the duties pertaining to that branch of business, honored and respected by his fellow-townsmen and acquaintances, seeking neither honor nor profit from any but the hard-earned source of an honest farmer's life. He has diligently shunned the path leading to political honors, never having occupied but two official positions, -a school director and a township collector, each for a term of three years. He was born and reared in the Society of Friends, and is a member of the Horsham Monthly Meeting. He was married Tenth Month 4, 1828, to Sarah D., daughter of Joshua and Hannah Corson, who was born Eighth Mouth 26, 1808, in Upper Makefield, Bucks Co., Pa. Her father and mother were both natives of Bucks County, where her father was born in 1780 and died in 1870, and where also his wife died in July, 1855, aged seventy-five years. Benjamin Corson, grandfather of Mrs. Ely, was born in Bucks County, where he died at the age of sixty-six years. Sarah Dungan, wife of Benjamin Corson, was also a native of Bucks County, where she also died at the age of sixty-six years. 912 The following are the names of the children and grandchildren of George W. and Sarah D. Ely. I. Hannah C., born Second Month 1, 1830, married George, son of Naylor Webster, of Horsham township. Their children are Joshua C., born First Month 0, 1856; and Ella, born Eighth Month 27, 1857. II. Joshua C., born Ninth Month 28, 1833, died Sixth Month 1, 1853. III. Rebecca Smith, born First Mouth 29, 1837, married George S., son of Charles Teas, of Horsham township. They have one child, Ellen, born Tenth Month 15, 1857. IV. William Elwood, born Ninth Month 13, 1842 married Hannah, daughter of Samuel and Hannah Cunard, of Fitzwater Township, Bucks Co., Pa. They have children,- Francis Edward C., born Third Month 26, 1867; Bertha Estelle, born Eighth Month 22, 1868. In 1862, William Elwood Ely commenced the study of medicine, and graduated in 1864 from the University of Pennsylvania, and during that year was commissioned as surgeon in the United States army and assigned to duty at Fraley Hospital, Washington, D. C., and subsequently placed in charge of the Sixth Veteran Reserves, at Sherburn Barracks. He was subsequently transferred to Philadelphia, Pa., and assigned to duty in McClellan United States Army General Hospital, and subsequently appointed examining surgeon for General Hancock's corps, Army of the Potomac. At the close of the war he returned to Fox Chase, where he commenced the practice of medicine, practicing in that place and Frankford until 1877, when he relinquished the practice of medicine and engaged in the real estate business at North Wales, Montgomery Co., Pa., where he now resides. V. Anna Louisa, born Third Month 31, 1847, married Israel, son of Robert and Mary Mullins, of Horsham Township. Anna Louisa died Third Month 16, 1883, leaving three sons,- Howard E., born Tenth Month 6, 1874 Clarence, born Eighth Month 3, 1877 Wesley, born Seventh Month 8, 1882. VI. Adele C., born Second Month 25, 1853, married Samuel C., son of Amos and Ascenath Lukens, of Philadelphia. They have children,- Elsie, born Second Month 24, 1876, died Seventh Month 16, 1876 Gilbert E., born Eleventh Month 17, 1877, died Sixth Month 1, 1880 Jessie May, born Fifth Month 2, 1880; Marion, born Twelfth Month 27, 1882 Edward S., born Twelfth Month 27, 1883. JACOB KIRK. I. John Kirk, progenitor of this branch of the family of that name in Montgomery County, emigrated from Freedtown, Derbyshire, England, in 1687, and located in Darby (now Upper Darby), in Delaware County, Pa., where he purchased five hundred acres of land. He was a member of the Friends' Society, and was married in the Darby Meeting, the same year he located, to Joan, daughter of Peter Elliott, and died in 1705. John and Joan Kirk were the parents of ten children. II. John, the second son of John and Joan Kirk, was born the 29th of First Mouth, 1692. In 1712, this John, Jr., purchased from John and Sarah Ironmonger two hundred acres of land in Abington township, adjoining Upper Dublin township, on which he lived the remainder of his life. The price paid for this two hundred acre tract was two hundred and sixty pounds. He subsequently made another purchase of five hundred acres of land in Upper Dublin Township. It appears that he was a stone-mason by occupation, and in 1722 built the stone mansion for Sir William Keith on the farm now owned by Abel Penrose, in Horsham township, and known as Graeme Park Mansion. In that year he married, in Abington Meeting, Sarah, daughter of Rynear Tyson, the emigrant. John and Sarah Kirk were the parents of eight children. III. Jacob, the fourth son of John and Sarah Kirk, was born 20th of Seventh Month, 1735. He married, in Abington Meeting, in 1760, Elizabeth, daughter of John Cleaver, of Bristol township, Philadelphia Co., Pa. He inherited the homestead, lived to be ninety-three years of age, and died in the same house where he was born. They were the parents of eight children. IV. Jacob, the third son of Jacob And Elizabeth Kirk, was born the 23d of Ninth Month, 1769, and in 1792 he married, in Horsham Meeting, Rebecca, daughter of Charles and Phebe Iredell, and they became the parents of eleven children. His father, Jacob Kirk, Sr., divided his farm of two hundred acres, and erected new building.-, on that part adjoining the Welsh road, where the father, mother and three of their children ended their days. V. Aaron, second son of Jacob and Rebecca Kirk, was born in Abington township, Montgomery Co., Second Month 2, 1802, and lived on his father's farm until he was between fifteen and sixteen years of age, when he was apprenticed to Stevenson Croesdale, of Mechanicsville, then in Byberry township, now in the Twenty-third Ward of Philadelphia, to learn the trade of a wheelwright. After serving his time he worked as a Journeyman wheelwright for about two years, when by an accident he lost a portion of his right arm. He was then engaged for a few years in the manufacture of lime at Sandy Run, Pa., and in 1836 he purchased the farm now occupied by his son Jacob, where he lived until the date of his death, which occurred March 29, 1877. He married, in Byberry Monthly Meeting, Third 3d month 14, 1833, Ann, daughter of Samuel and Rachel Paul, of Byberry township, now Twenty-third Ward, Philadelphia; she was born Fifth Month 10, 1807, and died Fourth Month 9, 1881. 913 Their children were as follows: Rachel, born Eleventh Month 2, 1835, died Third Month 2, 1837 Jacob, born Fourth Month 1, 1838 Edwin, born September, 1840 Stephen Treadwell, born in February, 1842, died Twelfth Month 16, 1877, aged thirty-five years. Of the Paul family, Samuel died Fourth Month 8, 1845, aged seventy-five years; Phebe K. Stackhouse died Fifth Month 6, 1845, aged forty-five years and three months; Rachel Paul died Eleventh Month 27, 1851, aged eighty- four years and four months; Hannah A. Martindale died Fourth Month 18, 1874, aged forty years. PICTURE OF JACOB KIRK, APPEARS HERE. VI. Jacob Kirk, eldest son of Aaron and Rachel, was married, Eleventh Month 26, 1864, to Mary Ann Amanda, daughter of Martin and Mary K. Bowen, of Schuylkill Haven, Schuylkill Co., Pa. The result of this union has been,- Ida Genevieve, born First Month, 31, 1866, married Oliver Hazard S. Mourer, of Watsontown, Northumberland Co., Pa. They have one child, Cleveland Kirk, born July 13, 1884 Mary Ann, born August 6, 1867 Aaron, born November 6, 1869. Carrie Burnham and Emma Elizabeth twins, born First Month 24, 1875 The first-named died Third Month 12, 1876, and the last-named died Fifth Month 10, 1883. Mr. Kirk inherited the homestead, containing eighty-four acres of land, where he still conducts the affairs of the farm with that skill and Shrewdness that places him in the front rank of the progressive farmers of Horsham township, if not in the county. Unlike many others similarly situated, he yields not to the tempting bait of political honors, and refuses to place himself in a position where his honor might be called in question. Religiously he is by birthright a Friend, and adheres strictly to the religious doctrines expounded by George Fox. 914 THOMAS B. GEATRELL. The parents of Mr. Geatrell, George and Ann Geatrell, were both born on the Isle of Wight, England, and came to America in July, 1821, in the employ of a farmer named Hearn, who then owned the farm now owned by the Clayton estate, on the Welsh road, Gwynedd township, and about two years after their arrival in this country were married, and soon commenced farming on their own account in Gwynedd township, where Thomas B. Geatrell, the subject of this sketch, was born March 11, 1824. His early life was spent upon the farm with his parents, and at the common or "paid schools" of that period. His father, in the mean time had purchased a small farm near what is known as the "Broad Axe," in Whitpain township and now owned by the estate of Clement Comly. In 1850, Thomas commenced business for himself on his father's farm, where he remained but one year, when he purchased and moved on to the old and well known Iredell farm, in Horsham township, where he remained at farming, butchering and marketing for the Philadelphia markets until 1870, when he retired from active duties of a larger farmer and moved to the small place he now lives, in the enjoyment of the fruits of his labors, and the satisfaction of a well-earned reputation for honesty, sobriety and fair dealings with his fellow-men. Mr. Geatrell has never sought political preferment and is free from the suspicions usually attaching to those whose lives are guided by such influences. He is a member of the Boehm Reformed Church at Blue Bell, Whitpain township, and for many years one of its trustees, and since 1878 one of its elders. He was one of the original stockholders of the First National Bank of Ambler, and has been one of its directors from its organization to the present time. Mr. Geatrell was married December 25, 1848 to Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Ann Jackson Ashton. Mrs. Geatrell was born May 17, 1828, and was the youngest of four children. Her mother died in 1842, and her father in 1849. The children of Thomas B. and Elizabeth Geatrell are: George, born December 8 1849. He married Carrie Kulp and now resides at Penllyn, Gwynedd Township. Mary, born September 3, 1852, died when nineteen years of age. She was the wife of R. Comly Wilson, who now lives near Newtown, Pa. Horace A., born August 2, 1860, married Mary Smith, and now lives on the old homestead. Anna B., born December 13, 1867, married February 26, 1885, to Robert Comly, of Horsham township. George Geatrell, the father of Thomas B., died in 1878, His mother, Ann Geatrell, is still living, at the advanced age of eighty- four years, an to a remarkable degree retains all her faculties. They were the parents of three children,- Thomas B. Elizabeth and Mary. Elizabeth is the mother of George Hoover, a prominent lawyer of Norristown, Montgomery Co., Pa. 915 LUKENS PAUL. Lukens Paul is a grandson of Joseph Paul, who was born Seventh Month 27, 1739, and died Third Month 13, 1799. His wile, Hannah Paul, was born Eighth Mouth 3, 1744, and died Twelfth Month 14, 1802. They lived for many years on the farm now owned by Joseph Paul, in Backs County, about half a mile from what is now known as Davis Grove Post-Office, in Horsham township, Montgomery Co. Of their early life, or the influence they exerted in moulding and fashioning the course pursed by the generations that have followed them, we can only judge by the fruit grown from the original stock, which is honest, industrious and law abiding in every sense of the word, The children of Joseph and Hannah Paul were Sarah, born Fifth Month 7, 1771, and died Eighth Month 4, 1812 Sidnea, born Second Month 4, 1773 Joshua, born Sixth Month 3, 1774 Hannah, born Sixth Month 21, 1781 Yeamans Paul, born Fourth Month 5, 1783, and died Ninth Month 10, 1837. Yeamans Paul, the youngest child of Joseph and Hannah, was born on the farm adjoining the one above alluded to, now owned by Joseph Paul, where he spent his days, and where his children were born. His wife was Susan Lukens, who was born Seventh Month 18, 1791, and died Fourth Month 27, 1869. Their children were Lukens Paul, the subject of this sketch, who was born Third Month 27, 1813, and Joseph Paul, born Second Month 1, 1817, and died when in his thirty-fourth year. The farm on which Lukens Paul was born, adjoining Joseph Paul's, is a part of an original tract which contained four hundred and fifty or five hundred acres; the farm, however, is now held by Elizabeth Ivins. It was on that farm that Mr. Lukens Paul spent his early life, or until he was twenty-six years of age, which he married Hannah S., daughter of Joseph S. and Susannah P. Lukens, First Month 31, 1839. He then purchased the farm of one hundred and three acre formerly owned by his maternal grandfather, Azor Lukens, and at once settled down to the business of a farmer and thus continued for a period of years to be a faithful honest, industrious tiller of the soil, which yielded abundantly under his management, and in due time brought him a sufficiency of this world's goods that enabled him, in 1867 to retire from the active duties of an agriculturist, and now resides upon his fifteen acre lot, where, with his wife, he enjoys the comforts and blessings with which they are surrounded and encouraged in their journey to the golden gates of the great future. Mr. Paul has never held or sought any office of a political character, yet is honored with a seat in the board of directors of Farmers' Hay-Market Association, Seventh and Oxford Streets, Philadelphia. The children of Lukens and Hannah S. Paul are Elwood Paul, born Seventh Month 30, 1840, married Tenth Month 24, 1867, Martha Ellen Shoemaker. The result of this union has been two children, Harry Elwood and Bertha H. Isabella Paul, born Tenth Month 14, 1845, married, Fourth Month 8, 1969, to Oliver P. Knight. Their children are L. Paul Knight, born Seventh Month 16, 1870 Joseph Elwood Knight, born Ninth Month 18, 1876. Joseph S. Lukens, father of Mrs. Lukens Paul, was born First Month 21, 1786, and died Fifth Month 25, 1875. His wife, Susanna P. Lukens, died Tenth Month 4, 1872, aged seventy-five years and twenty-one days. Their children are Isaiah Hannah S., wife of Lukens Paul, born Third Month 14, 1819 Joshua P. Sidnea A. Jervis S., died First Month 21, 1861, aged thirty-two years, three months, eight days. His wife, Ann P. Lukens, died Second Month 18, 1858; aged thirty-four years. Sarah Lukens died Eighth Month 7, 1872, aged thirty-nine years, ten months and ten days, unmarried.