HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



47 



Josiah Hart, being the fourth son of 

 Colonel Joseph* and Elizabeth (Collet) 

 Hart, born July 17, 1749, and died October 

 25, 1800. He was captain of one of the 

 Bucks county companies of militia during 

 the Revolutionary war, under his father, 

 who was commissioned colonel of the first 

 battalion organized in Bucks county, in 

 1776, for the Jersey campaign. Colonel 

 Hart was one of the most prominent men 

 of his day in Bucks county, serving as 

 sheriff, 1747-1751 ; justice of the courts of 

 Bucks county, 1764, to the time of his death 

 in 1788, ensign of militia, 1747. In the 

 Revolutionary struggle he was one of the 

 leading spirits from the time he was ap- 

 pointed on the committee of Bucks county, 

 July 9, 1774, to attend "a meeting of the 

 several committees of the respective coun- 

 ties of Pennsylvania, to be held in Phila- 

 delphia the 15th of July, instant," until 

 independence was achieved. He was born 

 September i, 1715, and died February 25, 

 1788, and was a son of John and Eleanor 

 (Crispin) Hart, grandson of John Hart, 

 who came from Witney, Oxfordshire, in 

 1682, and married Susanna Rush, of 

 Byberry. On the maternal side Mrs. Davis 

 was a granddaughter of Stephen, and great- 

 granddaughter of Rev. John Watts, born 

 at Leeds, England, 1661 ; came to Lower 

 Dublin, Philadelphia county, 1686, and 

 married Sarah Eaton. He become pastor 

 of the Pennepack Baptist church, 1690, and 

 died 1702. William Watts, brother of Mrs. 

 Josiah Hart, was prothonotary, clerk of 

 quarter sessions, and associate justice of 

 Bucks county. Mrs. Hart, mother-in-law 

 of John Davis, died in 1815, at Doylestown, 

 of typhoid fever ; also William W. Hart, a 

 young member of the bar, her son, and 

 Mrs. Miles, another daughter of Mrs. Hart, 

 all dying in the George Brock house, 

 Doylestown, within a few days, of the 

 same fever. 



Soon after his marriage John Davis 

 settled on his mother-in-law's farm in 

 Southampton, and, at her death, in 181 5, 

 it was adjudged to him in right of his wife, 

 and he resided in that immediate neighbor- 

 hood the remainder of his long and active 

 life. He at once became active in the af- 

 fairs of his native county, to which he re- 

 turned while the second war with Great 

 Britain was in progress. On news of the 

 burning of Washington reaching Bucks 

 county, a meeting was called at Hart's 

 Cross Roads, now Hartsville, on Thursday, 

 September i, 1814, to raise volunteers to 

 take the field. The list of the men enrolled 

 is in the handwriting of William Watts 

 Hart, brother of Mrs. John Davis, and John 

 Davis's name heads the list. He became 

 ensign of the company then formed, which, 

 after two months' camp and drill at Bush 

 Hill, Philadelphia, proceeded to Camp 

 Dupont, in Delaware, where their three 

 months' service was completed. Ensign 

 Davis, soon after his discharge, entered 



* See preceding sketch. 



the volunteer militia of the county, became 

 active therein, and was in constant commis- 

 sion for thirty-four years, holding in suc- 

 cession commissions as captain, brigade in- 

 spector, major, lieutenant-colonel, colonel, 

 and was three times elected major-general 

 of the division composed of Bucks and 

 Montgomery counties. General Davis was 

 a natural politician, a Democrat from con- 

 viction, and became a power in that party 

 in Bucks county. Sturdy in the advocacy 

 of what he conceived to be right and strong 

 in the reasons and facts on which his con- 

 clusions were founded, he became a strong 

 and eloquent advocate and was "on the 

 stump" in many of the political campaigns 

 of his day. He was appointed by Governor 

 Wolf, 1833, a member of the board of ap- 

 praisers of public works and held the office 

 three years. In 1838 he was elected to 

 congress from the Bucks county district, 

 and made a splendid record as a congress- 

 man. His speech in favor of the passage 

 of the Independent Treasury Bill, June 2/, 

 1840, was commented on throughout the 

 country as a masterly and able one. He 

 served on many important committees and 

 took an active interest in all that pertained 

 to the best interest of his district and ,the 

 country at large. On March 4, 1845, he 

 was appointed surveyor of the port of 

 Pniladelphia, and filled that position for 

 four years. During the forty years from 

 1820 to i860, General John Davis's 

 position in the political arena was a 

 prominent one and he was closely 

 associated and in constant correspondence 

 with the leading political lights of that time, 

 A lifelong friend of James Buchanan, he 

 used strenuous efforts to accomplish his 

 election to the presidency. He, however, 

 disapproved of Buchanan's Kansas and 

 Nebraska policy, and refused to indorse it, 

 and became estranged from many old-time 

 comrades in the party. 



During all these years General Davis 

 remained a resident of Davisville, where he 

 operated a farm and saw mill for many 

 years. In 1829 he built a store building 

 there, and conducted a general merchan- 

 dise store for many years, and filled the 

 position of postmaster. He was an ex- 

 cellent business man, frank and straight- 

 forward in his dealings, and of unswerving 

 public and private integrity. He and his 

 family were members of the Baptist church, 

 and he took a deep interest in religious and 

 educational matters. At the outbreak of 

 the Civil war he was amongst the very first 

 to raise his voice in favor of maintaining 

 the Union and putting down the rebellion 

 with a strong arm. Had his age permitted 

 would have gone to the front, as did his 

 only son, in defense of the government he 

 loved and served. 



Amy, the wife of General John Davis, 

 died August 17, 1847, and he on April 8, 

 1876, and both are buried in the old graver 

 yard at Southampton Baptist church. Their 

 children were : Ann, who married, Decem- 

 ber 10, 183s, James Erwin, of Newtown, 



