262 



HISTORY Of BUCKS COUNTY. 



land is under a hish state of cultivation 

 and therefore produces goodly harvests, 

 and, the products being of a superior 

 quality, find a ready sale in the nearby 

 markets. Mr. Vansant has always taken 

 a keen interest in township affairs, and 

 has been the incumbent of several local 

 offices, including that of assessor, in 

 which capacity he served for a number 

 of years. His political views coincide 

 with those advocated by the Democratic 

 party, whose candidates and measures 

 he has upheld since attaining his ma- 

 jority. He and family attend the Epis- 

 copal church. 



Mr. Vansant married, September 11, 

 1867, Ella Van Horn, daughter of 

 Thomas Van Horn, of Philadelphia 

 county, Pennsylvania, and two children 

 were the issue of this union : i. Will- 

 iam N., born February 5, 1869, educated 

 in the public schools, and at the Naval 

 Academy, at Annapolis, Maryland, grad- 

 uating at the head of his class in 1888. 

 He was sent by the government to The 

 Royal Naval College, Greenwich, Eng- 

 land, studying three years as a naval 

 constructor, and ranked as lieutenant 

 His death occurred January I, 1893. 

 2. Charles H. born February 19, 1871, 

 attended the Lehigh University, and is 

 now a civil engineer. He is connected 

 with the Berlin Construction Company, 

 and he assisted in the construction of the 

 New York Subway. 



HARRY F. ^lOLLOY, recorder of 

 deeds of the county of Bucks, was born 

 in Wrightstown, August 14, 1856, and is 

 a son of Nicholas E. and Frances Jenks 

 (Stradling) Molloy. 



Nicholas E. Molloy, for many years 

 a well known farmer and highly re- 

 spected citizen of Wrightstown, was 

 born on the Atlantic ocean when his 

 parents were on their way to America 

 from Ireland in 1817. At the age of six 

 he was taken charge of by David Shipps 

 of Northampton township, and was 

 reared in his family. Soon after arriv- 

 ing at manhood he purchased a farm in 

 Northampton, near Richboro, on which 

 he resided for a number of years, and 

 then sold it and removed to Wrights- 

 town where he resided for two years, 

 and then removed to the old Lacey farm 

 in Buckingham, on the Wrightstown 

 line, the birthplace of General John 

 Lacey, living in the house erected by 

 the Lacey family about 1706, now torn 

 down. He purchased this farm in 1878, 

 but had previously purchased and re- 

 moved upon an adjoining farm, now oc- 

 cupied by his son Harry F. INIolloy, 

 where he died in August, 1880, aged 

 sixty-three years. Mr. Molloy was an 

 industrious and successful man, and 

 was highly respected in the community. 

 For over thirty years he ran a commis- 



sion wagon to Philadelphia, carrying: 

 his own and his neighbors' country pro- 

 duce to the Philadelphia market. He 

 was a member of the I. O. O. F. lodge 

 and encampment. Frances J. Stradling, 

 the mother of the subject of this sketch, 

 was a daughter of Thomas Stradling, 

 and a descendant of Thomas Stradling 

 who married, October 5, 1715, Lydia 

 Doan, daughter of Daniel Doan, who 

 came to Middletown from Massachu- 

 setts in 1699. Thomas Stradling settled 

 in Newtown township, where he died in 

 1761, leaving two sons: Daniel, of Plum- 

 stead, and Joseph, who died on the 

 homestead in 1810, without issue, and 

 the children of his second son Thomas 

 who died in Newtown in 1757. Thomas, 

 Jr., the ancestor of Mrs. Molloy, mar- 

 ried, December 13, 1744, Elizabeth. 

 Fisher, born June 13, 1727, daughter of 

 John and Elizabeth (Scarborough) 

 Fisher, who, after his death, married^ 

 December 4, 1759, Joseph Lee. The chil- 

 dren of Thomas and Elizabeth (Fisher) 

 Stradling were: Sarah, Elizabeth, John,. 

 Thomas, and Daniel, of whom Thomas 

 was the grandfather of Mrs. Molloy. 

 Nicholas^ E. and Frances J. (Stradling) 

 Molloy were the parents of three chil- 

 dren: Harry F., the present recorder of 

 deeds of 1 Bucks county, and popular 

 merchant at Pineville; Anna, wife of W. 

 Harry Rockafellow ,of Buckingham; and' 

 John B. Molloy,, of Wycombe, a sketcb 

 of whom appears in this work. 



Harry F. Molloy was born and reared 

 in Wrightstown and has always lived, 

 in that vicinity. He was educated at the 

 public schools, and continued to reside 

 on his father's farm until 1875, when he 

 became a clerk in the store of Jesse P. 

 Carver, at Pineville. of which he is now 

 proprietor. On Mr. Carver's retirement 

 in 1877 he continued with his successor, 

 Seth Cattell Van Pelt, until 1879 when 

 he went back to the farm. In 1888 he 

 purchased the store at Mozart, Buck- 

 ingham township, where he conducted' 

 the mercantile business for five years. 

 Having purchased the store stand at 

 Pineville, he removed there April i, 

 1893, and has since conducted a large 

 and successful business there. In poli- 

 tics Mr. Molloy is a Democrat, and in' 

 the fall of 1902 was elected on the Dem- 

 ocrat ticket to the office of recorder of 

 deeds. He continued to conduct his 

 store at Pineville, spending a portion of 

 each week in the office in Doylestown, 

 which is mainly condiicted by his son 

 J. Carroll, a young man of much prom- 

 ise. Mr. Molloy takes an active interest 

 in local affairs, and is well and favorably 

 known in his native township. He is a 

 member of Doylestown Lodge No. 245, 

 F. and A. M. ; Doylestown Chapter No. 

 270, R. A. M.; of Northern Star Lodge 

 No. 54. I. O. O. F. at Richboro: New- 

 town^ Council, K. of P.; and Wycombe 

 Castle No. 125, K. G. E. 



