HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



151 



Tinicum township, Bucks county, and 

 settled in Nockamixon township, Bucks 

 county, Pennsylvania, wdiere he pur- 

 chased land in 1773. Another John Pur- 

 sell, also of Pennsylvania, married in 

 1765 Mary Logan, and settled in Falls 

 township, Bucks county, where he died 

 in 1778. 



John Pursell, of Nockamixon, died in 

 that township in December, 1804, and 

 his will was probated February 5, 1805. 

 It is probable that his father, Dennis 

 Pursell, settled in Nockamixon while 

 John waj a young man, as a Denes Pur- 

 sle was sergeant of the Nockamixon 

 company of Associators in 1775, and, 

 though John had a son Dennis, it is 

 hardly probable that he could have been 

 of sufficient age to have held a commis- 

 sion at that date. The children of John 

 and Ann (Coomb) Pursell were: i. John. 

 Jr., who married Mercy Iliff. and died 

 in 1816, leaving eleven children. 2. 

 Thomas, who married Catherine Crause, 

 and died in 1841, leaving six sons, Den- 

 nis, William. John. Thomas, Jacob and 

 Frederick, and one daughter, Mary, who 

 married Jacob Fulmer. 3. Brice, men- 

 tioned hereinafter. 4. Dennis, who went « 

 west and left no descendants in Bucks 

 county. 5. Ruth, who became the wife 

 of Daniel Strawn, born 1752, son of Ja- 

 cob and Christiana (Pursell) Strawn, of 

 Haycock, the former of whom was a 

 half-brother of Ruth (Cooper) Pursell. 

 by the second marriage of Mary (Buck- 

 man) Cooper with Launcelot Strawn. 6. 

 Elizabeth, who became the wife of Ben- 

 jamin Holden. 7. Mary. 8. Ann. 9. Han- 

 nah, who became the wife of John Will- 

 iams, a son of Benjamin and Mercy 

 Stevenson Williams. TO. Margaret. 11. 

 Jane, who became the wife of Jacob 

 Hauseworth. Mary. Ann and Hannah, 

 aforementioned, were triplets; all grew 

 to womanhood, married and all died at 

 the birth of their first child. Either Mary 

 or Ann married a Henry, and left a 

 daughter Ann. 



Brice Pursell, third son of John and 

 Ann (Coomb) Pursell, was born in 

 Nockamixon. August 15, 1776, and died 

 there August 12, 1830. He lived on a 

 portion of the homestead which had 

 been devised to the three eldest sons, 

 John. Thomas and Brice. and was par- 

 titioned between them in 1806. He later 

 purchased considerable other land ad- 

 joining, becoming a large landholder 

 and a man of prominence in that com- 

 munity. He was a justice of the peace 

 for twenty-one years and performed a 

 large amount of public business. He 

 married Catharine Moore, who was born 

 May 25. 1784. and died August 12, 1848, 

 and they were the parents of nine chil- 

 dren: I. Ann, who became the wife of 

 John Fisher. 2. Thomas, who married 

 Eliza IMarshall. 3. John, who married 

 Sarah .Williams. 4. Evaline. who be- 

 came the wife of Abrarn Arndt. 5. 



Brice Moore, mentioned hereinafter. 6. 

 Hugh, who married Jane B. Eltonhead. 

 7. Daniel, who married three times; his 

 first wife was Susanna Unangst; his 

 second wife was Alargaret Rebecca Eil- 

 enberger; and his thrid wife was Rachel 

 Quinn. 8. Hannah, who became the wife 

 of Cyrenius Slack, of Hunterdon coun- 

 ty, New Jersey. 9. Mary, who died at 

 the age of six years. 



Brice Moore Pursell, father of Dr. 

 Howard Pursell, was born in Nockam- 

 ixon, August 31, 1811, and died there 

 June 18, 1885. He was a farmer and 

 lived on the old family homestead. He 

 married, July 19, 1837, Martha Merrick 

 Poore, born February 18, 1817, in Up- 

 per Makefield township, Bucks county, 

 died in Bristol, Pennsylvania, May 2, 

 1902. She was a daughter of Daniel and 

 Maria (Merrick). Poore; the former a 

 son of John Poore, was born October 12, 

 1793, and died April 12, 1888, and the 

 latter was born April 23, 1798 and died 

 October i, 1879. They were married 

 May 2, 1815. The Merricks are descend- 

 ants of John Merrick, a native of Here- 

 fordshire. England, who settled in Low- 

 er Dublin. Philadelphia co.unty, prior 

 to 1700. His son John Merrick was an 

 early settler in Makefield, where he has 

 left numerous descendants. Brice Moore 

 and Martha M. (Poore) Pursell were the 

 parents of four sons: i. Augustus, born 

 ^Li}- 3, 1839, married November 12, 

 1868, Evalina Eilenberger, daughter of 

 David and Susan (Arndt) Eilenberger, 

 who bore him one child, Jessie Martha 

 Pursell; Evalina's death occurred at his 

 home in Muncy, Pennsylvania, July 27, 

 1904. 2. Horatio N., born December 4, 

 1841, died August 31, 1863. after his 

 return from the civil war; he was unmar- 

 ried. 3. Howard, born Marth 23, 1847, 

 mentioned hereinafter. 4. Stacy, born 

 November 20, 1849, married, April 22, 

 1885. Josephine K. Williams, daughter 

 of Barzilla and Sarah (King) Williams, 

 no issue. 



Howard Pursell, third son of Brice 

 and Martha M. (Poore) Pursell, was 

 w.Ts born and reared in Nockamixon 

 (now Bridgeton) township. He gradu- 

 ated from the medical department of the 

 New York University. March i, 1867, 

 and practiced medicine at Ceres, New 

 York, until 1869. In the latter year he 

 removed to Bristol, Bucks county, Penn- 

 sylvania, where he has conducted a drug 

 store and practiced medicine ever since. 

 He is a member of the Bucks County 

 ]\Iedical Society, the Medical Society of 

 Pennsylvania, and the American Medi- 

 cal Association. He is president of the 

 board of health of Bristol, which posi- 

 tion he has held since 1893. He is a mem- 

 ber of the board of United States exam- 

 ning surgeons for Bucks county. In po- 

 litics he is a Republican. He is a past 

 master .of Bristol Lodge, No. 25, Free 

 and Accepted Masons. 



