HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



217 



ton brought suit against him for the tuition 

 of his children, showing that at that early 

 date the Pennsylvania colonists were inter- 

 ested in the education of their youth. The 

 title of Williamson and Walker to the tract 

 of land in Bucks county was conhrmed by 

 Penn, and the former became a large land- 

 owner. The will of Dunck Williamson, 

 dated February 12, 1697-8, and probated 

 March i, 1699-1700, mentions his wife, 

 Wallery, sons William and John William- 

 son, and daughters, Hanna, wife of John 

 Gound, and Margred, wife of John John- 

 son. To John he devises 500 acres of land 

 in the bounds of Cohanset. (Cohansey, 

 Salem county. New Jersey), to Hanna 

 •Gound, one hundred acres in the county of 

 Kent; to Margred Johnson, five pounds or 

 its equivalent ; and to William, all his es- 

 tate in Pennsylvania.* 



William Williamson, born 1676, died 1721, 

 married Elizabeth Claessen, of Dutch or 

 Swedish origin,? and had five sons : Jacob, 

 who is said to have died without issue; 



Abraham, who married Rachel , and 



had two sons and two daughters ; John who 



married Elizabeth , and had eight 



sons and two daughters, who resided in 

 Philadelphia county, see forward; William, 

 married and had a son John and a daugh- 

 ter; Peter, married Leah , and had 



seven children: Jacob, Isaac; Peter; Eliza- 

 beth, who married a Moore of Burlington, 

 New Jersey, and after his death removed to 

 Virginia; Sarah; Rebecca; and Jane, who 

 married Abraham Heed. 



Peter Williamson, third son of Peter and 

 Leah Williamson, born in Bucks county, 

 January 17, 1735, settled in Falls township, 

 Bucks county, and died there June li, 1823, 

 at the age of eighty-nine years. He was 

 twice married ; first to Sarah Sotcher, 

 daughter of Robert and IMercy (Browne) 

 Sotcher of Falls, and granddaughter of John 

 and Mary (Lofty) Sotcher, the last named 

 being William Penn's steward and steward- 

 ess at Pennysbury for many years. They 

 were married at Pennysbury in the presence 

 ■of William Penn, October 16, 1701, Falls 

 Meeting having held a special session in 

 order that they might be married before 



*In the Williamson (sometimes called the Johnson 

 graveyard situated in Bensalem lownsliip, near Bridge- 

 water, a tablet has been erected with this statement : 

 "In memory of Duncan Williamson, one of the orig- 

 inal settlers of this township, who died about the year 

 1700." 



5^Members of the Claassen family, children of Jan 

 Claassen, who was of Dutch or Swedish orisjin and a 

 grantee in 16615, are as follows: Henricka, eldest 

 daughter of Jan Claassen, married Matthias Kyn (Keen) 

 born 1667, died 17H, eldest son of Hans and Willemka 

 Kyn, and grandson of Joran Kyn, an original Swedish 

 settler near Chester about 1644. Gertrude, second 

 child of Jan Claassen, married Hans L'iican, eldest 

 son of Peter Nilsson Laykan, a native of Sweden. Of 

 the Kyn family, one Jonas Keen (the third son of Hans 

 and Willemka Kyn and grandson of the origijial Swed- 

 ish settler, Joran Kyn) married in 1697 to Frances 

 Walker, only daughter of Francis Walker (Walcker). a 

 grantee in Bucks county on the Neshaminy Creek with 

 Dunck Williams and others in 1676. C Uherine, third 

 child of Jan Claassen, married Erie Kyn (Keen second 

 son of Hans and Willemka Kyn, and grandson of the 

 original Swedish settler Joran Kvn. F.lizabeth. another 

 daughterof Jan Claassen, married William Williams, 

 3l son of Dunck Williams. 



Penn left for England at the conclusion of 

 his last visit to his province in America. 

 John Lofty became a prominent man in the 

 colony and served many years in colonial 

 assembly, 1712 to 1722. He died November 

 19, 1729. John and Mary (Lofty) Sotcher 

 were the parents of four children : Hannah, 

 born January 25, 1702, married October 26, 

 1720, Joseph Kirkbride; Mary, born Sep- 

 tember 15, 1704, married November 12, 

 1724, Mahlon Kirkbride; Ann, born March 

 2y, 1710, married April 23, 1729, Mark Wat- 

 son; Robert, born November 3, 1706, mar- 

 ried in 1731, Mercy Browne, youngest 

 daughter of George and Mercy Browne, 

 who came from England in 1678 and set- 

 tled in Falls township, Bucks county. George 

 Browne was the first Englishman to serve 

 as justice of the court at Upland, being re- 

 turned as a justice at the June sessions, 

 1680, but not being present was sworn and 

 took his seat as a justice, in accordance 

 with his commission, October 13, 1680, and 

 served until the establishment of the courts 

 by Penn after his arrival. George and 

 Mercy Brown reared a large family who 

 have left numerous descendants. General 

 Jacob Brown, commander-in-chief of the 

 United States Army, was a great-grandson. 



Peter and Sarah (Sotcher) Williamson 

 were the parents of eight children, as fol- 

 lows : Letitia, born June 12, 1765, died Au- 

 gust 5, 1847, married Jonathan Burton, of 

 Falls ; Mercy, born June 12, 1766, died 

 March 10, 1830, married William Crozer, 

 of Falls, and had ten children; Parmelia, 

 born January 16, 1768, died October 2^, 

 1813, married Thomas Crozer and had 

 three children; Jesse, born September 21, 

 1769, died October 22,, 1852, married Sarah 

 Williamson, daughter of Josephus, see for- 

 ward, and had three children ; David, born 

 March 14, I773, died August 10, 1799; IMah- 

 lon, born M^rch 15, i777, died July 8, 1848; 

 John, born February 24, 1778, was lost at 

 sea March 4. 1798; Sarah, born November 

 28, 1781, married Nov. 30. 1815, Jesse Kelly, 

 son of Joseph and Phoebe (Buckman) Kel- 

 ley, and died July 18, 1862. Sarah 

 (Sotcher) Williamson died November 3, 

 1799, and Peter married a second time Eliza- 

 beth Banes, but had no children by her. 



Mahlon, sixth child and third son of 

 Peter, and Sarah (Sotcher) Williamson, 

 born March 15, I777, settled near Fallsing- 

 ton, Bucks county, and lived there all his 

 life, dying July 8, 1848. He married Charity 

 Vansant, born November 16, 1781, died 

 April 29, 1848. daughter of Cornelius and 

 Ann (Larzelere) Vansant, and whose pa- 

 ternal and maternal ancestry is given else- 

 where in this volume. Mahlon and Charity 

 were the parents of eight children, as fol- 

 lows : John, born December 21, 1800, died 

 July 28, 1802 ; Isaiah V., born February 4, 

 1803, died March 7, 1889, unmarried, was 

 the founder of the Williamson Industrial 

 School in Delaware county, Pennsylvania ; 

 Peter, born September 4, 1805, died Febru- 

 ary 21, 1880, married May 26, 1831, Eliza 

 Martin, and had six children ; John B. 



