126 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



Robert M. Yardley was born in Yard- 

 ley, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, Octo- 

 ber 9, 1850, a son of John and Ann (Van 

 Horn) Yardley. Of a distinguished an- 

 cestry who had rendered to tiieir county, 

 state and nation distinguished and emi- 

 nent services in nearly every generation, 

 he rendered fully his meed of service. 

 He w^as reared in the village, (now bor- 

 ough) of Yardley, and received a good 

 academic education. As a young man he 

 was engaged for a few years in assisting 

 his father in the conduct of a large lum- 

 ber and coal business at Yardley. At the 

 age of eighteen he began the study of 

 law in the office of his half-brother, 

 Mahlon Yardley, Esq., and was admitted 

 to the bar of Bucks county in 1872. He 

 located in Doylestown, and immediately 

 began the practice of his chosen profes- 

 sion. He was a careful and conscien- 

 tious student, a logical and forceful reas- 

 oner and an eloquent speaker, and soon 

 proved himself an able and strong law- 

 yer, and merited and held the confidence 

 of a large clientage. 



In 1879 he was elected district attor- 

 ney of the county against an adverse 

 majority, and filled the office for three 

 years with eminent ability. In politics 

 he was an ardent Republican, and repre- 

 sented his party and county in the na- 

 tional convention of 1884. He was elected 

 to the Fiftieth Congress in 1886, from 

 the Seventh District, over Hon. George 

 Ross, and made an enviable record. Re- 

 turning to Doylestown and declining a 

 ♦re-election, he resumed the practice of 

 his profession and soon reached the first 

 rank as a lawyer. His reputation as an 

 orator placed him upon the platform at 

 many political and other assemblies, and 

 his eloquent addresses, touched with a 

 vein of humor, were always incisive, in- 

 structive and to the point. He was ap- 

 pointed receiver of the Keystone Nation- 

 al Bank, Philadelphia, in 1891, and his 

 excellent administration of its a'rfairs 

 led to his appointment as receiver of the 

 Spring Garden Bank, in 1894. He was 

 interested in all that pertained to the 

 best interests of his town and county, 

 and generously contributed to every 

 good cause, public or private. He was a 

 director of the Bucks County Trust 

 Company of the Doylestown Elec- 

 trical Company, the Doylestown Gas 

 Company, and an officer in several other 

 local institutions. He was president 

 of the Doylestown school board for 

 several years prior to his death, and 

 an active member of the local board of 

 health. He was a member of the Ma- 

 sonic fraternity and of the I. O. O. F. 



Mr. Yardley was twice married, first 

 in 1874. to Clara Bell, who died in 1883, 

 and second, on April 21, 1892, to Re- 

 becca P., widow of Levi. L. James. Esq., 

 and daughter of John M. and Sarah 

 (Roberts) Purdy, who survives him. 

 An account of the ancestry of Mrs. 



Yardley, is given on another page of 

 this work. The news of the death of 

 Mr. Yardley on December 9, 1902, was 

 heard with profound regret and sorrow 

 in ail parts of Bucks county. The end 

 came without warning; he had gone to 

 his office as usual in the morning, and 

 a few minutes after entering his private 

 office died in his chair from heart fail- 

 ure. 



HENRY W. COMFORT. It is def- 

 initely known that it was at a very early- 

 epoch in the settlement of the new world 

 when the Comfort family was estab- 

 lished in America, for John Comfort 

 came from Flushing, Long Island, to the 

 Friends Monthly Meeting held in Falls 

 township. Bucks county, December 3, 

 1719, bringing with him a certificate 

 from the former place. He settled in 

 Amwell, Hunterdon county. New Jer- 

 sey, and his life was devoted to reclaim- 

 ing the wild land for purposes of civili- 

 zation and to more advanced agricul- 

 tural interests. He married Miss Mary 

 Wilson, August 6, 1720, and they had 

 three children: Stephen, Sarah and Rob- 

 ert. 



(II) Stephen Comfort, of the second 

 generation, was married to Mercy 

 Croasdale August 25, 1744. They had 

 nine children; John; Ezra; Jeremiah; 

 Stephen; Grace, the wife of Jonathan 

 Stackhouse; Mercy, the wife of Aaron 

 Phillipps: Moses; Robert; and Hannah. 



(III) Ezra Comfort, son of Stephen 

 Comfort, was born August 11, 1747, arid 

 married Alice Fell, January 9, 1772. He 

 was a recorded minister of the Society 

 of Friends and exerted strong influence 

 in behalf of the moral as well as mafer- 

 ial development of his community. In 

 his family were six children: Elizabeth, 

 who became the wife of Peter Roberts, 

 and after his death married Benjamin 

 White; Mercy, wife of Joshua Paxton; 

 Grace, twin sister of Mercy, and the 

 wife of Benjamin Gillingham; John; 

 Ezra; and Alice. 



(IV) Ezra Comfort, who was born 

 April 18. 1777, was also a recorded minis- 

 ter of the Society of Friends. He mar- 

 ried Margaret Shoemaker, October 16, 

 1800, and they had nine children ; Sarah, 

 wife of Hughes Bell; Grace, wife of 

 Charles Williams; Jane, who became the 

 wife of Jones Yerkes, and after his death 

 married Charles Lippencott; Ann, who 

 married Isaac Jones; John S.; Alice, the 

 wMfe of George M. Haverstick; Jere- 

 miah; David; and Margaret, wife of 

 Henry Warrington. 



(V) John S. Comfort, son of Ezra 

 Comfort, was born May 25, 1810, in 

 Plymouth. Montgomery county, Penn- 

 sylvania. In early life he engaged in a 

 lime business, building and owning 

 kilns about ten miles from Easton on 

 the Delaware division of the canal. He 



