HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



23 



Pennsylvania) ; Charles, born 6 mo. 15, 

 1743; Benjamin, born 3 mo. 29, 1746, 

 settled in NorthumberlancJ count3% Penn- 

 sylvania; Jesse, born 8 mo. 25, 1748, was 

 drowned in the Delaware river when a 

 young man; David, born S mo. 3, 1750, 

 married, in 1776, Elizabeth Montgom- 

 ery; Abraham, born 7 mo. 8, 1752, mar- 

 ried in 1780; Elizabeth Lee, of Wrights- 

 town; Merrick, born 7 mo. 31, 1754, mar- 

 ried in 1773, Elizabeth Collins; Hannah, 

 born 8 mo. 15, 1756; Eleanor, born 2 mo. 



3. 1758; John, born li mo. 29, 1761; and 

 Mary, born 9 mo. 15, 1764. 



Merrick Reeder, seventh son of 

 Charles and Eleanor, was reared on the 

 Makeficld farm, and on arriving at man- 

 hood married Elizabeth Collins, and 

 followed the vocation of a farmer. He 

 was a tenant on the "Canaan Farm" in 

 Upper Makefield for several years. Hi 

 t8io he and several of his children re- 

 moved to Muncy, Lycoming county, 

 Pennsylvania. He had thirteen children, 

 viz.: Benajah, born 11 mo. 30, 1774, mar- 

 ried Elizabeth Pownall, of Solebury, and 

 removed to Muncy, in 1810; Merrick, 

 born 2 mo. 8, 1776, .was the grandfather 

 of the subject of this sketch; Jonathan, 

 born 6 mo. ID, 1777, married Sarah 

 Palmer, and removed to Muncy; David, 

 born 8 mo. 23, 1778, married Rachel 

 Pownall, and removed to Muncy; Han- 

 nah, born 4 mo. 11, 1780, married Sam- 

 •uel Winder, and removed to Muncy; 

 Mary, born 10 mo. 29, 1781, married John 

 Robinson; Rebecca, born 5 mo. 20, 1783, 

 died unmarried; Elizabeth, born 4 mo. 3, 

 1785, married Thomas Osborn and re- 

 moved to ]\Iuncy; Charles, born 4 mo. 

 18, 1787, married Elizabeth Clark and re- 

 moved to Baltimore. Maryland, where 

 he has descendants; Andrew, born 6 mo. 

 12, 1789, married Anna Kemble, and re- 

 moved to Muncy: John, born 5 mo. 18, 

 1791, married Rebecca Ellis, and re- 

 moved to Muncy; Eleanor, born 11 mo. 



4, 1793, married John Ross, and re- 

 moved to Muncy, Lycoming county, with 

 her parents; Jesse, born 8 mo. 19, 1796, 

 married first Elizabeth Fell, and (sec- 

 ond; Mary Fell, her sister; settled in 

 Buckingham and is the grandfather of 

 E. Wesley Keeler, Esq., of Doylestown, 

 Pennsylvania. 



Merrick Reeder, Jr., second son of 

 Merrick and Elizabeth, born in Make- 

 field, 2 mo. 8, 1776, was the grandfather 

 of the subject of this sketch. He was 

 reared on a farm in Upper Makefield, 

 and received a good education. He came 

 to Solebury as a school teacher in 1800, 

 and in 1802 married Elizabeth, daughter 

 of Joseph and Rebecca (Kitchin) East- 

 burn. He was a man of good business 

 ability, and was for many j^ears a justice 

 of the peace in Solebury and New Hope 

 borough. Soon after his marriage he 

 settled on a portion of the Eastburn 

 farm, (purchased by Joseph Eastburn, 

 Sr., in 1763), and at the death of his 



father-m-law, Joseph Eastburn, Jr., in 

 1813, it was adjudged to him in right 

 of his wife, and is now the property and 

 home of Simpson B. Michener, of New 

 Hope. Merrick Reeder was a surveyor 

 and scrivener, and an active and useful 

 man in the community. P^is wife, Eliza- 

 beth Eastburn, died 9 mo. 7, 1833, and 

 he married (second) in 1836, Sarah 

 Simpson. He died in i mo., 1851, aged 

 seventy-five years. (For Eastburn an- 

 cestry of subject of this sketch, see East- 

 burn Family). Merrick and Elizabeth 

 (Eastburn) Reeder were the parents of 

 three children: Joseph E., born 3 mo. 

 28, 1803; David K., born 10 mo. 29, 1804, 

 married Elizabeth M. Reeder, a daughter 

 of Charles M. Reeder; and William P., 

 born 4 mo. 26, 181 5, married Mary 

 Reeder, also a daughter of Charles M. 

 Reeder. David K. Reeder heired his 

 father's portion of the old plantation in 

 Solebury and lived and died in that 

 township in 1887. William P. removed to 

 Philadelphia, and died in 1885. 



Joseph E. Reeder, son of Merrick and 

 Elizabeth, born in Solebury township, 3 

 mo. 28, 1803, was a farmer, and resided 

 during his whole life on the parental 

 acres. He married 4 mo. 11, 1827, Le- 

 titia, daughter of Stephen and Hannah 

 (Blackfan) Betts, of Solebury, who bore 

 him two children; Eastburn, the subject 

 of this sketch; and Elizabeth, born i mo. 

 20. 1831, died November 7, i860, married 

 Robert Eastburn in 1857. Joseph E. 

 Reeder died 7 mo. 28, 1892. aged eigh- 

 ty-nine years, and Letitia, his wife, died 

 12 mo. 2, 1892, aged ninety-one years. 



Eastburn Reeder, born on the old 

 homestead of his ancestors, June 30, 

 [828, has spent his whole life thereon. 

 He received a good education, and on 

 arriving at manhood turned his whole 

 attention to the farm. He married, 12 

 mo. 15 1853, Ellen, daughter of John E. 

 and Martha (Quinby) Kenderdine, and 

 the following spring took charge of the 

 home farm, which he conducted person- 

 ally until 1898 a period of forty-four 

 years, since which time he has retired 

 from its active management. In 1872 he 

 becv.me interested in the breeding of Jer- 

 sey cattle, and his handsome herds were 

 the pride of the county for many years. 

 He has always taken an active interest 

 in the elevation of the calling of a farrner 

 and the improvement of methods of till- 

 ing and utilizing the soil- He was one 

 of the original thirty-three members of 

 the Solebury Farmers' Club organized 

 in 1871, and its first secretary, and is 

 still one of its most active members. He 

 was the representative of Bucks county 

 in the State Board of Agriculture from 

 1877 to 1893, sixteen years; was ap- 

 pointed by Governor Robert E. Patti- 

 son. May, 1893, State Dairy and Food 

 Commissioner, the first commissioner 

 under the law creating the office, and 

 served until JuJy, i89S. He was active 



