28 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



daughter of Garret, Sr.. married a Brit- 

 tian, whose son Joseph and grandson 

 Cornelius are mentioned in the will of 

 Cornelius Van Sant. 



Garret Vansant of Middlctown. son of 

 Stophel, received by deed of gift from 

 his father on October 21, 1742, gsYj acres 

 of land, part of 300 acres purchased bj' 

 Stophel of Henry Paulin in 1706, and on 

 January 10, 1748, purchased 214 acres in 

 Middletown of Charles and Ann Plumlj'. 

 On June 25, 1789, he conveys the last 

 mentioned tract in about equal parts to 

 his sons, Garret, Jr., and John, and on 

 July 31, 1789, he convej'ed to his son 

 George the 95^ acres conveyed to him 

 by his fatliei. No record appears of the 

 name of his wife. A Garret Vansant 

 married Leah Nixon at Churchville, 

 April 15, 1747, which was probably this 

 Garret, although it may have been his 

 cousin Garret, of Wrightstown. The will 

 of Garret Vansant is dated July 7, 1789, 

 and was proven August 7, 1789, only a 

 week after the couA'eyance of his land. 

 It mentions the children of his son 

 Jacob, and their mother Mary Vastine; 

 daughters Rachel Harrison, Keziah 

 Sweetman, Vashti Vansant and Sarah 

 Hise; sons John, Garret and George, and 

 grandson James Vansant. Jacob, the 

 eldest son. married Mary Richardson, 

 daughter of Joseph Richardson, and set- 

 tled in Falls township, Bucks county, 

 where he died in April, 1785. leaving chil- 

 dren: Elizabeth, James, Catharine and 

 Garret. His widow married Benjamin 

 Vastine prior to 1789. George Vansant 

 married Sarah Johnston, December 24, 

 1783. He sold the old homestead to 

 Joshua Woolston in 1794, and removed 

 to Bristol township. John married Le- 

 titia Leaw and died in Middletown in 

 1812, leaving a son John, and daughters 

 Ann Leah Lovett and Amelia Booz. Gar- 

 ret Vansant. Jr.. remained on the home- 

 stead purchased of his father in 1789 un- 

 til 1822, when he convej^ed it to his sons 

 James and John, and soon after removed 

 to Newtown, where he died in 1842 at an 

 advanced age. His wife Mary had died 

 many years previously. The children of 

 Garret and Mary Vansant were John, 

 James, Martha: Jane, wife of Isaac Ran- 

 dall; Rachel wife of Eber Randall; and 

 Mary, wife of Jonathan Hunter. James 

 died in Middletown in 1833, leaving a 

 widow Amy and two children. Elizabeth, 

 born March 11, 1821, and James born 

 May I. 1826. 



JAMES TITUS VANSANT, of Mid- 

 dletown township, son of John and Mary 

 (Hunter) Vansant. and grandson of Gar- 

 ret and Mary Vansant, last mentioned, 

 was born in MiddletowMi township May 

 -^• ^837. where he was educated at the 

 public scliools. and has spent his whole 

 life on the farm that has been the prop- 

 erty of his direct ancestors since 1748, 

 and part of it since 1704. On January 

 21, 1863. he married Lucy Ann Carman, 



daughter of Samuel and Mary Ann 

 (Brown) Carman, of Bensalem townships 

 and granddaughter of Barzilla and Beu- 

 lah Carman. Her maternal grandparents 

 were Israel and Sarah (Hellings) Brown, 

 the latter being a daughter of Nathan 

 and Rachel Hellings, of an old Middle- 

 town, Bucks county, family whose pro- 

 genitor was Nicholas Hellings, an early 

 settler in Northampton. Mr. and Mrs. 

 Vansant are the parents of eight chil- 

 dren, viz.: Samuel Jennings, born Au- 

 gust IS, 1865. died February 28, 1904; 

 William Carman, born May 14, 1867; 

 John Andrew, born August 11, 1869; 

 Howard, born September 12. 1871; Clar- 

 ence, born August 22, 1873; James Mer- 

 ton. born November 15, 1875. Joseph 

 Winder, born January 10, 1879; Lucy 

 Ann. born June 16. 1883. Samuel Jen- 

 nings Vansant married August, 1891, 

 Martha A. Tomlinson of Fox Chase, and 

 they are the parents of three children — 

 Roy. Arthur and Frederick. William 

 Carman Vansant married January I, 

 •1894, Melvina Search, and they have 

 four children — Charles Search, James 

 Merton, Mary, and Edward. Mrs. Mel- 

 vina Search died in December, 1904. 

 John Andrew Vansant married April 13, 

 1900, Ella. Sickle, and had one child 

 Esther Helen. Clarence Vansant married, 

 January 25, 1898, Clara Worthington, 

 and their children are: Harriet, born Oc- 

 tober 21. 1898; and Samuel, born Octo- 

 ber 19. 1901. James M. Vansant married, 

 March 6, 1900, Ada K. Hibbs, and their 

 children are: Albert Hunter, born De- 

 cember 31, 1900; and Clifford Randall, 

 born July 31, 1903. Joseph Winder Van- 

 sant married June i, 1904, Matilda Pre- 

 vost McArthur. 



Mr. Vansant is one of the prominent 

 and successful men of the county, and 

 has held many positions of trust. He 

 owns a large amount of real estate, in 

 dwellings and farms and takes a lively 

 interest in the affairs of the county. He 

 and his family are members of the Meth- 

 odist church. In politics he is a Re- 

 publican. He is a member of Nesha- 

 miny Lodge, No. 422, I. O. O. F., of 

 Hulmeville. 



HOWARD VANSANT. fourth son of 

 James T. and Lucy Ann (Carman) Van- 

 sant. was born in Middletown township, 

 September 12, 1871. and received his ele- 

 mentary education at the public schools. 

 He graduated from Pierce's Business 

 C>)llege in 1891. and for one winter filled 

 the position in that institution as teacher 

 in the banking department. He then 

 accepted the position of bookkeeper for 

 .Augustes Beitney, which he filled for 

 six j-ears. and then entered into the em- 

 ploy of Walton Bros., grain merchants 

 of Philadelphia, as bookkeeper, and after 

 a short time was promoted to the posi- 

 tion of general superintendent, haying 

 general charge of their large warehouse. 

 The firm has for many years done a 



