HISTORY OF BUCKS COUXTY. 



223 



Henry Ruth; 5. Joseph AL, born Decem- 

 ber 7, 1826, married three times; lived 

 on the old homestead, where he died 

 March 26, 1892. 6. John M., born Septem- 

 ber 18, 1829, died September 24, 1900; 

 Levi M., the subject of this sketch; and 

 Mary, born May 5, 1835, died January 2, 

 1888, married William G. Meyer. 



Levi M. Swartley, youngest son of 

 John and Mary, was born and reared on 

 the I^Iew Britain homestead and re- 

 mained there with his mother until he 

 was twenty-seven years old. After a 

 residence of a year and a half in Hill- 

 town he purchased the old homestead 

 and returned to it, and resided thereon 

 until 1890, since which time he has lived 

 a retired life in the borough of CHal- 

 font. He is a member of the Mennon- 

 ites, and politicall-y is a Republican. He 

 married December 2, i860, Lydia H. 

 Myers, daughter of Isaac Myers, of 

 Plumsteadville, and they have been the 

 parents of three children: Mary Ann, 

 born September 22, 1862, married Abra- 

 ham L. Garges, of New Britain, and has 

 children: Anna, Howard and Lydia. 

 Isaac M., born January 16, 1865. died 

 May. 1892. married Alary L. Moyer, 

 daughter of Abraham Moyer, and left 

 one child, Bertha. Ella M., boi-n August 

 3, 1873, married Henry Rosenberger, and 

 has one child, Laura Elizabeth. 



JOHN SWARTLEY, postmaster of 

 Chalfont, was born in New Britain 

 township, Bucks county, November 19, 

 1862, and is a son of John M. and Mary 

 (Moyer) Swartley, and a grandson of 

 John and Magdalene (Moyer) Swartley, 

 whose ancestry is given in the sketch of 

 Levi Swartley. 



John M. Swartley w-as born in New 

 Britain township, September 18, 1829, 

 and was educated at the local schools. 

 He followed the life of a farmer, near 

 the little village of Newville, and was a 

 member of the Mennonite church. He 

 was an active and progressive farmer, 

 and filled the office of supervisor^of New 

 Britain township for a number of years. 

 He married on October 18, 1853, EHza- 

 heth M. Moyer, daughter of Rev. Abra- 

 ham and Anna Moyer, of Bedminster. 

 the ancestors of the former having borne 

 the name of Christian for four gener- 

 ations, the first of whom was Christian 

 Meyer, who came to Pennsylvania about 

 1712 and settled in Franconia township. 

 His grandson, Christian Moyer, born in 

 Franconia, March 27, 1763, married 

 IMary Landis, and settled in Bucks 

 county. Rev. Abraham Moyer, of Bed- 

 minster, above mentioned, was the ninth 

 of their eleven children; he married 

 Anna Moyei', and Elizabeth M., who 

 married John M. Swartley, was the 

 youngest of their five children. John 

 M. and Elizabeth M. (Moyer) Swartley 



were the parents of eight children, viz.: 

 Mary Ann, born January 5, 1S55, died 

 July 12. 1873; Amanda, born April 19, 

 1856, died June 22, 1878, married Novem- 

 ber 13, 1877, A. G. Ruth; Oliver J., born 

 November 15, 1857, died August 30, 1885; 

 William M., born September 24, i860; 

 John, the subject of this sketch; Emma 

 Jane, born November 24, 1863, died 

 April 19, 1878: Elizabeth M., born May 

 II, 1865, died February 15, 1884; and El- 

 mer M., born June 25, 1873, died April 

 29, 1899. John, the father, died Septem- 

 ber 24, 1900. 



John Swartley, the subject of this 

 sketch, was reared on the • farm near 

 Newville', and was educated at the local 

 schools. , In 1882 he entered the general 

 merchandise store at Chalfont as clerk, 

 and filled that position for sixteen years. 

 In 1898 he entered into the mercantile 

 business for himself, and carried it on 

 for five years and "then sold out. He w^as 

 appointed postmaster of Chalfont in 

 February, 1897 and still fills that posi- 

 tion. He is a member of the Methodist 

 church, and politically a Republican. 



He married April 7, 1891, Laura 



'Scholl, daughter of Leidy L. and Lucilla 



(Diehl) Scholl. They have no children. 



DR. JOSEPH THOMAS, of Quaker- 

 town, Bucks county, one of the best 

 known public men of Upper Bucks, was 

 born in New Britain township, June 15, 

 1829, and is of Welsh, English and Ger- 

 man descent. His paternal ancestor, 

 Alban Thomas, a native .of Wales, lo- 

 cated in Plumstead township about 

 1720, purchasing of Richard Hill 125 

 acres of land west of Danboro, and in 

 1749 adding fifty acres more, most of 

 which remained in the family for four 

 generations, Danboro itself being named 

 for his son Daniel. Alban Thomas died 

 June, 1776, his wife Jane surviving him 

 a few years. Their children were Jo- 

 seph, Daniel, and Isaac. Isaac, the third 

 son, inherited the homestead, purchased 

 other land adjoining, and lived there all 

 his life, dying in 1825. He left several 

 children, among them a son Alban, who 

 was the grandfather of Dr. Thomas. 

 Elias Thomas, son of Alban and grand- 

 son of Isaac, was born at Danboro, 

 Plumstead township, and on attaining 

 manhood married Sarah Snyder, daugh- 

 ter of Frederick Snyder, of German an- 

 cestry, and settled on a farm in New 

 Britain township, near the present vil- 

 lage of Levin, where his son, Dr. Jo- 

 seph Thomas was born. 



Dr. Joseph Thomas received a good 

 English education, and at the age of 

 seventeen began teaching school, which 

 vocation he followed for eight years. In 

 1854 he began the study of medicine, 

 and, entering the medical department of 

 the University of Pennsylvania, gradu- 

 ated in 1856. He located at Applebachs- 



