HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



147 



■ogy, in Williams' College, at Williams- 

 town, Massachusetts, to fill the vacancy 

 -caused by the death of Professor Luther 

 Dana Woodbridge, M. D. He however, 

 chose to follow his profession at Eas- 

 ton, where he has a lucrative practice. 

 He was married, December 7, 1904, to 

 Frances Josephine Rodenbough, daugh- 

 ter of Joseph S. Rodenbough, of Eas- 

 ton. 



Ralph Johnston Fretz, second son of 

 Philip H. Fretz, was born February 25. 

 1878, and died December 24, 1899. He 

 prepared for college under Dr. John 

 Gosnian, of Doylestown, and entered 

 Lafayette College in the class of 1901, 

 and had returned home to spend the 

 Christmas holidays, when he was taken 

 suddenly ill with acute myelitis, and 

 lived but three days. He was a bright 

 manly boy and much beloved by his 

 family and class mates, and his sudden 

 and untimely demise was a sad blow. 



John S. Fretz, youngest son of Phil- 

 ip K. and Anna (Stover) Fretz, was 

 born on the old Fretz Valley homestead 

 in Doylestown township. September 22, 

 1850. He was but seventeen years of age 

 at the death of his father, and resided 

 for some years with his brother, Philip 

 Henry Fretz, the subject of the preced- 

 ing sketch. In 1879 he purchased of his 

 brother his present residence, and has 

 since made it his home. He soon after 

 erected and equipped a large steam saw 

 mill near his residence, which he has oper- 

 ated for many years. He is a member of 

 the Doylestown Presbyterian church, 

 and takes an active interest in all chari- 

 table objects. He is the owner of the 

 •old Fretz homestead that has been the 

 home of his ancestors for over a cen- 

 tury. He married, in November. 1879, 

 Mary W. Long, daughter of Henry 

 Long, of Doylestown, and they are the 

 parents of one son. Augustus Henry 

 Fretz. who graduated at Lafayette Col- 

 lege in the class of 1903, and is now tak- 

 ing a post graduate course there in me- 

 chanical engineering. 



THE HALL FAMILY. The pioneer 

 ancestor of this family was Mathew 

 Hall, who came from Birmingham, Eng- 

 land, about 1725, and settled in Buck- 

 ingham township. Bucks county, Penn- 

 sylvania, where he married in 1731 Sa- 

 rah (Scarborough) Haworth. widow of 

 George Haworth. daughter of John and 

 Mary Scarborough, and granddaughter 

 •of John Scarborough, a coachsmith of 

 St. Sepulchre. London. England, who 

 came to America in 1682 accompanied 

 by his son John. Sarah was born in 

 Solebury township, Bucks county. Penn- 

 sylvania. 2 mo. 4, 1694. and married 

 •George Haworth at Falls Meeting. 9 mo. 

 20, 1710. Mr. Haworth. who died in 1725, 

 purchased 500 acres on the north cor- 



ner of Buckingham and settled thereon, 

 and at his demise was seized of 339 acres 

 thereof which descended to his six chil- 

 dren; George, Stephanus, Absalom, 

 James, Mary, who became the wife of 

 John Michener; and John. Of these 

 George and John remained in Bucks 

 county, the former dying in 1749. and 

 James and Absalom removed to the 

 Shenandoah valley in Virginia. Mathew 

 Hall settled on the land belonging to 

 the estate of his wife's first husband, 

 nearly the whole of which he subse- 

 quently purchased of his step-children. 

 His wife died 3 mo. 4, 1748, and on 7 

 mo. 13, 1750. he married Rebecca 

 (Rhoads) Massey, widow of Mordecai 

 Massey, of Marple, Delaware county, 

 Pennsylvania, and daughter of Joseph 

 and Abigail Rhoads. On 8 mo. 3, 1752, 

 with a certificate to Haverford Meeting, 

 he removed with his family to Block- 

 ley, Philadelphia, where he purchased a 

 large tract of land, and in 1756 removed 

 to Marple, Delaware county, and pur- ^ 

 chased 194 acres of land there, whereon 

 he died 9 mo. 1766. His second wife, by 

 whom he had no children, died prior to 

 his death. He was not a member of the 

 Society of Friends on his arrival in 

 Bucks county, "but became a member af- 

 ter his first marriage. He was an over- 

 seer of Springfield (Chester county,) 

 Meeting from 3 mo. 28, 1757, to 3 mo. 

 23. 1759- The children of Mathew and 

 Sarah (Scarborough) (Haworth) Hall 

 were as follows: i. David, born in Buck- 

 ingham, 7 mo. 7, 1732, died in Marple, 

 Delaware county. 1802. He married, 12 

 mo. 21. 1758. Deborah Fell, daughter of- 

 Edward Fell, of Springfield, and had 

 children: Beulah, who married William 

 Broomall ; David, who married Hannah 

 Parnell; Sarah, who married Joseph 

 Levis: Edward and Joseph. 2. Mahlon, 

 born in Buckingham, 11 mo. 12, 1733-34; 

 see forward. 3. Margery, born i mo. 23, 

 1734-35. married, 11 mo. 10. 1753, at 

 Merion Meeting. Arnold Warner, of 

 Blockley, son_ of Isaac and JVeron[ca_ 

 Waj;j]_er, of__Bl£i£kle3t, amT had four 

 daughters, of whom Gulielma, wife of 

 William Widdifield. was for many years 

 an accepted minister of Friends in Phila- 

 delphia. 4. Sarah, born 11 mo. 24. 17,^6- 

 2,7, married at Buckingham Meeting. 5 

 mo. 12. 1756, John Pearson, and had 

 children, Enoch, Margaret, Mahlon and 

 William. The family removed to Bush 

 River, South Carolina, in 1772. with the 

 exception of Enoch, who removed tov 

 Gunpowder. Maryland, in 1780. 



Mahlon Hall, second son of Mathew 

 and Sarah HalJ^ born in Buckingham, 

 II moTTjanuary) 12. 1733-34, took a 

 certificate from Buc1<ingham Meeting to 

 Falls in 1752, and from there to Chester 

 Meeting in 1756. He married at Bristol, 

 Bucks county. 4 mo. 21, I7,=;7- Jane 

 Higgs, daughter of James and Elizabeth 

 (Andrews) Higgs. of Bristol. Jane was 



