Ruschenberger.] XOO l^April 1, 



world tlian any of us.' Dr. Leicly, hearing the conversation, said : 'Oh ! 

 Dr. Hunt, keep your seat ; I don't wish to be introduced ; I'll introduce 

 myself.' And, stepping to the rostrum, he spoke in this way : 



" 'My name is Joseph Leidy, Doctor of Medicine. I was born in this 

 city on the 9th of September, 1823, and I have lived here ever since. My 

 father was Philip Leidy, the hatter, on Third street above Vine. My 

 mother was Catherine Mellick, but she died a few months after my birth. 

 My father married her sister,* Christiana Mellick, and she was the mother I 

 have known, who was all in all to me, the one to whom I owe all that I am. 

 At an early age I took great delight in natural history and in noticing all 

 natural objects. I have reason to think that I know a little of natural 

 history, and a little of that little I propose to teach you to-night.' " 



Dr. Leidy' s ingenuous introduction of himself suggests that a fuller 

 account of his ancestors may be acceptable. 



Carl Leidy, the forefather of the American-born Leidys, came to Amer- 

 ica from Rhenish Germany in the early part of the eighteenth century 

 (about 1724), and settled in that part of Penn's province which now 

 includes Montgomery and Bucks counties, Pa.f 



* Erroneous. —His mother died May 28, 1825 (soon after her son Thomas was born), 

 twenty months after the Doctor's birth. His father's second wife was a cousin and not 

 a sister of Dr. Leidy's mother, as stated. See, The Story of an Old Farm, or Life in New 

 Jersey in eighteentli century. By Andrew D. Mellick, Jr., Somerville, New Jersey, 1889. 



f Genealogical Notes.— Curl Leidy's son, Carl Ludwig, b. Dec. 30, 1729, and his wife, Ursula 

 Elizabeth, b. Feb. 8, 1734, had issue : (1) John Jacob, b. Nov. 7, 1753 ; (2) George Heinrich, 

 b. Oct. 19, 1755 ; (3) Margaretta, b. Nov. 15, 1757 ; (4) Eva Christina, b. Dec. 25, 1759 ; (5> 

 Anna, b. Oct. 1, 1761 ; (6) Magdalena, b. Dec. 18, 1763 ; ^7) Carl, b. Aug. 20, 1765 ; (8) Anna 

 Maria Elizabeth, b. Feb. 24, 1768 ; (9) George Ludwig, b. July 1, 1770 ; (10) Maria Cather- 

 ine, b. May, 1772. Both parents and children were natives of Hilltowu township, Bucks 

 county, Pa. 



John Jacob Leidy, the first-born of this family, m. April 18, 1777, Catherine, b. March 

 16, 1757, a daughter of Cliristian Comfort. They had issue : (1) Charles Ludwig, b. Jan. 

 7, 1778 ; (2) Henry, b. Jan. 12, 1779; (3) Catherine, b. May 16, 1780; (4) Maria Margaretta, 

 b. March 1, 1781 ; (5) Jacob, b. Jan. 10, 1782; (6) Christian, b. Jan. 3, 1784 ; (7) George, b. 

 Oct. 7, 1786 ; (8) Conrad, b. Nov. 25, 1788 ; (9) Philip, b. Dec. 5, 1791, d. Oct. 9, 1862 ; (10) 

 Emanuel, b. Dec. 22, 1794 ; (11) Frances Fanny, b. March 6, 1798. All were natives of 

 Hilltown township, Bucks county. Pa. 



Philip Leidy, the ninth child of the preceding family, m. Oct. 6, 1818 (he was then 

 settled in Philadelphia), Catherine, a daughter of Peter and Rachel Mellick. She was 

 born in Bloom township, Columbia county, Pa., Jan. 27, 1790, and died in Philadelphia, 

 May 28, 1825. They had issue : (1) Peter, b. Dec. 28, 1819, d. Aug. 29, 1820 ; (2) Catherine, 

 b. Aug. 7, 1821, d. Nov. 20, 1822 ; (3) Joseph, b. Sept. 9, 1823, d. April 30, 1891 ; (4) Thomas, 

 b. May 21, 1825, d. April 20, 1870. 



Philip Leidy m., May 25, 1826, Christiana Taliana, a cousin of his first wife. She was 

 born in Philadelphia, July 29, 1797, and died Jan. 6, 1881. They had issue : (1) Christiana 

 T., b. Feb. 22, 1827, m. June 4, 1839, James Cyrus Umberger, d. Oct. 24, 1878 ; (2) Francis, 

 b. Dec. 14, 1828, d. June 3, 1856 ; (3) Aslier, b. July 30, 1830, d. July 6, 1878 ; (4) Helen, b. 

 Sept. 30, 1833, d. Dec. 3, 1839; (5) Catherine Mellick, b. March 28, 1837, d. Aug. 12, 1839 ; 

 (6) Philip, b. Dec. 29, 1838, d. April 29, 1891. All born in Philadelphia. 



Peter, the forefather of the Mellick family, came to America from Rhenish Germany 

 about the close of the sixteenth century (1695). 



German and English, it may be said, were vernacular languages to the members of 

 the Leidy and Mellick families generally— the German came to them as a birthright, and 

 English from their environment. 



