42 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



spect. They are both members of the Bucks 

 County Historical Society, and take a lively 

 interest and pride in the county where 

 their first ancestors on all branches were 

 early settlers, and where all their later 

 ancestors were born and reared. 



B. FRANK HART, of 2010 Wallace 

 street, Philadelphia, retired manufacturer 

 and business man. was born in Warminster, 

 Bucks county, Pennsylvania, March 22, 

 1825, and removed to Philadelphia when a 

 young man and engaged in manufacturing 

 interests there, where he has since resided. 

 He has, however, always kept in touch 

 with the county of his birth, and takes spe- 

 cial pride in his distinguished Bucks county 

 ancestry. On the paternal side all his direct 

 ancestors from his father, John Hart, to 

 his great-great-great-grandfather, John 

 Hart, were prominent officials of the countv 

 and members of the law making body of 

 the province and state, from Bucks county, 

 making five successive generations to serve 

 in tliat capacity. 



John Hart, the ancestor of the Warmins- 

 ter (Bucks county) family of the name, 

 was a son of Christopher and Mary Hart, 

 of Witney, Oxfordshire, England, where he 

 was born November 16, 1651. A brother, 

 Robert, remained in England, a younger 

 brother Joseph migrated to Jamaica, and 

 the only sister Mary, born April i, 1658, 

 accompanied her brother to Pennsylvania 

 in 1682. The family were members of the 

 Society of Friends, and John brought a 

 certificate from Friends at Witney. He 

 had purchased of William Penn, July 16, 

 1681, 1,000 acres of land to be laid out in 

 Pennsylvania. Of this 480 acres were lo- 

 cated on the Poquessing, in Byberry, Phila- 

 delphia county, and the balance in War- 

 minster township, Bucks county. The for- 

 mer was surveyed by virtue of warrant 

 dated September i, 1681, and on this John 

 Hart located on arriving in Pennsylvania, 

 and erected a house on the banks of the 

 Poquessing. The Warmin,ster tract was 

 surveyey 7 mo. 25, 1684, and lay along the 

 north side of the street road near Johns- 

 ville. It became the residence of John Hart 

 in 1697 and remained the home of his des- 

 cendants for several generations. John 

 Hart was early identified with public af- 

 fairs. He was a member of the first as- 

 sembly of the province, from Philadelphia 

 county, and his name is attached to the first 

 charter of government, granted by Penn to 

 his colonists, dated at Philadelphia, Feb- 

 ruary 2, 1683. He was a minister among 

 Friends, and the earlj' meetings of the So- 

 ciety were held at his house from 1683 to 

 1686, when the meeting house was erected 

 "near Takony." He was clerk of the meet- 

 ing for many years. In i6gi he joined 

 George Keith in his famous schism against 

 Friends, and was one of his ablest advo- 

 cates, and, when Keith's radical doctrines 

 had carried him and his followers out of 

 the Society, he united with the Baptists in 



1697, and became their preacher at the 

 meeting house originally erected by the 

 Friends. He later became assistant preach- 

 er at Penncpack Baptist church, but was 

 never ordained. He removed to Warmins- 

 ter in 1697. selling his land in Byberry, ex- 

 cept one acre which was reserved as a 

 burying ground. He died in Warminster, 

 September, 1714. in his sixty-third year. He 

 had married in the fall of 1683, Susannah 

 Rush, daughter of William and Aurelia 

 Rush, who had come to Pennsylvania in 

 1682 and settled in Byberry, and a grand- ■ 

 daughter of John Rush, who commanded 

 a troop of horse in Cromwell's army. Sus- 

 annah, after the death of her husband, re- 

 turned to Byberry and died there February 

 27, 1725. John and Susanna (Rush) Hart 

 were the parents of five children ; John, the 

 ancestor of all of the name who remained 

 in Bucks county ; Joseph who married 

 Sarah Stout, April i, 1713, and died in 

 1714, without issue; Thomas, who inherited 

 a portion of the land and conveyed it to his 

 cousin, James Rush, in 1731, and left the 

 county ; Josiah, who removed to New Jer- 

 sey, and ]\Iary, who died unmarried. 



John Hart, eldest son of John and Sus- 

 annah (Rush) Hart, wa^ born in Byberry; 

 July 16, 1684. He does not appear to have 

 occupied so important a place as his father 

 in public affairs, though he held many posts 

 of honor and responsibility. He was sheriff 

 of Bucks county, 1737-8-9. and 1743-4-5, 

 and 1749; coroner of Bucks county, 1741 

 and 1748; was commissioned justice June g, 

 1752, and was succeeded by his son Joseph 

 in 1761. When he was sworn in 1757, the 

 record states he was "old. and impaired by 

 apoplexy." He followed his father in mat- 

 ters of religion and united with the Bap- 

 tists and was baptized at Pennepack 

 November 15, 1706, by the Rev. Evan Mor- 

 gan, and was thereafter closely associated 

 with the sect. He was one of the organ- 

 izers of Southampton Baptist church in 

 1746, and served as clerk, deacon &nd 

 trustee, until his death ]\Iarch 22, 1763. 

 He inherited from his father a large por- 

 tion of the Warminster homestead and 

 erected the family mansion there in 1750. 

 He married November 25. 1708. Eleanor 

 Crispin, daughter of Silas and Esther 

 (Holme) Crispin, and grand-daughter of 

 Thomas Holme, Penn's surveyor general, 

 and oi Captain William Crispin, one of 

 Penn's commissioners for settling the col- 

 ony of Pennsylvania. Though the latter 

 never reached Pennsylvania, he was so 

 closely identified with Penn and his family 

 as to be of interest to Pennsylvanians. 

 He was born in England in 1610, and was 

 commander of the ship "Hope" in the ser- 

 vice of the Commonwealth, under Crom- 

 well, in 1652. In May. 1653. he was sent 

 with the expedition against the Dutch, as 

 captain of the "Assistance." under Rear 

 Admiral William Penn. the father of the 

 founder, and remained the remainder of 

 that year cruising on tlie Dutch coast and 

 preying uiion their commerce. In 1654 'i^ 



