HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



35 



colony in Bucks, and a member of the 

 Bensalem church. He was twice mar- 

 ried, first on May 6, 1719 to Elizabeth 

 Van Sandt, and second on August 10, 

 1742, to Marytje Hufte. Neither wife 

 survived him. He died in November, 

 1775. Of his nine children, Fulkhart, 

 Elizabeth, Harman, Alshe, Abrahaiii, 

 John, Cornelius and Elinor, the first 

 eight are mentioned in his will. 



Abraham Vandegrift, borrt about 1725 

 married Femmentje Hufte about 1752 

 and had six children. He died in Ben- 

 salem township about 1800. The children 

 were: Elizabeth, baptized at Southamp- 

 ton church August 18, 1754, married John 

 DeCoursey, and had eight children; 

 Mary, married Benjamin Severns; Ab- 

 raham; and Catharine, who married Ab- 

 raham Vandegrift, her second cousin. 



Jacob Van de Grift, second son of Jo- 

 hannes and Nealke, baptized at New 

 Amsterdam, October 14, 1696, was the 

 grandfather of Abraham above mention- 

 ed. John Vandegrift, eldest son of Ja- 

 cob, known as "John Vandegrift, Es- 

 <iuire," to distinguish him /rom his cous- 

 ins of the same name on the records, 

 married November 14, 1750, Maria (or 

 Mary) Praul, who died prior to 1786. 

 He died in 1805; his will dated Septem- 

 ber 7, 1804, proved May 3, 1805, devised 

 to his eldest son Jacob, (baptized at 

 Southampton, April 18, 1753) a stone 

 house "I am now erecting"' and one 

 acre of land, he having been "advanced 

 400 pounds towards purchasing a plan- 

 tation." This plantation was in North- 

 ampton, where Jacob removed in 1783 

 and died leaving a large family. The will 

 of John Vandegrift further devises to 

 his son John, \62Y2 acres on the Dunk's 

 ferry road where the testator lived; to 

 his daughter Jane Johnson a lot on same 

 road; to son Bernard a tract of land in 

 New Jersey purchased of John Long- 

 streth, and to his son Abraham seventy- 

 two acres, "part of the land where he 

 now lives, beginning at brother Jacob's 

 lane end." etc. 



Abraham, son of John and Maria 

 (Praul) Vandegrift, was born in Bensa- 

 lem in 1766. On his marriage his father 

 set apart to him seventy-two acres of 

 land and built a house for him thereon 

 which has since been the home of his 

 descendants. He was twice married; by 

 his first wife he had a daughter Mary 

 who married John Brodnax. His second 

 wife was Catharine Vandegrift, daughter 

 of Abraham and granddaughter of Fol- 

 hart, as previously shown. By this mar- 

 riage Abraham had two sons, John and 

 Samuel, and two daughters: Elizabeth, 

 who married Joseph Myers; and Phebe, 

 who married Thomas Darrah. Abra- 

 ham died in .May, 1800, leaving a will 

 made eleven ' years previously, which 

 was contested by the widow and daugh- 

 ter Phebe, but proved in the court of 

 common pleas in December of the same 



year. The bulk of the landed property 

 mcluding the homestead descended to 

 the son John. 



John Vandegrift was born on the old 

 homestead August 12, 1806, and died 

 there m March. 1878. He was a success- 

 ful farmer, a Democrat, and a member 

 of the Presbyterian church. His wife 

 was Susanna Sipler. She died July 3, 

 1898. John and Susanna (Sipler) Van- 

 degrift were the parents of eight chil- 

 dren: Jesse, who died young; Jesse (2); 

 Moses; John; Philip, who served three 

 years in the civil war and died January 

 12. 1900, in his fifty-eighth year; Sam- 

 uel; Letitia; and George W. 



Moses Vandegrift, the subject of this 

 sketch, was born on the old homestead 

 June 5, 1840. He was reared on the old 

 farm and received his education at the 

 Eddington school. On arriving at man- 

 hood he settled on the old homestead 

 that had been the property of his an- 

 cestors for many generations, and has 

 spent his whole life there. He is a mem- 

 ber of the Presbyterian church and po- 

 litically is a Democrat. He was elected 

 supervisor of Bensalem township in 

 1888 for two years and was re-elected in 

 1900 for an additional term. He married 

 January 26, 1879, Sarah Knight, daughter 

 of Strickland and Caroline (Briggs) 

 Knight, by whom he has six children: 

 Eugene, born January 4. 1880; Walter, 

 born January 5, 1882; Roland and Oscar, 

 twins, born Maj^ 27, 1884, (Oscar died in 

 infancy) ; Fannie, born November 4, 1885, 

 and Russell, born November 8, 1887. 



SAMUEL ALLEN VANDEGRIFT. 

 eldest son of the late George V. and 

 Mary Ann (Allen) Vandegrift, was born 

 at Bridgevvater, Bensalem township, 

 Bucks county. Pennsylvania, March 21, 

 18,30. 



The educational advantages enjoyed 

 by Samuel A. Vandegrift were obtained 

 in the common schools of the neighbor- 

 hood, and he remained a resident on the 

 paternal homestead until he attained his 

 majority. He then settled on the Jon- 

 athan Paxon farm in Bensalem town- 

 ship, and after a residence of twenty 

 years there located on the farm owned 

 by his brother William A., remaining 

 nine years, and the following six years 

 he resicj'ed on the Thomas Hamilton 

 farm. He then took up his residence on 

 the farm in Byberry, owned by Colonel 

 Morrell, remaining three years, after 

 which he located on the farm in Ben- 

 salem owned by his brother Frank, and 

 in 1903 removed to the old Black farm 

 in Bensalem township, owned by his 

 son Charles, where he has since resided. 

 Being practical and progressive in his 

 methods of management, he met with 

 a large degree of prosperity in the va- 



