HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY 



125 



the heir of his uncle, William Yardley, 

 of Ransclough, near Leake, county Staf- 

 ford, who had come to Bucks county in 

 1682, an account of whom is given in this 

 work. 



Richard Yardley appears in Bucks 

 county soon after the arrival of Thomas, 

 with whom he was closely associated. 

 He was probably a grandson of John 

 Yardley, of Rushton Spencer, uncle of 

 William and Thomas, above mentioned, 

 who married Alice, daughter of Richard 

 Sutton, of Rushton Spencer, and had 

 sons, Edward, William, Ralph, John, 

 Richard, and Thomas. As before stated 

 Richard Yardley appears in Bucks coun- 

 ty soon after the emigration of Thomas 

 Yardley to this county, and the latter 

 sold him in 1753 six hundred acres of 

 land near Newtown, purchased in 1742. 

 Richard never lived on this land, and 

 at his death in 1761 was operating the 

 mill belonging to Thomas Yardlej^ in 

 Solebury township. His will, dated Jan- 

 uary 5, 1761, and proved March 4, 1761, 

 mentions wife Mary, daughter Mary, 

 wife of Joseph Harvey; and sons, Thom- 

 as, Samuel, Richard, Enoch, William, 

 and Benjamin. 



Richard Yardley, son of the above 

 Richard, married November i, 1759, Lu- 

 cilla Stackhouse. He purchased in 1773 

 of Thomas and Mary (Field) Yardley 

 107 acres of land in Lower Makefield, 

 on which he lived and died. He was a 

 wheelwright by trade and followed that 

 vocation in connection with farming. 

 He died in 1786 leaving two sons, Sam- 

 uel and William; and three daughters: 

 Anna, wife of John Leedom; Hannah, 

 wife of James White; and Mary, wife 

 of John Hough. William, the j^oungest 

 of the children, was born in 1777. Lu- 

 cilla Stackhouse, wife of Richard Yard- 

 ley, was born 4 mo. 9, 1738, and was a 

 daughter of John and Elizabeth (Jan- 

 ney) Stackhouse, her maternal grand- 

 father being Abel Janney, whose daugh- 

 ter Elizabeth, John Stackhouse married 

 at IMiddletown 10 mo. 22. 1737, their only 

 other child being Abel Stackhouse, born 

 4 mo. 4, 1740. John Stackhouse was born 

 3 mo. II, 1708, and died 7 mo. 23, 1743, 

 and was a son of John and Elizabeth 

 Stackhouse, of ]\iiddletown, the former 

 of whom came to Middletown from 

 England with his uncle, Thomas Stack- 

 house, in 1682. 



Samuel Yardley, eldest son of Richard 

 and Lucilla (Stackhouse) Yardley, was 

 a man of considerable prominence in the 

 community, and at one time a consider- 

 able landholder in the Makefields. He 

 married Ann Vansant, daughter of Cor- 

 nelius and Ann (Larzelere) Vansant, and 

 had two sons, Richard and Joseph Har- 

 vey Yardley. 



Joseph H. Yardley was born near 

 Yardley in the year 1797. He was a nat- 

 ural mechanic, and in ,early life followed 

 the trade of a carpenter, in connection 



with the conduct of a farm near Taylors- 

 ville. In April, 1841, he purchased at 

 sheriff's sale the Jacob Janney farm of 

 115 acres, which included the farm now 

 owned and occupied by his son, the sub- 

 ject of this sketch, and spent the remain- 

 der of his life thereon, dying in 1880 at 

 the age of eighty-three years. In politics 

 he was a staunch Republican, and was 

 an active and prominent man in the com- 

 munity, holding the office of justice of 

 the peace for many years. He was also 

 one of the directors of the Yardley Del- 

 aware Bridge Company, and held several 

 other positions of trust. His wife was 

 Esther B. Knowles, of an old and promi- 

 nent family in Upper Makefield, and 

 they were the parents of six children: 

 Elizabeth; Julia, widow of Charles Jan- 

 ney, of Solebury ; Anna, first wife of the 

 above named Charles Janney; Rebecca, 

 who died young; Samuel, the subject oi 

 this sketch; and Gulielma, wife of Rob- 

 ert Yardley Linton, of Makefield. 



Samuel Yardley was born near Tay- 

 lorsville, -Upper Makefield township, Oc- 

 tober 19, 1834, but from the age of seven 

 years was reared on the farm upon 

 which he still resides. He was educated 

 at the local schools and at the Norris- 

 town Academy. He was jeared to the 

 life of a farmer, and has always given 

 his attention to the tilling of the soil. 

 In politics he is a Republican, but has 

 never sought or held other than local 

 office. He is one of the highly respected 

 citizens of Lower Makefield, where he 

 has always resided. Mr. Yardley has been 

 twice married, his first wife being Sa- 

 rah Swartzlander, who died December 21, 

 1865; and his second wife was Jane P. 

 Swartzlander, who died November 28, 

 1902, both being daughters of Abraham 

 and Rebecca Swartzlander. 



William R., only son of Samuel and 

 Sarah (Swartzlander) Yardley, married 

 j\Iary Vanhorn, and they are the parents 

 of eleven children, as follows: Florence 

 K., born February 6, 1884; Joseph H., 

 born July 21. 1885; Bernard V., born 

 October 4, 1887; Mary S., born Novem- 

 ber 16. 1889: Sarah S., born Januarj' 22, 

 1892; Oscar v., deceased; Jane P., born 

 ^larch 12, 1'897; Maud L., born August i, 

 T898; Samuel Y., born February 5, 1900; 

 Virginia, born May 30, 1901; Esther K., 

 born January 8, 1903. 



HON. ROBERT M. YARDLEY, de- 

 ceased. On the ninth day of December, 

 1902, passed away in Doylestown, Bucks 

 county, Pennsylvania, one of the most 

 popular and distinguished citizens of the 

 county, one who by reason of eminent 

 ability and distinguished services had 

 achieved a fame far beyond the borders 

 of his native county, and who by his gen- 

 erous, kindly and affable traits had in- 

 trenched himself in the hearts of the 

 people. 



