24^ 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



these children, died about i860. On Feb- 

 ruary 26. 1862, Mr. Hoguet married 

 Maria Hellings, of Bristol, Bucks 

 county, daughter of Joseph A. and 

 Susan (Richards) Hellings. The issue 

 of this union was one child, Annie, born 

 September 19, 1869, who was educated at 

 St. Mary's Hall, Burlington, New Jer- 

 sey, and on October 23, 1894, became the 

 wife of Richard Henry Morris, of Bris- 

 tol, Pennsylvania, son of Captain Rich- 

 ard Henry and Alice (Vanuxem) Morris, 

 now living at Germantown, Pennsyl- 

 vania, and they are the parents of three 

 children: Charlotte, born December i, 

 1895; Richg,rd Henry, born May 14, 

 1897; and Margaret, born September i, 

 1898. This family is now living in Ger- 

 mantown, Pennsylvania. 



JOHN JOSEPH KILCOYNE, the 

 genial proprietor of the Closson House 

 at Bristol, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 

 was born at Holmesburg, Philadelphia. 

 September 30, 1864, and is a son of 

 Michael and Margaret (McGinnis) Kil- 

 coyne, the former of whom was a well- 

 known contractor and builder of 

 Holmesburg. 



John J. Kilcoyne was educated at the 

 Holmesburg Academy, and at the close 

 of his school days learned the trade of a 

 mason with his father and worked at the 

 same for about twelve years. In the 

 spring of 1897 he came to Bristol and 

 assumed the management of the old and 

 popular hostelry, known as the Clos- 

 son House, and on April 3, 1900, became 

 its proprietor and has since conducted 

 it in an efficient manner, maintaining its 

 old-time reputation as one of the leading 

 hostelries of lower Bucks. Mr. Kil- 

 coyne is the Exalted Ruler of the Elks 

 Lodge of Bristol. 



Mr. Kilcoyne married, September 20, 



1894, Theresa Marie Antoinette Farley, 

 daughter of James and Elizabeth Jane 

 (Leslie) Farlev, of Bristol, and grand- 

 daughter of Thomas and Ann (Brady) 

 Farley, and two children were the issue 

 of this union: John Leslie, born July 30, 



1895, now a student at St. Dominic's, 

 Holmesburg, and Anita, born July 26. 

 1897, now attending the Sacred Heart 

 Academy at Torresdale. James Leslie, 

 maternal grandfather of Mrs. Kilcoyne, 

 who was a well-known resident of Bris- 

 tol, Pennsylvania, for many years, was a 

 native of Ireland, from whence he came 

 to America and settled at Mauch Chunk, 

 Pennsylvania, later locating in Bristol, 

 and becoming the owner of boats on the 

 Lehigh Valley canal. He was also the 

 owner of the "Exchange Hotel," in 

 Bristol. James I-eslie married Mary 

 Bovle, who bore him a family of six 

 children, four of whom attained years 

 of maturity, as follows: Elizabeth J., 

 Henry, a physician and druggist; James, 



an attorney; and Mary A., wtio became 

 the wife of John W. Closson. John W. 

 Closson, now deceased, was born near 

 Point Pleasant, Tinicum township, June 

 16, 1839, a son of George W. and Char- 

 lotte (Wyker) Closson, natives of Bucks 

 county, and a grandson of William and 

 Sarah Closson and Henry and Mary 

 Wyker. John W. Closson was educated 

 at Point Pleasant, and clerked in stores 

 for his father and brother until the out- 

 breaking of the civil war, when he 

 joined the Doylestown Guards, April, 

 1861. Upon his • return home he en- 

 gaged in mercantile business for him- 

 self at Point Pleasant, continuing the 

 same until his marriage to Mary A. 

 Leslie, above mentioned, after which he 

 moved to the "Exchange Hotel" in Bris- 

 tol, which he purchased in 1872 of his 

 father-in-law, James Leslie, and in 1875 

 remodeled, and which has since been 

 known as the Closson House. In 1872 

 Mr. Closson was elected coroner, and 

 by a special act of the legislature he 

 was empowered to appoint deputies 

 throughout the county of Bucks, and 

 served six years, when his health fail- 

 ing him, he gave up political life and 

 turned his attention to his hotel, where 

 he died November 8, 1882. Mrs. Clos- 

 son took charge of the hotel at once, and 

 being a lady of excellent mind and busi- 

 ness talent, she made the house one of 

 the most popular in the state. Owing 

 to the increase in trade, she erected a 

 fine three-story brick building with 

 pressed brick "front and all the most 

 modern improvements; the chambers of 

 the house are spacious, handsomely fur- 

 nished, well ventilated and comfortable, 

 and the parlors and reception rooms are 

 attractive and elegant. Mrs. Closson, 

 who was an atmt of Mrs. John J. Kil- 

 coyne, reared Mrs. Kilcoyne to woman- 

 hood and at the death of the former she 

 left the Hotel Closson to her, which is 

 now being managed by her husband, 

 John J. Kilcoyne. 



ELMER L. JOHNSON, a represen- 

 tative of that class of men whose active 

 careers are spent in the quiet but useful 

 calling of agriculture, was born on the 

 old Johnson homestead in Bensalem 

 township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 

 February 8, t86o. His parents were 

 Jesse L. and Anna P. (Levis) Johnson, 

 and his grandparents were Clark and 

 Rachel (Grim) Johnson. 



Clark Johnson (grandfather) was born 

 on the old Johnson tract, which con- 

 sisted of between six and seven hundred 

 acres, owned by his father, who di- 

 vided it among his five children, and the 

 farm of one hundred and fifty acres 

 farmed by Elmer L. Johnson, whose 

 name heads this review, is all that re- 

 mains in the family at the present time 



