Bucks County PA Archives Bios..... Wrightstown Township from Battle's, History of Bucks County, 1887
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Patricia R. Smith Bastik
History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania; edited by J.H. Battle; A. Warner & Co.; 1887.
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Chapter LII
Biographical Sketches - Wrightstown
pp. 1173-1176
EDWARD ATKINSON
president of Newtown National bank, P.O. Wrightstown, was born in Wrightstown township,
Bucks county, July 24, 1823, and is a son of Jonathan and Esther (Smith) Atkinson, both
natives of this county and of English descent. The Atkinson family came from Yorkshire,
England, at an early day, and settled in the lower end of Bucks county. John Atkinson
was the first of the name to come from England. He and his wife both died at sea,
leaving three children: William, born 1687; Mary, born 1689; and John, born 1695. Of
these children, John married Mary Smith at the house of Stephen Twining in Newtown, under
the care of Middletown meeting, on 8th month, 13th, 1717. The grandfather, Thomas
Atkinson, was a resident of Wrightstown township most of his life. He was born and died
here, and was a farmer by occupation. He married Sarah Smith, by whom he had seven
children: Mary, Jonathan, Timothy, Thomas, Mahlon, Sarah and Joseph. Jonathan married
Esther, a daughter of Benjamin Smith, of Buckingham township, in 1807. They had eight
children: Phebe S., Benjamin S., Thomas, Josiah, Stephen, Jonathan, Edward and Sarah.
The father of these children died November 7, 1852, his wife, Esther, having died January
28, 1832. He was a farmer all his life, and led a straightforward, honest and quiet
life, never taking an active part in public affairs. Edward Atkinson was reared on the
farm in Wrightstown township, and has always resided there. He owns a valuable farm,
which is well improved. He lived on the old homestead until 1857, when he moved to where
he now lives, and has since occupied the place. In 1871 he was elected president of the
Newtown National bank, which position he has occupied to the satisfaction of all
concerned. He was school director of Wrightstown township for fifteen years, and is a
prominent and influential citizen. He was married February 12, 1857, to Elizabeth H.,
daughter of David and Hannah (Taylor) Twining. Mr. and Mrs. Atkinson are members of the
Society of Friends.
DOCTOR WILLIAM B. BRODIE
P.O. Pineville, was born July 6, 1855, and is a son of Robert C. and Sarah B. (Bradford)
Brodie, natives of Philadelphia, and of Scotch descent on the father's side, and Swedish
on the mother's side. Our subject's grandparents on his father's side were at one time
residents of Warminster township. His father has been engaged in the drug business for
the past forty years at Twentieth and Callowhill streets. Our subject attended both
public and private schools until he had reached the age of seventeen, when he entered his
father's drug store as an apprentice, and served seven years. He then began the study of
medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in the spring of
1879. He remained one year in Philadelphia in practice. In May, 1880, he came to
Pineville, where he has since been located, and has built up a good practice. He was
married July 30, 1879, to Emma C., daughter of C. B. and Christine (Berg) Krause. She
has borne him three children: Emma K., Carl B. and Christine S. Dr. Brodie is a
member of the Masonic lodge at Newtown, and of the I. O. O. F.
ASA CAREY
(deceased) was a resident of Buckingham township, where he followed farming during the
early part of his life. He had seven children, of whom four lived to maturity:
Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary, I. Warner, Susanna, T. Yardley and Samuel. Only two of these
are living, Elizabeth and Susanna, wife of Albert Thompson. Mr. Carey was twice
married, his first wife being Hannah Warner, who died leaving a large family of young
children. Mr. Carey also died while his children were yet young, Elizabeth, the oldest,
being only 11 years old. She and the rest of the children went to live with their
grandfather Warner. She remained with her grandparents until their death. In 1869 she
moved to where she now lives. At that time two of her brothers were living: I. Warner
and Samuel, and they remained with her until their death, when the property fell to
her. She owns a nice farm, well improved, which is worked by hired help. Miss Carey is
a very intelligent lady.
JOHN COOPER
real estate agent and justice of the peace, P.O. Pineville, was born in Philadelphia
county, at Holmesburg, July 1, 1823, being a son of Jacob and Ann (Johnson) Cooper, the
former a native of Bucks county, and the latter at native of Philadelphia county. The
Cooper family emigrated from Scotland at an early day and settled in the lower end of
Bucks county. The grandfather, John Cooper, was a farmer and resided in Northampton
township. He was noted as a marksman. He owned and conducted a mill and a farm. Jacob
Cooper, his son, traveled a great deal in his early life. He was a miller by trade and
also carried on farming. He located in Philadelphia county, where he followed milling.
He moved back to Bucks county, and afterward settled in Northampton township, where he
followed milling and farming many years, and where he died in his eighty-first year.
John Cooper was reared in Philadelphia county, until about nine years of age, when he
came to Northampton township with his parents and remained until he was about 26 years of
age, when he was married and settled in Wrightstown township in 1849. He then carried on
the carpenter's trade for ten years, employing from six to ten hands. When he came to
Wrightstown he had but $100, which his grandfather left him. He borrowed $800, $500 of
it without security, to pay $900. He has pushed ahead until now he is in a comfortable
position financially, and can enjoy the fruits of his industry. He was elected justice
of the peace in 1885 for the fourth successive term. He was married in 1848 to Mary
Doan, a daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Doan, of Upper Makefield township. They have but
one child living, Stephen K., who married Nellie T., daughter of C. B. and Sallie M.
Twining.
HOWARD A. HELLYER
physician and surgeon, P.O. Penn's Park, was born in Wrightstown township, October 22,
1845, and is a son of William and Lydia (Twining) Hellyer, natives of Bucks county. The
Hellyer family came from England in the 17th century, and settled in the lower end of
this county. The grandfather, William, was a farmer. His son, William, moved to Upper
Makefield township in 1846, and followed farming until 1880. He had three grown
children: Harrison, deceased; Hannah, wife of Krusen Harvey, and Dr. Howard, who was
reared on a farm until he had attained the age of 18 years, when he entered the
Carversville Excelsior Normal Institute, where he remained two years. He then studied
medicine under Dr. Benjamin N. Collins for two years. In 1866 he entered the medical
department of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in March, 1868, in
the one hundredth commencement class of that institution. He commenced practice the same
year at Forest Grove, and remained there two years. In 1870 he came to Penn's Park.
During his seventeen years' practice in this place he has built up a good business, and
has the patronage of over two hundred good families. He has bought property in the
village of Penn's Park, and is living in quite comfortable circumstances. In June, 1868,
he married Fannie E. Olmstead, by whom he has eight children, of whom six are living:
Edwin F., Grace E., Mabel F., Arthur, Harold and George. Those deceased are Willie and
Eugene. The doctor if a member of Lodge No. 54, I. O. O. F., and Encampment No. 77.
Mrs. Hellyer is a member of the Episcopal church.
EDWIN LACEY
farmer, P.O. Wrightstown, was born in Wrightstown township, Bucks county, and is a son of
Isaac and Ruth (Twining) Lacey, both natives of Bucks county, and of English Quaker
descent. William Lacey was the pioneer of the family in America. He came from the Isle
of Wight and settled in Wrightstown. His son John married Rachel Heston in 1718, and had
two sons that married: John, to Jane Chapman, in 1746, and Joseph, to Esther Warner, in
1749. John Lacey and Jane Chapman had eight children, one of whom John (afterward
General Lacey), became a noted man in his day, serving in the revolutionary war under
General Washington. According to the church record kept by the Friends at Wrightstown,
he was born December 4, 1752. He married Anastasia Reynolds, daughter of Colonel
Reynolds, of Burlington county, N. J. The Lacey family was quite numerous at one time
in this section of the country. The great-grandparents of Edwin Lacey were Joseph and
Esther (Warner) Lacey (mentioned above), who were residents of Buckingham township at one
time. His grandparents were John and Rachel (Wiggins) Lacey, the former born February 19,
1765, and the latter June 6, 1761. They were married March 20, 1792, and had four
children: Warner, Benjamin, Isaac and Esther. John Lacey died August 17, 1825. His
wife died December 16, 1839. Isaac Lacey was a carpenter by trade, also cabinet-maker
and undertaker, and at one time a farmer. He was born and died in the house in which
Edwin resides, his death occurring July 15, 1881. The mother was born November 30, 1797,
and died July 4, 1867. They had five children: John and Silas, deceased; Rachel, wife of
William H. Birdsall, residing in Clinton county, Ohio; Edwin and Elizabeth T., who reside
together. Edwin was reared to farming, and has always lived in Wrightstown township. He
takes an interest in politics, and possesses a pioneer spirit. He attended and took part
in the first republican meeting held in the county. He attended the first national
republican convention held in Philadelphia; also the second at Chicago, which nominated
Lincoln. He served over six years as school director, and was the first to advocate the
rebuilding of its school-house. He is the founder of the town of Ivyland, probably the
first regularly laid out town in the county. August 12, 1873, he began to dig the first
cellar, and completed the first house the following winter near the corner of Lincoln
street and DuBois avenue. He erected several other buildings. He started the project of
building a large temperance hotel there by a stock company in 1875. The company not
furnishing enough money to finish it, Edwin in his zeal to complete the building,
indorsed [sic] for the necessary material and labor. When it was done it could neither be sold
nor rented to advantage, and his remaining lots were sold to pay his indorsements [sic]. In
1868 he visited Omaha and bought thirty acres of land in its suburbs for $1350. The
growth of the city in the last five years has been so rapid, what in 1887 he was offered
and refused $25,000 for it. The value of this land, with the results of persistent toil
on the farm, assumes the settlement of all claims against him, with a surplus of over
$20,000. Edwin has been a lifelong total abstainer from the use of intoxicating drinks
and tobacco, and never indulges in profanity. He favors a constitutional amendment, with
a party to enforce it, the prohibit the sale of intoxicating drinks.
REVEREND MAHLON LONG
was born in Warrington township March 6, 1809, and is the son of Hugh and Mary Long.
Receiving a good education he engaged in teaching, and after leaving that vocation was
clerk in the Bucks county bank. Later he entered Princeton college, N. J., and graduated
in 1839 with the degree of B. A. For two years he studied in the Theological seminary of
Yale, and in 1845 was licensed to preach by the Fourth Presbytery of Philadelphia. In
1847 he became principal of the academy at Harrisburg, and there became widely known as a
teacher and gentleman of much culture. With his brother, Professor Charles Long, he, in
1850, began the conduct of the well-known ÒTennentÓ school in Warwick township, which
acquired a reputation as an educational institution, which extended far. Many of its
graduates have distinguished themselves in literature, politics and finance. In 1857 Mr.
Long purchased and presented to the Neshaminy church a plot of ground for an addition to
its graveyard. In 1842 his alma mater conferred on him the degree of M. A., and he
afterwards received the same honor from Yale college, and he was made Doctor of
Philosophy by the college of New Jersey. In 1860 Mr. Long was married to Catherine,
widow of Reverend George Ely, who was a daughter of Reverend R. B. Bellville.
SETH C. VAN PELT
merchant and postmaster, P.O. Pineville, was born at Penn's Part, August 24, 1829, and is
a son of Isaac and Sarah (Cattell) Van Pelt, of Dutch and French descent. The Van Pelt
family came from Holland at an early day and settled in Wrightstown township. The
grandfather, Isaac Van Pelt, served in the revolution. He bought a lot here, where he
lived until his death. He had three sons and three daughters. He died in 1811, aged 56
years. His son Isaac was a resident of Wrightstown township until 1836, when he moved to
Buckingham township and lived there until his death, which occurred May 27, 1865. He was
a shoemaker by trade, and in 1836 he bought a farm and thereafter followed farming until
his death. He was a democrat in politics. He had eight children by his first wife, four
of whom died in infancy. Those living are Seth C., Jane E., William and Wilhelmina. He
had three children by his second marriage: Elizabeth, Joseph and Caroline. Seth C. Van
Pelt was reared on a farm until about 20 years of age, receiving his education in the
common schools. He then entered the store of Jesse Carver, of Pineville, as clerk, where
he remained until December 1, 1872, when he was elected prothonotary of the county and
moved to Doylestown, where he lived four years. In 1877 he came back to Pineville and
rented the store for a few years, and in 1879 bought it. He carries a full and complete
stock of merchandise to supply all demands. Mr. Van Pelt is an intelligent and
industrious citizen. He was married May 30, 1877, to Carrie A., daughter of John R.
Bodine, by whom he has one child, Arthur C. Mrs. Van Pelt is a member of the
Presbyterian church. He is a member of the Masonic lodge of Doylestown.
JOSEPH WARNER
(deceased) was born in Wrightstown township, Bucks county, and was a son of David and
Asenth (Buckman) Warner, natives of Bucks county, and of English descent. The Warner
family came from England, and were among the early settlers of this county. The farm
adjoining the Matthews farm was a part of one thousand acres, deeded by William Penn to
William and John Tanner, in the year 1681. After passing through other hands, one
hundred and fifty acres were bought by Joseph Warner, Sr., in the year 1728. It has
passed by will from one heir to another to the present time. Joseph Warner was a farmer
all his life. He had three children, only one of whom is living, Sarah, wife of Charles
Matthews, who has one child, Ellen R. Mrs. Matthews owns about two hundred acres of
land, divided into two farms. She and her husband have been living on the present farm
for a number of years.