HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



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don, England. The latter wa? a son of 

 John, who was a son of one Nathaniel Tay- 

 lor, who lived in Colchester, Essex, at the 

 time of the commonwealth under Crom- 

 well. Thomas Taylor, the American pro- 

 genitor of the family, went to Virginia 

 when young and became a planter. He was 

 prosperous and became possessed of a large 

 landed estate which he devised to his son 

 Caleb at his death. Thomas Taylor, third 

 son of Caleb and grandson of Thomas Tay- 

 lor of Virginia, was born in 1753, joined 

 the Society of Friends, and settled in York, 

 Pennsylvania, where he died in 1S37, aged 

 «ighty-four years. His son, Caleb, Jr., was 

 born in 1789, and went into the wholesale 

 drug business at 24 North Front street, 

 Philadelphia, in 1810, at the age of twenty- 

 one. In the space of ten years he built up 

 a large and profitable business. In 1820 he 

 died, leaving a widow, Lydia, and four chil- 

 dren : Caleb, third ; George W., Charles 

 W., father of the subject of this stetch ; and 

 Sarah, wife of the late Thomas Paul, of 

 Germantown, whose niece, Mary Paul, mar- 

 ried William Waldorf Astor, of New York 

 city. Caleb Taylor, Jr., married in 1814 

 Lydia Williams, a woman of superior men- 

 tal attainments and of distinguished an- 

 cestry. She was a lineal descendant of 

 Thomas Langhorne and of Lawrence Grow- 

 don, the elder, and Joseph Growdon, prom- 

 inent men in and early settlers of the pro- 

 vince of Pennsylvania ; also from the Eng- 

 lish Mauleverers of Arncliffe. She was the 

 daughter of Charles Williams and Sarah 

 Dickinson, his wife. The original parch- 

 ment marriage certificate reciting their mar- 

 riage in 1788 by Frends' ceremony, is still 

 in the possession of the family, and is an 

 interesting document. Charles Williams 

 was the son of Hezekiah Williams, Jr. and 

 Grace Langhorne Biles, his wife. The lat- 

 ter was a daughter of Charles Biles and 

 Anne Mary, his wife. Charles Biles was 

 the son of William Biles and Sarah Lang- 

 horne, his wife. 



William Biles was one of the early set- 

 tlers of the county. He took up nearly 

 three hundred acres just east of the pres- 

 ent borough of Langhorne. He was a man 

 of eminent talents and of great influence. 

 He was a member of the assembly, over- 

 seer of the highways, and a constable un- 

 d?r Governor Andros and the Duke of 

 York. Sarah Langhorne, his wife, was the 

 daughter of Thomas Langhorne, and sister 

 of Jeremiah Langhorne, a noted minister of 

 the religious Society of Friends, and later 

 judge of the provincial courts. Hezekiah 

 Williams, Jr., was the son of Hezekiah 

 Williams, Sr., and Sarah Abbott, his wife. . 

 The latter was the daughter of John 

 Abbott, and Anne Mauleverer, his wife. 

 Anne Mary, wife of Charles Biles, 

 was the daughter of Thomas " Hooper 

 and Ganfeier (Growdon) Hooper, who 

 was the daughter of Joseph Growdon, 

 the father of Lawrence Growdon the 

 younger. Joseph Growdon was a son 

 of Lawrence Growdon the elder, of Trevose, 



Cornwall, England. He with his son Jo- 

 seph in i68r together obtained a grant of 

 ten thousand acres of land from the pro- 

 prietor of the province of Pennsylvania. At 

 the death of Joseph his share of the estate 

 went to his wife Anne, and at her death it 

 went to Lawrence Growdon the younger. 

 The Growdon tract comprised nearly the 

 whole of what is now the present township 

 of Bensalem. The present Trevose estate 

 is all that is now left of it, and it is one of 

 the historic estates of Pennsylvania. The 

 boundaries of the tract as it then existed 

 began on or near the farm of one Charles 

 Vandegrift, on the Poquessing creek, and 

 extended in an irregular line to the Nesh- 

 aminy creek, a short distance above the 

 present village of Newportville ; thence fol- 

 lowing the Neshaminy until it reached the 

 range of the Southampton township line; 

 thence along this line to the Poquessing, 

 and down that stream until it reached the 

 farm of Charles Vandegrift, at the place of 

 beginning. The Growdons also took up 

 under their patent from Penn three hun- 

 dred acres of land in the southern point of 

 Bensalem, between the Poquessing creek 

 and the Delaware river. 



After a short residence in Philadelphia, 

 after he came over from England, Lawrence 

 Growdon erected a mansion house at Tre- 

 vose, set up a manorial establishment, and 

 maintained much pomp and. circumstance. 

 The mansion house was at that time a large 

 stone building with pointed finish, two stor- 

 ies high, with open stairway and hall. When 

 it was completed in 1687 it was one of the 

 finest residences in the province. Two 

 wings, one adjoining the east end of the 

 house, and the other adjoining the west end, 

 with an open court-yard between them, 

 were used for kitchen, scullery, store house 

 and slave quarters respectively. At the 

 east end of the dwelling house Growdon 

 erected a small stone fireproof building, 

 with brick arched roof, and an iron door. 

 Here the county records were stored while 

 the county seat was at Bristol and while 

 Growdon was prothonotary, and here at a 

 later date were kept many of the valuable 

 papers of Benjamin Franklin, who was an 

 intimate friend of Joseph Galloway, son-in- 

 law of Lawrence Growdon. In the iron door 

 at present on this building there still may be 

 seen bullet holes from shots fired by soldiers 

 in the Continental army during the Revolu- 

 tionary war. In front of the mansion house 

 the main door opened into the spacious hall, 

 and from this door a splendid view could 

 be had of distant Jersey and the Delaware 

 river, as well as the lower lands of Ben- 

 salem, Byberry and Bristol. A fine lawn of 

 original forest trees surrounded the house, 

 while back were stables and garden. Back 

 of the house and towards the "Neshaminy 

 river" was Growdon's famous orchard of 

 one thousand apple trees of English im- 

 portation. This was the home, or Manor 

 farm. The farms retained and rented were 

 South Trevose, East Belmont, West Bel- 

 mont, South Richlieu, West Richlieu, and 



