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HISTORY OF DUCKS COUNTY. 



mercial Digest." In 1823, on the retire- 

 ment of j\lr. Langdon Chcves, Air. Biddle 

 was elected to the presidency of the bank 

 and to the conduct of its affairs ne 

 thenceforth devoted all his energie.';. h i.e 

 history of the bank is public knowledge, 

 it has been recounted and touched upon 

 in writings and biographies dealing with 

 the events and characters of the time. 

 Only recently (1903) a work entitled 

 "The Second Bank of the United States," 

 by Ralph C. H. Catterall, published un- 

 der the auspices of the University of 

 Chicago, has appeared giving a full account 

 of what in its day was long a "burning ques- 

 tion." After the smoke of battle had 

 cleared and when passions had cooled, 

 it was found that political antagonists 

 were ready to bear testimony to the high 

 character of Nicholas Biddle. Mr. C. 

 J. Ingersoll, a political opponent on the 

 bank question, writing of the war, says: 

 "Nicholas Biddle was as iron-nerved as 

 his great antagonist, Andrew Jackson; 

 loved his country not less, and money 

 as little." The last years of Mr. Biddle's 

 life were spent at Andalusia and there 

 he died on the 27th of February, 1844. 



"Andalusia" is noted for the fine timber 

 growing upon it, splendid specimens of 

 the American tulip, catalpa, chestnut, 

 Spanish chestnut, and varieties of oak, 

 adorning the lawns, while towering ever- 

 greens surround the mansion house. 

 Many of these trees were planted in the 

 time of Mr. Craig. Nicholas Biddle did 

 much to adorn and beautify the place, ad- 

 ding a very striking portico in the Gre- 

 cian style with Doric columns to the 

 river-front of the house. He was an 

 enthusiastic agriculturist, devoting time 

 and thought to the cultivation of the 

 grape and importing the first Alderney 

 cattle to this country. 



He was a member and served as presi- 

 dent of the Agricultural Society, resign- 

 ing only the month before his death. His 

 son, Judge Craig Biddle, inherited his 

 tastes in this direction, serving the so- 

 ciet}'^ before its dissolution in the -capac- 

 ity of president, also, and he continues 

 to direct the farming operations at "Anda- 

 lusia." 



CHARLES HENRY MATHEWS, 

 of Philadelphia, is a descendant of the 

 early settlers in Bucks county, and was 

 born in Doylestown, Bucks county, 

 Pennsylvania, April 21, 1844, being a 

 son of Dr. Charles H. and Margaret 

 (Rodman) Mathews, the former an emi- 

 nent physician of Bucks county, and the 

 latter belonging to a family that had been 

 prominent in the affairs of the county 

 since the time of Penn. Simon Mathew, 

 the paternal ancestor of Dr. Mathews, 

 was a " native of Langenych, South 

 Wales, from whence he emigrated with a 

 colony of Welsh Baptists in 1710, and 



settled in the Welsh Tract, New Castle 

 county, now Delaware. He was accom- 

 panied from Caermarthcnshire by An- 

 thony Mathew, either his father or broth- 

 er, and among others by Simon Butler, 

 who was in some way connected with 

 him b}^ ties of blood or marriage, and 

 with whom he was closely associated 

 during his whole life, both in New Cas- 

 tle and Bucks counties. The Welsh 

 Tract comprised a large tract of land 

 granted to a colony of Welsh Baptists 

 who, having formed themselves into a 

 church at Milford Haven just prior to 

 sailing for America, migrated to Penn- 

 .sylvania in September, 1701, in the 

 '■James and Mary," and settled at Pen- 

 n3^pack, where they remained for a year 

 and a half, and, being joined by later ar- 

 rivals from Pembroke and Caermarthen- 

 shire, removed in 1703 to Pencader 

 Hundred, New Castle county, where they 

 built a church and founded a colony, 

 both known by the name of "Welsh 

 Tract" for a century. In course of time, 

 the spelling of the name has been 

 changed in two particulars. One "t" has 

 been dropped, and the oldest legal docu- 

 ments do not show that it has been used 

 since the emigration to America. The 

 final "s" at first was not used; but old 

 deeds of a date previous to the Revolu- 

 tion show that the name had come to be 

 spelt "Mathews." 



In 1720 Simon Mathews and Jane his 

 wife, Anthony Mathews, Simon Butler 

 and Ann his wife, and Daniel Rees and 

 Jane his wife, removed from Pencader 

 Hundred to New Britain township, 

 Bucks county, bringing certificates from 

 Welsh Tract ' church to Montgomery 

 Baptist church, the parent of New 

 Britain Baptist church, founded in 1741. 

 Simon Mathew and Simon Butler pur- 

 chased large tracts of land comprising 

 the greater part of the present borough 

 of Chalfont, where they jointly erected 

 what was known for many years as "But- 

 ler's Mill," Butler being the miller; and 

 Mathew a millwright. This mill was the 

 nucleus of the present town, and was the 

 objective point of many of the early 

 roads laid out from the ferries on the 

 Delaware and points in Upper Bucks 

 during the first half of the eighteenth 

 century. Anthony Mathew died in New 

 Britain, March 3, 1726. Simon Mathew^ 

 died about July i, 1755. and his wife 

 Jane prior to December 28, 1751. the date 

 of Simon's will. By this will the testa- 

 tor's half interest in the mill, mill lots 

 and dwelling house was devised to his 

 son Edward, as well as a tract of land 

 adjoining, the remainder of the real 

 estate, about 150 acres, the homestead, 

 was devised to the youngest son Thomas. 



The children of Simon and Jane 

 Mathew, were: John, married Diana 

 Thomas, and is the ancestor of Edward 

 Mathews, of Lansdale, the historian of 

 the family; Simon, who removed to Vir- 



