i8 



HISTORY Of BUCKS COUNTY. 



in the sclllcniciil of estates, ami held 

 many positions of trust, lie was an ac- 

 tive anil consistent member of Sole- 

 bury Friends' Meeting. Jacob and Eliz- 

 abeth Eastburn were the parents of ten 

 children, viz.: William T. and Anna, 

 both of whom died in infancy; Robert, 

 the subject of this sketch; Ellen Y., 

 wife of Samuel Hart, of Doylestown 

 township, born 10 mo. 27, 1834; Mary 

 Anna, born 2 mo. 29, 1837, now widow of 

 J. Simpson Belts; George, born 11 mo. 

 25, 1838, a prominent educator of Phil- 

 adelphia; Elias and Timothy, twins, 

 born 12 mo. 28, 1840 — the former, now 

 deceased, was a sheriff of Bucks county, 

 and the latter is still living in Solebury; 

 Rachel, died in infancy; Sarah, born 10 

 mo. 15, 1845, now deceased, was the wife 

 of Mark Palmer, of Lower Makefie'ld. 

 Elizabeth K. Eastburn the mother, died 

 8 mo. 21, 1877. 



Robert Eastburn was born and reared 

 on the Solebury farm, and received a 

 good education. Arriving at manhood, 

 he was married, 2 mo. 12, 1857, to Eliza- 

 beth, daughter of Joseph E. and Letitia 

 (Betts) Reeder, and in the following 

 spring began farming on the Pownall 

 farm at Limeport, purchased by his 

 father-in-law. His wife Elizabeth died 

 there 11 mo. 6, i860, and the following 

 spring he sold oi.it and returned to the 

 homestead. His father having died the 

 preceding summer, he as eldest son and 

 executor was occupied in the settlement 

 of the estate and the conduct of the 

 business for the next two years. These 

 were trying times for the Quaker-bred 

 youth of our section, the civil war hav- 

 ing broken out, and excitement ran. high. 

 Though bred and trained as non-com- 

 batants, religious principles and parental 

 injunction and restraint were insufficient 

 to restrain many from responding to the 

 numerous calls for men to go to the 

 front in defense of our country. This 

 family of four grown-up sons was no 

 exception to the rule, and only the con- 

 tention as to who should go and who 

 remain at home to care for the widow 

 and faim, probably prevented their early 

 enlistment. Finally, when the rebels 

 had entered our own state, the strain 

 was too great, and three of the boys 

 (Robert, George and Elias) enlisted in 

 an emergency company formed at 

 Doylestown, and started for the front, 

 leaving Timothy to care for the home 

 interests. Fortunately the tide of in- 

 vasion was turned and the boys were 

 gone but a few weeks, and came home 

 to make peace with the grim elders of 

 the meeting for their transgression of 

 the discipline. In' 1866. one year after the 

 close of the war by the active work of 

 our late friend, John E. Kenderdine, a 

 prominent and active worker in Sole- 

 bury Meeting, assuming the position that 

 the boys going to the front were no 



more guilty than those at home con- 

 tributing to the war, an acknowledg- 

 ment of their deviation from one of the 

 cardinal points of their faith (that of 

 opposition to war) by in any way giv- 

 ing encouragement to the government 

 in its armed support, was prepared and 

 signed by forty-seven of the fifty male 

 members of that meeting. Of that list 

 but fourteen are living at this time. 



In the summer of 1863 Robert East- 

 burn purchased the interest of his father 

 in the lime business and removed to 

 Yardley, where an ofifice for the sale of 

 the lime had been long established, and 

 formed a partnership with George A. 

 Cook, under the firm name of Eastburn 

 & Cook, which lasted several 3^ears. 

 Later he embarked in the coal and fer- 

 tilizer business at Yardley, which he 

 continued until 1897. In addition to this 

 business, having been elected a justice 

 of the peace in 1874, he started a real 

 estate and general business agency, 

 which he has continud to the present 

 time in connection with the settlement 

 of many estates and the transaction of 

 official business, Mr. Eastburn having 

 held the oftice of justice until the pres- 

 ent time, a period of thirty years, 



Robert Eastburn married (second) on 

 Octootr 1:0, 1863, Elizabeth, daughter of 

 Charles White, of Solebury, and took 

 up his permanent residence in Yardley. 

 His wife died 11 mo. 5, 1866, and on 8 

 mo. 12, 1875, he married (third) Anna 

 Palmer, who died 3 mo. 8, 1901. By his 

 first marriage, with Elizabeth Reeder, 

 Mr. Eastburn had two children: William 

 T., born 8 mo. 31, 1859, married Alada 

 Blackfan, and is now living at New 

 Hope; and Jacob, born 11 mo. 6. i860, 

 now living in New York city. By his 

 marriage with Anna Palmer he has one 

 son, Walter N., born 2 mo. 6, 1881, mar- 

 ried II mo. II, 1902, Isabel Frances 

 Stanbury, and now living in New York. 



WILLIAM T. EASTBURN, of New 

 Hope, son of Robert and Elizabeth 

 (Reeder) Eastburn, was born in Sole- 

 bury, 8 mo. 31, 1859. At the death of 

 his mother, 11 mo. 6, i860, he went to 

 live w'ith his grandparents, Joseph E. and 

 Letitia Reeder, and was reared in their 

 h-^me in Solebury. He received a good 

 ec'ucj.tion. and upon his marriage began 

 farming at his present residence, where 

 he has ever since resided. At the death 

 of his grandfather in 1892 he was devised 

 this pronerty and the farm upon which 

 he was born at Limeport. Mr. Eastburn 

 is a progressive and intelligent farmer, and 

 has gradually improved the propertv since 

 it came under his tenure. He is a 

 member of Solebury Friends' Meeting. 

 He was married 10 mo. 5, 1887. to Alada 

 E., daughter of the late'William C. and 

 Elizabeth (Ely) Blackfan, a lineal de- 

 scendant of Edward Blackfan and Re- 

 becca Crispin, the latter being a first 



