HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



139- 



and a great-granddaughter of Captain 

 Henry Darrah of the Revolution. 



The pioneer ancestor of the Darrah 

 family was Thomas Darroch, native of 

 Londonderry, Ireland, who with his 

 wife Mary, emigrated to Pennsylvania 

 about 1730, with the colony of Scotch 

 Irish who settled on the banks of the 

 Neshaminy, about the famous "Log Col- 

 lege." He settled for ,a time in Hor- 

 sham township, but in 1740, purchased 

 of Mathew Hughes, a tract of land in 

 Bedminster, Bucks county, on the 

 Swamp Road, below the present village 

 of Dublin, purporting to be 500 acres of 

 land, but really containing nearly 800 

 acres. He died there in March, 1750. 

 The children of Thomas and Mary 

 Darroch were Robert, Thomas, Agnes, 

 wife of John Davis, Esther, wife of 

 George Scott, William, Henry, James, 

 and Susanna. Robert died in Bedmin- 

 ster in 1793. leaving a son Robert and 

 several daughters. He represented his 

 township in the Bucks County Commit- 

 tee of Safety in 1776, and was active in 

 the struggle. Thomas also died in Bed- 

 minster leaving two sons Thomas and 

 Mark and several daughters. William 

 was lieutenant of Captain, later Col. 

 Robinson's company of Bucks county 

 militia in 1775. and is also said to have 

 served in the Colonial war of 1756-7. He 

 left two sons Archibald and W^illiani and 

 several daughters, one of whom Hannah, 

 married David Kelly of Buckingham and 

 became the mother of Hon. William D. 

 Kelly, for many years a member of Con- 

 gress from Philadelphia and known as 

 the "Father of the House." Another 

 daughter Susannah, married John Shaw 

 and was the mother of Commodore 

 Thompson Darrah Shaw. Still another 

 Agnes married James Smith of Buck- 

 ingham, son of Hugh, and was the 

 mother of Gen. Samuel A. Smith of 

 Doj'lestown. 



Henry Darroch, fourth son of 

 Thomas and Mary, was a miner at the 

 death of his father in 1750. B}^ the will 

 of the latter about 190 acres of the 

 homestead was devised to each of the 

 elder sons, Robert and Thomas and the 

 residue to the three younger sons Will- 

 iam, Henry and James, subject to a life 

 interest of their mother. On part of this 

 residue, containing 185 acres Henry 

 probably took up his residence on his 

 marriage in 1760 though it was not con- 

 veyed to him by his brothers until 1763, 

 when he was about to convey it to 

 Henry Rickert. In 1767, he purchased a 

 farm of 207 acres on the west bank of 

 the Neshaminy, on the Bristol Road, 

 between Tradeville and New Britain vil- 

 lages, now in Doylestown township, at 

 Sheriff's sale as the property of his 

 brother-in-law John Davis. Here he 

 lived until 1773, when he purchased 237 

 acres further west in New Britain town- 

 ship, on the line of Warrington town- 



ship, and now included in the latter 

 township, later purchasing about 50- 

 acres adjoining. This remained his home 

 until his death in 1782. Henry Darroch 

 was one of the most illustrious of our 

 Bucks county patriots in the trying days 

 of the war for independence. He was a 

 member of the New Britain company of 

 Associators in 1775, and was commis- 

 sioned in ]\Iay, 1776, first lieutenant of 

 Captain William Roberts Company of 

 the Flying Camp, under Col. Joseph 

 Hart, and served with distinction in the 

 Jersey campaign of 1776. Returning to 

 Bucks county in December, 1776, his 

 company was one of the few that re- 

 sponded to the second call in the winter 

 of 1776-7. On the reorganization of the 

 Militia in the Spring of I777, his old 

 captain and lifelong friend William 

 Roberts was made a Lieut. Colonel and 

 Lieut. Darroch was commissioned Cap- 

 tain May 6. 1777, and his company was 

 soon after in active service under Col- 

 onel, later Gen. John Lacey. In 1778, 

 it was again incorporated in Col. Rob- 

 erts' Battalion, which in 1781, came 

 under the command of Col. Robinson. 

 Captain Darroch's company of< Militia 

 was one that was almost constantly in 

 service and he died in the Spring of 

 1782 from a cold contracted in the serv- 

 ice of his country. His will is dated 

 INIarch 17. 1782, and his friends. Col. 

 William Roberts. Col. William Dean 

 and his brother-in-law W^illiam Scott 

 are named as executors. It is related' 

 that George Washington was a great ad- 

 mirer of Captain Darroch and visited 

 him at his house. 



Captain Henry Darroch married Au- 

 gust 13, 1760, Ann Jamison, daughter of 

 Henry and Mary (Stewart) Jamison of 

 Warwick township. Bucks county. Tra- 

 dition relates that Henry Jamison did 

 not approve of the attentions of young 

 Darroch to his daughter, because he was 

 too much of a dashing young man and 

 too fond of fast horses to settle down to 

 the life of a farmer; and that the young 

 people settled the matter for themselves 

 by his taking her up behind him on one 

 of his fast horses and outdistancing the 

 irate father in a race to the parson's. 

 Henry Jamison was a native of the 

 north of Ireland. . and came to Bucks 

 county with his father, Henry Jamison 

 and brothers Robert and Alexander 

 about 1720. Henry the elder is said to 

 have been born in Midlothian, Scotland, 

 and removed to the Province of Ulster, 

 Ireland in 1685. with his parents, from 

 whence he migrated to Pennsylvania. 

 He purchased in 1724. i.ooo acres partly 

 in Northampton township and partly in 

 Warwick, and was one of the founders 

 of Neshaminy Church in 1727. In 1734 

 he conveyed the greater part of his real 

 estate to his sons and returned to Ire- 

 land, where he died. His son Henr3^ Jr., 

 the father of Ann Darroch. was one of 



