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GENERAL THOMAS J. STEWART, adjutant general of the state of Pennsylvania, is a native of Ireland, born near the city of Belfast, September 1848. When he was about one year old his parents came to America, settling in Norristown, and his rearing was thus entirely in America and after the American manner.

He received his education in the public schools and then attended the Quaker City Business College in Philadelphia. At the age of sixteen he entered the Union army as a private in the One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and until the close of the war performed the full measure of a soldier's duty. From 1870 to 1882 he was engaged as a manufacturer of and dealer in window glass.

General Stewart has long been prominent in the public affairs of the commonwealth, and has made a most enviable record in connection With its military establishment. In 1885 he was elected to the house of representatives of the state of Pennsylvania, and served in the session of that and the following year. He had enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard in 1868, and in 1877 was appointed adjutant of the Sixth Regiment. September 20, 1889, he was assigned to duty as assistant adjutant general of the First Brigade, and was reappointed in 1894.

He had developed splendid qualifications for this, the most important of staff positions, and on January 15, 1895, he was appointed adjutant-general of the state by Governor Hastings; was reappointed by Governor Stone, January 17, 1899; and again by Governor Pennypacker, January 21, 1904, and is yet serving in that position. To him is due in greater degree than to any other officer the superb condition of the National Guard of Pennsylvania and the splendid esprit de corps which characterizes both rank and file. He has been identified with the Pennsylvania Soldiers' and Sailors Home from the inauguration of the institution, and has rendered useful service in bringing it to its present condition of efficiency.

He was appointed on the part of the house of representatives of Pennsylvania, a member of the commission to locate and establish the institution. He was afterward made a member of its board of trustees on the part of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was also elected secretary of that body and also of the commission. In 1890 he was chosen a member of the board of commissioners in charge of the Soldiers' Orphans' School, and November 4, 1890, he was elected secretary of its internal affairs.

General Stewart has for many years been very active in connection with the Grand Army of the Republic, and has long held positions of great importance and influence in that incomparable organization. From 1882 to 1888 he was assistant adjutant general of the Department of Pennsylvania, and in 1890 served as department commander.

 

In 1883 he was appointed assistant adjutant general of the Grand Army of the Republic for the United States. In 1897 he was appointed adjutant general by Commander-in-Chief J. P. S. Gobin; was reappointed in 1898 by Commander-in-Chief James A. Sexton; and was again reappointed in 1899 by Commander-in-Chief Albert D. Shaw. In October, 1902, he was called to the supreme position of commander-in-chief.

 

 

ROBERT IREDELL, for many years editor and proprietor of the Norristown Herald and Free Press; and for nearly a quarter of a century the postmaster of Norristown, was born October 15, 1809, at the family homestead In Horsham township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.

The Iredells are one of the oldest families, of eastern Pennsylvania. Thomas Iredell, the immigrant, arrived at Philadelphia the hitter part of the year 1700 from Pardsay Cragg, Cumberland, England. He married Rebecca Williams, in the Friends' meeting house, then at Second and Market streets, Philadelphia, 3d mo. 9, 1705. His son Robert, grandfather of Robert Iredell, the subject of this sketch, married Hannah Lukens, granddaughter of Jan Lucken, the immigrant, who with twelve other families came from Crefeld, Germany, on the ship "Concord," arriving at Philadelphia on October 6, 1683, and settled at Germantown. Robert Iredell and Hannah Lukens were married 2d mo. 29, 1745. He was born 1st mo. 4, 1721, and died in 1779. She was born 8th mo. 21, 1727, and died in 1812.

 

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Jonathan Iredell, father, married Hannah Kirk, 10th mo. 5, 1792. He was the son of Robert and Hannah (Lukens) Iredell, and was born 10th mo. 17, 1765, and died in 1850. His wife was born 9th mo. 25, 1767, and died in 1848. Robert Iredell, subject of this sketch, was the youngest of eight soils of Jonathan and Hannah (Kirk) Iredell.

They were: Charles S., born 1794, died, 1867; George B., born in 1795, died in 1876; Joseph L, born in 1797, died in 1891; James W., born in 1799, died in 1887; Thomas, born in 1802, died in 1865; Seth, born in 1805, died in infancy; Jonathan born in 1806, died in 1864; Robert, born in 1809, died October 24, 1904.

The following is the certificate given by his meeting in England to Thomas Iredell, the immigrant, on his removal to Philadelphia:

"From our Monthly Meeting upon Pardsay Cragg, in Cumberland, ye 27th of 6th month, 1700, to Friends in Pennsylvania and other parts of America. Dear Friends and Brethren-Ye tender salutations of our dearest love of truth always continues and reaches forth to you. The account we give you is in behalf of a young man, ye bearer hereof, Thomas Iredell, who this day has laid before us ye transporting of himself into Pennsylvania, requesting our certificate along with him.

"We therefore certifie to all where he may come that he has of late years come frequently among Friends, His carriage appears to be sober and truth like, those who know him best give no other account but well. He comes with consent of his mother, though no Friend, and inquiry hath been made as to his clearness in relation to marriage, and nothing appears to ye contrary. We need not further enlarge; but subscribe ourselves your friends and brethren in behalf of the aforesaid meeting.

"Tho. Tiffin, John Wilson, John Burnyeat, William Dixon, John Nolson, James Dickinson, Josias Ritson, Tho. Watson, William Bonch."

Robert Iredell, the subject of this sketch, was educated in Horsham township, and went to Norristown in 1827. He was apprenticed to David Sower, Jr., to learn the printing trade. Four years later he purchased the Norristown Free Press, and six years afterwards he consolidated it with the Norristown Herald, founded by David Sower in 1799, which he bought from John Hodgson. He was the editor of the paper for twenty-seven years. In 1835 he was appointed Recorder of Deeds. In 1864 he sold the Herald to Morgan R. Wills and his son, Robert Iredell, Jr., the plant later becoming the sole property of Mr. Wills, and so continuing to the present time. When Robert Iredell became a citizen of Norristown in 1827, it was a mere village. The first railroad along the Schuylkill Valley was not completed until several years later. There were three other young men similarly employed when he was learning his trade, who afterwards became men of prominence as well as himself.

 

They were Samuel D. Patterson and William H. Powell, at the Register office, and Philip R. Freas, who was a fellow apprentice with him at the Herald office. Mr. Freas became in 1830 the founder of the Germantown Telegraph, long an influential journal. The Free Press, which Robert Iredell purchased soon after coming of age and afterwards merged with the Herald, when he bought it of John Hodgson in 1837, had been founded by Henry S. Bell, as an anti-Masonic organ. Robert Iredell conducted one of the best Whig journals in Pennsylvania, having as his associates in the management of the paper William Butler, of West Chester, afterwards Judge Butler, of the United States District Court, who purchased a half-interest in the Herald in 1843, and remained eighteen months, having in the meantime entered the legal profession, and Loyd Jones, Robert Iredell's brother-in-law, not only a vigorous writer but a reliable business assistant. Jones retired from the Herald in 1862, and took a position in the provost marshal's office, dying in 1870.

 

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Robert Iredell, in addition to his journalistic achievements, was very actively interested in politics. In 1848 be was a delegate from Montgomery county to the Whig national convention in Philadelphia which nominated Zachary Taylor for president, and there met Abraham Lincoln, John Sherman and Schuyler Colfax, each a delegate from his congressional district. Sherman and Colfax were elected secretaries of the convention. Sherman impressed him favorably being young, intelligent and full of force, and occupying a prominent position in the convention although it was his first experience. He was also pleased with Lincoln, who was a conspicuous character because of his height, standing head and shoulders above most of the members of the convention. Robert Iredell met these three men very frequently later. Lincoln, as president, named him as postmaster of Norristown, a position which he held for twenty-two years continuously, except that he was out of office during the Andrew Johnson administration, his term expiring soon after Grover Cleveland became president. As postmaster he was a model official,- courteous, obliging, and attentive to the interests of the public. Robert Iredell voted seventeen times for president of the United States, and never missed an important election of any kind-local, state or national. He was one of the first editors in the state of Pennsylvania to place the name of John C. Fremont, the first Republican nominee for the presidency, in 1856, at the head of his paper.

Robert Iredell, subject of this sketch, married, 10th mo. 18, 1832, Teressa Jones, who was born 1st mo. 23, 1813, and died 6th mo. 12, 1868. The Jones family are of Welsh descent, and were long resident in Lower Merion township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. Teressa (Jones) Iredell, wife of Robert, was the daughter of Charles and Phebe (Jones) Jones. Her father was the son of John Jones, and her mother the daughter of Lloyd (born 8th mo. 30, 1765, died 9th mo. 13, 1857, at the age of ninety-two years) and Esther (Tunis) Jones. The parents of Lloyd Jones were Paul (born 1737, died 1821) and Phebe (Roberts) Jones. Phebe Roberts was the daughter of John and Susanna Roberts. The parents of Paul Jones were Gerrard (1705-1765) and Sarah (Lloyd) Jones, (first wife) born 1703, died 1739.

Going back another generation Mrs. Iredell's ancestors were Robert and Ellen (Jones) Jones, Robert Jones was the second son of John ap Thomas and Katherine Robert, whose children took the name John or Jones. The father of John ap Thomas was Thomas ap Hugh. Esther Tunis, grandmother of Mrs. Robert Iredell, was a descendant of Dr. Thomas Wynne, the first speaker of the Pennsylvania assembly, who came in the "Welcome," with William Penn. The Rees, Humphrey, Warner, and other prominent families of Lower Merion were included in the ancestral line of Mrs. Iredell. (For further particulars of the Jones family see "Merion in the Welsh Tract.")

The children of Robert and Teressa Iredell: Jonathan, born 12th mo. 28, 1833, died 9th mo. 14, 1834; Charles Jones, born 10th mo. 22) 1835, died 8th mo. 13, 1862; James Wilkins Iredell Jr., born 6th mo. 17, 1841, has been long a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he is the general manager of the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, he enlisted in June, 1861, in the Fifty-first Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers and continued throughout the war; Robert, Jr., born 3d mo. 17, 1844, died 10th mo. 22, 1893, was the publisher of the Lehigh Register and Allentown Chronicle of Allentown, Pennsylvania, the last named a daily; William Corson, born 2d mo. 6, 1838, died 8th mo. 3, 1839; Phebe J., born 7th mo. 22, 1847, died 8th mo. 28, 1888.

Charles J. Iredell learned the trade of printing in the Herald office, and entered the Fourth Regiment on the breaking out of the Rebellion. The three month's term of enlistment of the men expired prior to the battle of Bull Run, but Charles J. Iredell was one of four members of the organization who remained and participated in the fight. Subsequently he re-enlisted in Colonel John Frederic Hartranft's regiment, the Fifty-first, receiving the appointment of sergeant-major, He was, however, destined to a tragic fate, being one of seventy-three men, most of them soldiers, who were drowned while on their way to Fredericksburg on the steamer "West Point," when it was sunk in a collision with the steamer "Peabody" in the Potomac river.

 

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James W. Iredell, Jr., married Virginia E. Rust, October 6, 1868. Their children: Teressa J., married, April 10, 1901, John Omwake; Frank Rust, Virginia Rust; Charles Jones married, November 20, 1900, Adelaide Monfort. Robert Iredell, Jr., (deceased) married, June 17, 1868, Matilda Von Tagen. Their children: Florence married November 20, 1895, Robert James Berger, and has one child, Robert Iredell Berger; Robert Iredell, 3d, deceased; James Wilkins Iredell, 4th, deceased; Lloyd Jones Iredell, Rodney Rogers Iredell; Edmund L., married, October 3, 1894, Bertha Effie Black and has one daughter, Virginia, born September 15, 1896.

Robert Iredell, subject of this sketch, belonged to a long-lived race. The ages of his parents and grandparents at the time of their death six persons in all, aggregated 496 years. Few men in the community in which he spent his whole adult life were so much respected as Robert Iredell. Of a kindly, gentle disposition, he was affable and courteous to all. He was, however, dignified in his bearing, and somewhat reserved in his manners, except with his intimate friends. He lived to see the hundredth anniversary of the Herald celebrated in 1899, and was able to contribute at that time a column of reminiscences of his own, some of them dating back nearly three-quarters of a century. The latter part of his life was spent in retirement, and during the last few years he was a resident of the Friends' Boarding Home, at Swede and Powell streets, Norristown, where he died 10th mo. 24, 1904, retaining his faculties remarkably to the time of his last illness, and taking much interest in passing events.

He was ninety-five years and nine days old at the time of his death. His funeral took place on the 27th, add was largely attended. Several floral tributes were laid upon his coffin in the parlor of the home, from the Norris Hose Company, of which he was a member, from the Herald, and from relatives. Mary Singley, Ellwood Roberts and others spoke feelingly of the life and character of the deceased, of his uniform kindness and gentleness, of his long life of usefulness, and of his interest in the welfare of those around him. The interment was in the burial ground of Friends at Plymouth Meeting.

Robert Iredell was a lifelong member of the Society of Friends. His immigrant ancestor, Thomas Iredell, was the first of the family who was a Friend; his father being Robert Iredell, of Rigg Bank, England, whose wife was Ellinore Jackson. According to the record, the son, Thomas Iredell, the immigrant, was baptized in 1676, corroborating the certificate in the statement that his mother was "no Friend."

In 1902, when James W. Iredell, Jr., son of Robert Iredell, the subject of this sketch, was in England, he visited the old Iredell homestead at Loweswater, in Cumberland county, which is in the possession of John Iredell, teller of the bank at Cockermouth, in that vicinity. He is a lineal descendant of the ancestors of the American Iredells. The old mansion still forms part of his residence, being over three hundred years old. John Burnyeat, a minister of the Society of Friends, who was one of the signers of the above certificate, married an Iredell. He visited America several years prior to the coming of William Penn, in company with George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends.

 

 

JOHN BEANS CARRELL, M. D., a leading physician of Hatboro, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, was born in Warminster township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, July 11, 1851. He is the son of Ezra Patterson and Margaret Long (Beans) Carrell, Ezra P. Carrell, father of Dr. Carrell, was the second son and third child of Joseph Carrell by his first wife, Mary Gill. Ezra P. Carrell was born January 16, 1826, in the house in which all his children were born.

Joseph Carrell, grandfather, was born on the homestead, June 1, 1792. He was the son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Jamison) Carrell. The wife of Jacob Carrell was the daughter of Daniel Jamison, of Durham township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, who served in Captain Shupe's company during the Revolutionary war. Jacob Carroll, great-grandfather, was the son of James and Dianah Carrell. He was born on the family homestead, December 12, 1732.

 

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Mary Gill (grandmother of Dr. Carrell) was the daughter of John and Sidney (Hunter) Gill, She was born October 21, 1792, her marriage to Joseph Carrell taking place March 25, 1821. She had three children- Hugh Jamison, Emily and Ezra Patterson. John Gill, father of Mary (Gill) Carrell, was born at York, England, January 21, 1750. He learned the shoemaking trade with his father and went from York to London to engage in that occupation. From London he came to Philadelphia, where he married, August 12, 1785, Sidney Hunter, who was born November 29, 1763, and came from Ireland to America in 1775, when she was twelve years of age. The couple prospered financially and in their family. They lived for several years in a fine house at Dublin, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. From that place they removed to Northampton township, in the same county, where he died April 14, 1835, and she March 5, 1847. Both were buried in the Churchville Reformed church. From this couple sprang the numerous Gills of Bucks county, now distributed in many sections of the country. They had nine children-Frances, Rebecca, John, Mary, Anna, Sidney, Henry, Claressa, and Lydia.

The Carrell homestead, a large farm in Northampton township, was purchased by James and Dianah Carrell in 1711. Nothing definite is known of James Carrell prior to 1709. Gen. W. W. H. Davis, in his "History of Bucks County," page 198, in his description of Southampton township, says: "As the location and soil were inviting, settlers flocked in rapidly, and in 1709 we find the additional name of James Carrell." By this is appears that he was in Southampton township in 1709, and there is reason to believe that he emigrated to this country between 1696 and 1700 from Rathmullan, a small town on Lough Swilly, near Londonderry, in the north of Ireland.

Tradition has it that the ancestors of Dr. Carrell were confined in the city of Londonderry during the famous siege, for one hundred and five days, and with others suffered great privations and that Elizabeth Jamison, a Carrell ancestor, was drowned in the dock of Londonderry because she would not renounce the Protestant faith. Being Scotch-Irish they were one of the numerous families who settled in Warminster, Warwick, Warrington, and Northampton townships, along or near the Montgomery county line, and their interests were closely interwoven with those of their neighbors. Presbyterianism has strong root in the Carrell family, and, while a few of its members have joined other denominations, the family continue very largely devout Presbyterians.

James Carrell was without doubt one of the organizers of the Neshaminy church, located in Warwick township, on the bank of the historic Neshaminy, where the Bristol road crosses it, and the old homestead is on the same road about three miles from the old church. For almost two centuries the Carrells have been important factors in this and the sister Presbyterian church, Neshaminy, of Warminster. The family has contributed a number of prominent clergymen to the Presbyterian denomination, and many physicians bear the name of Carrell.

In fact the Carrells may be found in all the learned professions, in mercantile life, and in manufacturing industries, but they are still more largely represented in agricultural pursuits than in any other occupation.

In 1711 James Carrell bought the homestead farm in Northampton township, two miles northeast of the Montgomery-Bucks line, and to this day it has continued in the possession of the family. From James Carrell it descended to Jacob, from Jacob to Jesse, from Jesse to Isaac, who is now the owner. Besides this farm, James at his death owned fine farms in Warminster and Southampton, and his descendants to-day own thousands of acres of land in this and other states. James and Dianah Carrell had eleven children, as follows: Rebecca, born 5th mo. 25, 1725, married Robert Weir, of Virginia; Sarah, born 9th mo. 25, 1726, married Robert Patterson, of Tinicum, Bucks county; Bernard, born 9th mo. 3, 1728, married Lucretia, of Warminster; James, born 3d mo. 26, 1730, married Sarah of Tinicum; Jacob (great-grandfather), born 12th mo. 12, 1732, married Elizabeth Jamison, of Northampton; Rachel, (twin) born 12th mo. 12, 1732, married Robert Stewart, of Warwick, Bucks county; Benjamin, born 4th mo. 27, 1735; Phoebe, born 8th mo. 20, 1737, married Andrew Scott, Moreland; Solomon, born 5th mo. 25, 1740, married Mary ----, of Tinicum; Elizabeth, born 5th mo. 26, 1742; Diana, born 5th mo. 9, 1744.

 

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James Carrell's son Jacob, the great-grandfather of Dr. Carrell, after his father's death occupied the homestead. He married Elizabeth Jamison, of Durham, Pennsylvania. They had ten children: Joseph, born March 21, 1771, died in childhood; Benjamin, born December 20, 1772; John, born February 20, 1776; Mary, born June 17, 1778; Sarah, born April 24, 1780; James, born November 9, 1781; Jesse, born December 14, 1784; Isaac, born October 29, 1785; Elizabeth, born March 7, 1790; Joseph, born June 1, 1792. Jacob's children scattered to various sections of the country, and from them a numerous progeny has sprung. Jacob spent all his life on the homestead.

During the Revolutionary war he served with the Northampton Associators. He was much respected because of his honesty and Uprightness. In his religious life he was associated with the Neshaminy church, which he and his family attended. He and his wife lie side by side in the Neshaminy cemetery. Jacob Carrell died July 2, 1817, and his widow, July 10, 1829.

Joseph, the youngest child of Jacob and Elizabeth (Jamison) Carrell, and grandfather of Dr. Carrell, was born on the homestead. He learned the carpenter trade, but continued in that occupation only a short time. Although an excellent mechanic he preferred farming. About the time he became of age he purchased a lot at Springville, adjoining his father's farm, and erected buildings thereon. On March 25, 1821, he married Mary Gill, and his first child, Hugh Jamison, was born January 13, 1822.

That year the father, Joseph Carrell, bought and removed to a farm in Warminster, and the remainder of his life was spent on it. He died there April 20, 1883. He inherited intense patriotism, and in the war of 1812 entered the ranks in defense of his country. The love of military tactics remained with him through life, and in his old days he enjoyed instructing his grandchildren military drill. A kinder, sweeter, or more up right man never lived in the county. The recollection of his exemplary life is most dear to his family.

He was first a member of the Neshaminy, of Warwick, Presbyterian church, until the division occurred, February 10, 1839. He was that year elected elder of the Warwick church. After a few years he withdrew from that church, and connected himself with the Neshaminy (of Warminster) church, serving it in the capacity of elder until his death. In addition to his large farm in Warminster, on which he resided until his death, he owned a large farm in Warwick, which he bought in 1849, and which was occupied by his son, Hugh J., until his father's death, when he became the owner by purchase. He was a member and corporal of Captain William Purdy's Bucks County Riflemen, who left Foster's Corner, now Southampton, for the seat of war, September 5, 1814, in company with Captain Christopher Vanartsdalen's command from Newtown. Rev. Thomas B. Montanye, the noted pastor of Southampton Baptist church, preached an appropriate sermon to these new recruits, and a large assemblage gathered to see them off. Captain Purdy's was the Ninth Company of the First Regiment, Pennsylvania Riflemen, commanded by Colonel Thomas Humphreys, which was made up of men from Bucks, Montgomery and adjoining counties.

This regiment formed part of the Light Brigade under command of Gen. Thomas Cadwaller, and numbered 3504 men. The company was mustered out of the United States service December 12, 1814. It was stationed most of the time at Camp Dupont, near Wilmington, Delaware. While they did not meet the enemy they constantly anticipated an encounter, and had it occurred, there is no doubt that they would have acquitted themselves well. They were a fine body of men, full of courage and patriotism. Dr. Carrell had three other relatives in the company- Lemen Banes, John Gill and Andrew Yerkes. After their discharge from the United States service a company called the Alert Rifles, Captain John Davis, father of General W. W. H. Davis, of Doylestown, was formed, and Joseph Carrell was a member of it. Local military organization has never since been as perfect in Bucks county as it was for a decade or two following the war of 1812. John Davis and Joseph Carrell were lifelong friends, and much enjoyed each other's society, although of opposite political faith, Davis being an earnest Democrat, and Carrell an equally earnest Whig, and, after the dissolution of the Whig party, a thorough Republican.

 

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By his first wife, Mary Gill, Joseph Carrell had three children: Hugh J., born January 13, 1822, died January 29, 1903; Emily, born January 21, 1824, died September 16, 1848; Ezra Patterson, (father) born January 16, 1826, died December 17, 1898. By his second wife, Anna Gill, sister of his first wife, whom he married in April, 1829, he had two children, Sidney Ann, born August 30, 1831, still living, and Elizabeth, born October 31, 1833, died February 15, 1902. Sidney Ann married Thomas B. Montanye, grandson of Rev. Thomas B. Montanye, and has children. Elizabeth married Robert T. Engart and had children. The life of this good old man ended April 20, 1883, and he was buried in the cemetery connected with Neshaminy church of Warminster.

Ezra Patterson Carrell (father) obtained his early education in Hart's School, Warminster, and in a private school maintained by John C. Beans, also in that township. He closed his school days with several years of study at Loller Academy, in Hatboro, of which Hugh Morrow was principal. He was not only proficient in his school studies, but was thoroughly versed in vocal music, being much favored in having, a fine bass voice. He was a leader of his church choir for many years, and under his instruction it became the best musical organization in church circles in all that section of country. After his marriage to Margaret Long Beans, which took place March. 15, 1849, he engaged in farming, and continued that occupation until April, 1876, when he retired to a house he built on a part of his father's farm, which he had tilled; and died there. He had five children: Joseph, born March 25, 1850; John Beans, subject of this sketch, born July 11, 1851; Emily, born March 29, 1853, died November 9, 1856, Ezra Patterson, born November 25, 1857; Stacy Beans, born April 23, 1856. Throughout his life, on account of his uprightness, he merited and enjoyed the respect and esteem of the whole community. Strong devotion to his church, family and country were his strong characteristics. In the church he served acceptably as trustee, elder and Sunday school superintendent. Most of his life was spent in the Neshaminy of Warminster church, of which he was trustee and elder many years. His last few years were passed as a member and elder of the Neshaminy of Warwick church. He was the youngest member of the widely known Hatboro Library, and always felt a deep interest in its success, being its secretary and one of its managers at different times. He was active in all that tended to the development of the community, and when he died all felt that a true Christian and a useful citizen had passed to his glorious reward.

The mother of Dr. J. B. Carrell, Margaret Long Beans, is the daughter of John Craven and Elizabeth (Yerkes) Beans, who were married by Rev. Thomas B. Montanye, at her father's residence on the Street Road, in Warminster, the Yerkes homestead, January 5, 1826. Elizabeth (Yerkes) Beans, her mother, was the second daughter and fifth child of Harman and Margaret (Long) Yerkes, and she was born at the homestead, May 26, 1800, dying in Hartsville, May 24, 1875. Harman Yerkes was the fourth son and fifth child of Herman and Elizabeth (Watts) Yerkes. Elizabeth Watts was the daughter of Rev. John Watts, who came to Pennsylvania in 1686 and was baptized in the Baptist faith the next year, and connected himself with the Lower Dublin Baptist church, popularly known as the Pennypack Baptist church.

In 1688 he entered the ministry, and two years later became the pastor of this church, so continuing until his death, which occurred August 27, 1702. Herman Yerkes was born in the manor of Moreland, Montgomery county, formerly Philadelphia county, January 1, 1720, and died there November 29, 1804. About 1762 he removed to Warminster township, Bucks county, and in 1772 purchased of Joseph Noble a farm containing 181 acres on the Street Road, near Johnsville, in Warminster township, and there established the homestead of the Yerkes family, which is still in their possession and is occupied by his grandson, Stephen Yerkes.

 

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This Herman Yerkes was the son of Anthony and Margaret Yerkes, and he was born in 1689 in the manor of Moreland, in a house on the Pennypack belonging to his father, which afterward became his property and residence. He was the great-great-great-great-grandfather of Dr. J. B. Carrell. He died in 1750-1.

Anthony Yerkes was the founder of the Yerkes family of Pennsylvania, and is supposed to have come from Germany. For fuller information of the Yerkes family, the reader is referred to J. Granville Leach's "Chronicle of the Yerkes Family."

John Craven Beans, grandfather of Dr. Carrell, was the son of Thomas and Christianna (Craven) Beans. He was born in Warminster, August 9, 1802, and died at his residence in Hartsville, April 25, 1874. His business life was spent on his farm in Warminster. He was an active and progressive farmer and died possessed of much property, considered front the standpoint of a farmer.

His father's second wife was Ann Johnson, a descendant of Claus Jansen (since corrupted into Johnson) and was the last owner of a part of her noted ancestor's grant of the ground, obtained many years, before William Penn secured his charter, located on the Delaware river between Bristol and Philadelphia.

The last of this large tract consisted of a farm of about eighty acres at the junction of the Pennypack creek and Delaware river. At Ann Johnson's death it passed into the possession of John C. Beans, who sold it later to Richard J. Dobbins, who in the course of a few days sold it to the city of Philadelphia at about double the price at which it was held by Mr. Beans. On this farm now stands Philadelphia's House of Correction. John C. Beans was a member of the Bucks County Troop. He was a member and elder of the Neshaminy of Warwick church.

He was treasurer of several corporations, and a worker for the promotion of the education of the young. His children were: Thomas J., Margaret L. (mother); John Johnson, Harman Yerkes, Catharine J., B. Franklin, Anna C., Stacy Brown, and Albert W., all of whom are living except Harman, who died at Baltimore from the effects of a wound received in a battle near the close of the rebellion, and Albert, who died in the middle west.

Thomas Beans, the great-grandfather of Dr. J. B. Carrell, was the son of Isaac and Christiana Beans. He was born January 14, 1773, and married Christianna Craven, daughter of Thomas and Lenah Craven, born August 11, 1772.

Thomas Beans and Christianna Craven were married by Rev. Nathaniel Irvin, pastor of the Neshaminy of Warwick church from November 3, 1774, to March 3, 1812. The marriage took place December 7, 1797. Thomas Beans, by the will of his father, Isaac Beans, of Moreland; dated September 7, 1814, inherited the "tavern and plantation in Warminster," located at the intersection of the York and Street roads. He was the proprietor of this famous hostelry which was established about 1730. He was the owner of some of the fastest horses in the country. In his day races attended by thousands of spectators were common on the Street road. He also had a half mile track on his farm. Twenty of his fine horses, worth thousands of dollars, were attacked with glanders and died of the disease. This loss affected him injuriously, and later his property was sold at sheriff's sale. He did not realize enough to pay his creditors in full, but his son John C. Beans, and his son-in-law, Stacy Brown, although under no legal obligation to do so, paid the balance, so that he died free from debt.

 

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Isaac Beans, son of Thomas and Jane (Sands) Beans, and father of Thomas Beans last mentioned, resided in Hatboro, then a part of Moreland township. He died possessed of much property. By his will, in 1814, he bequeathed, besides the property already described which he gave to his son Thomas, to his son John "the plantation on which I now reside," later inherited by his granddaughter, Mrs. William K. Goentner. To his daughter Margaret he gave a plantation in Warminster, and to his son Isaac a mill and plantation in Moreland.

Thomas Beans, son of William and Elizabeth Beans, or Baines, by his will dated March 4, 1792, probated at Norristown, June 17, 1795, devised to his eldest son, Nathan, half of his plantation in Warminster, purchased of Thomas Dungan, and the other half to his son Isaac. He also left to these two sons the time of his negroes, Anoram and Ishmael. He gave his son Thomas the farm on which he lived in Southampton, containing 112 1/2 acres. He gave his son Stephen a farm of 140 acres in Abington, and also negro wench Sue, to wash for his mother, and negro Jim for his own use.

The line of Dr. Carrell's Beans's ancestry is as follows: Margaret (mother), John. C. Beans (grandfather), Thomas Beans (great-grandfather), Isaac, Beans (great-great-grandfather), Thomas Beans (great-great-great-grandfather) William Baines (great-great-great-great-grandfather) and Matthew Baines, who sailed from England, and died at sea.

The mother of Dr. Carrell was educated carefully, first in the private school of her father, then at the Janvier Institute, a fashionable school for young ladies at Wilmington, Delaware. Always a faithful wife and mother, her children owe her much, and entertain for her the most sincere affection. They are indebted to her as much as to their father for their success in life. Of Dr. Carrell's brothers, Joseph is one of the most successful farmers in Warrington township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He is the owner of a beautifully situated and productive farm. He is a trustee of Neshaminy of Warwick church, and on account of his superior business qualifications has many important trusts placed in his care.

He married, March 22, 1876, Lizzie W. Hampton, who died in 1885, leaving three children Frank Beans, Helen Maria, and Joseph John, who have been carefully reared by their father and their mother's sister. Ezra Patterson Carrell lives upon his fine farm in Warwick township, Bucks county, and besides, being an excellent farmer, has become quite noted as a genealogist. He has done much work in clearing up the history of the Carrell family. He is an elder of the Neshaminy of Warwick church, and an efficient Sunday school and Christian Endeavor worker. He married, December 22, 1881, Mary McCarter, a charming woman, and they have two daughters, Margaret Long and Edith. Stacy Beans Carrell lives in Germantown and is a member of the extensive grocery firm of Worthington & Carrell, of that place. All his life thus far has been devoted to this work, and his thorough knowledge of the business and the energy he has exerted have secured success. He is an elder of the Carmel Presbyterian church at Edge Hill, where he resided until within a few years. He married, January 20, 1897, Leah Reeves. They have one daughter, Ruth.

John Beans Carrell, M. D., subject of this sketch, received his early education in the Oak Grove public school in Warminster township, Bucks county, and afterwards spent several years at the Morrow Excelsior Institute at Hatboro, Pennsylvania. Rev. G. H. Nimms was his tutor for two years, and he then taught the public school which he attended when a child, for two years. He graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, in 1876, and, after his graduation spent some time in the New York city medical colleges and hospitals. After practicing at Johnsville, in the vicinity of his home, for a few months, he entered into partnership with his preceptor, Hon. I. Newton Evans, M. D. This partnership continued about seven years. Since then Dr. Carrell has continued the practice of his profession at the same place very successfully.

He married, March 31, 1880, Lizzie S. Danenhower, daughter of Abram and Sarah Danenhower, of Warminster, who is a member of an old family of Bucks and Montgomery counties, of German descent. Dr. and Mrs. Carrell are among the best known and most respected residents of Hatboro, enjoying the confidence of the entire community.

 

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It is almost impossible to locate definitely the beginnings of the Carrell family, as it has been traced practically to the beginning of the Christian era. The name is said to have been given to the family by Christobal in the third century, but it extends back several generations further.

In the beginning, so far as the history of the north of Ireland is concerned, the Carrells were among the lords of the land and princes of the country. They have to the present time owned and occupied land in the vicinity of Rathmullan. It seems scarcely probable that all who bear the name of Carrell spring from a common ancestry, whether they spell their names with an "o" or an "e" for the vowel in the final syllable.

The two divisions of the family, Ulsters and Munsters, are according to the portion of Ireland which they inhabited. The Ulster, or north of Ireland, Carrells are nearly all of the Protestant faith, while the Munster, or south of Ireland, Carrolls are of the Catholic faith, Burke's Peerage says that "Kean, third son of Moll or Olum, king of Munster, was the ancestor of the great house of Carroll. His descendant, Carbdol, gave the name of Carroll to his posterity.

The Carroll princes and lords were very powerful from the twelfth and sixteenth centuries. Then follows the line of descent through many generations to the time of Daniel Carroll, who brought into the family, through his mother, the blood of the Argyles, from the earl of Argyle. This Daniel Carroll was remarkable in more than one respect. At one time he sent in one troop to war to battle for his king. The name was changed from "oll" (the original method) to "ell," as a distinguishing mark between the Catholics and Protestants who bore it, although at the present a considerable number of the Protestant members of the family spell the name Carroll, but no Catholic spells his name Carrell.

The bitterness which formerly existed between Protestants and Catholics is now greatly lessened, and in fact some who bear the name Carrell have returned to the Catholic faith.

The Carrells belong as a family to Bucks county, but in recent years have become more or less identified with Montgomery county. The Carrell Association has been formed within a few years, consisting of the descendants of James and Dianah Carrell; they have had three successful reunions at Willow Grove. The officers are: President, B. F. Banes, of Germantown; Vice-president, Dr. J., B. Carrell, Hatboro; secretary, E. P. Carrell, Bridge Valley, Pennsylvania; treasurer, I. Newton Finney, Hatboro.

The Banes-Beans family of Bucks and Montgomery and adjoining counties are descendants of the old Yorkshire family of Baine. The principal branch of the family have resided in the old Hall at Knowsthorpe more than seven hundred years. One of them came from the north (Scotland) and founded the family about 1182. They, as well as the Bayne-Bane-Bean family of Scotland, representatives of which have found their way to America at different periods since 1650, claim to be descended from Donald Bain, the son of Duncan, who after the death of his brother Malcolm claimed the throne, and is immortalized in Shakespeare's Macbeth.

The old Baines Hall at Knowsthorpe contains, perhaps, the only dais or raised step for the high table which is to be found in England. A few years since the hall was hung round with portraits of the family. Captain Adam Baynes, after the restoration, from a leniency never exercised by his own party, was permitted to retire to his paternal estates, on which he died in December, 1670, having been compelled to refund the manor of Holdenby, in Northamptonshire, which he had purchased of the Parliament for 29,000 pounds.

This Adam Baynes was the son of Robert Baynes, of Knowstharpe, near Leeds, and was born there December 22, 1620. He was the first parliament man under the commonwealth from Leeds in 1644. He was captain in the parliamentary army under Lambert. He married Martha Dawson, who had thirteen children, and died in July, 1713. The eldest son, Robert Baynes, who died in 1697, married Dorothy, daughter of Sir William Lowther, who appeared before the corporation when the Leeds Charter was forfeited, and endeavored to have Robert Baynes excused from serving as a councillor under the King James Charter.

When George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, appeared in Yorkshire, among his earliest converts were two brothers, William and Joseph Banes, of Stangerthwaite, near Killington, Westmoreland, close to the Yorkshire line. Joseph was born in 1633, and was the son of James, died in 1671, and Agnes, died in 1664. By his first marriage he had a daughter Hannah who married Daniel Jackson. This Joseph Banes purchased of William Penn, May 20, 1683, 500 acres to be laid out in Pennsylvania. His deed was recorded in the recorder's office in Bucks county. This tract he conveyed to Daniel Jackson and Hannah his wife, and their sons John and Joseph, and any other children born of their bodies. This tract was laid out to Daniel Jackson, in Buckingham township.

 

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The first Banes of whom there is any record in Bucks county other than those just mentioned, are Gabriel and Thomas and their mother, Ann Baynes, who were members of Falls Monthly Meeting. Gabriel married Elinor Batting, of Shipley, near Worminghurst, in Sussex, England. She had a son Bryan, who was living at the time of his father's death in 1727-8, but as his mother does not mention him in her will in 1748 he did not survive her. Thomas Baynes had a daughter Ann who married Daniel Doan, Jr.

Joseph Baines, of Stangerthwaite, England, married (second wife) in 1691, Barbara Askew, and their son James, born in 1700, died in 1772, married, 2d mo. 7, 1736, Mary, daughter of Thomas Lambert, of Bleam, Wenleysdale, overlooking Somerwater. She was born in 1711 and died in 1791. Both were buried at Bainbridge, in Wenleydale. They had ten children, most of whom emigrated to America and settled in Montgomery, Chester and Delaware counties, Pennsylvania.

The common ancestor of the Beans and Banes families of Bucks county, was William Banes or Beans, who died in Southampton township in 1729. He and his wife, Elizabeth, had nine children, seven sons and two daughters, Joseph, the eldest, being born about 1708. It is not known whether he owned any real estate.

Elizabeth, his widow, died in Southampton between 1768, when her will was executed, and 1771, when it was probated. She names her sons Joseph, Matthew, Timothy, Thomas, William and Jacob, and her daughters, Elinor Banes and Elizabeth Sands, and her grandson, Jesse Banes, son of James, deceased. She makes her son Joseph and her daughter Elinor executors, but letters testamentary were granted only to Elinor, Joseph being probably sick or deceased, as his will was probated on December 9, of the same year.

William Baines, son of Matthew Maines [sic], of Lancashire, England, sailed for Pennsylvania in 1686, but he died at sea. His two children, William and Elinor, landed at Chester, and were taken charge of by Friends. This William is the same whose wife was Elizabeth, and who settled in Southampton township, Bucks county, and died in 1729, as already mentioned.

It is difficult to account for the change of the name Banes to Beans, which took place in Bucks county as well as in Montgomery. All the families named Bean or Beans in America appear to trace back to the Bucks county Banes family.

Thomas Beans, fourth son of William, lived and died in Southampton. He married Jane, daughter of Richard Sands, and he and his wife were baptized as members of Southampton Baptist church, April 15, 1749.

The baptisms of their children are recorded there as follows: William, January 17, 1741-2; Thomas, October 3, 1744; Stephen, July, 8, 1753; Jane, December 8, 1758. They had also a son Jesse, born in 1746, and daughters Phebe and Elizabeth, who, with some of the above named children, are mentioned in the will of their grandfather, Richard Sands.

Nathan Beans, married Susanna ----, who was born in 1739 and died in 1820, Nathan was born June 3, 1740, and died April 5, 1828. His children: Evan, born 1769, died 1814, married Elizabeth Hogeland, and his widow married ---- Campbell; William, born August 29, 1773, died February 19, 1853, married Deidama ---- and was buried at Southampton Baptist church, his will being dated in 1840, and proved in 1853, his children being Elijah, a lawyer of Norristown, Pennsylvania, and Susanna, married John McDowell; Stephen born March 8, 1776, died August 20, 1866, married Nancy ----, who was born March 22, 1778, died January 9, 1853, both being buried at Southampton, and their children being Robert, who married Ann Carver, William R., who married Cynthia Cornell, Susan, who married John Cornell, Mary, married first Cornell, and second Sprogell; John [sic] married first ---- Shelmire and had two children, John and Nathan Shelmire, and married second Derrick Hogeland; Sarah, married John Robinson, their children being Louisa, Nathan and Samuel P. Robinson.

 

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Isaac Beans, second son of Thomas and Jane Beans, removed to Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and settled in Moreland township, marrying a Johnson. Their children were: Thomas, born 1773, died in 1844, married in 1797, Christiana Craven, and second Ann Johnson.