HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



285 



ness he was able to leave his family in 

 comfortable circumstances. In 1831, in 

 Philadelphia, he married Miss Cather- 

 ine Helffenstein, a cultured and intelli- 

 gent lady, a granddaughter of John C. 

 Helffenstein, of honored Germany an- 

 cestry, belonging to a distinguished fam- 

 ily of that country, connected with the 

 nobility and possessing a coat-of-arms. 

 Her parents were Rev. Samuel and Ann 

 (Stitle) Helffenstein, both of German 

 descent. Her father, who was born 

 April 17, 1775, was regularly ordained 

 as a minister of the German Reformed 

 church in 1796, at which time he took 

 charge of the old Bean church in Blue- 

 bell, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. 

 In 1799 he became pastor of the congre- 

 gation of that denomination at Fourth 

 and Race streets, in Philadelphia, where 

 he remained for thirty-two years, 

 preaching in both the German and Eng- 

 lish languages. Later in life he retired 

 to his farm near North Wales, where 

 he spent his remaining days. He still 

 continued preaching, taking charge of 

 a church in Northampton county, to 

 which he rode twenty miles in order 

 to deliver the gospel message. He 

 preached his last sermon at North 

 Wales when ninety years of age. He 

 was a fine musician, and his musical 

 talent added greatly to his services. He 

 passed away on his home farm at the 

 age of ninety-three years, after a long, 

 useful and honorable career. He had 

 likewise prospered in his material af- 

 fairs, and became possessed of a large 

 estate. In his family were twelve chil- 

 dren, eleven sons and a daughter, all 

 of whom are now deceased. Three of the 

 sons became ministers of the gospel, 

 and all were professional men or mer- 

 chants. Seven sons and a daughter sur- 

 vived him, the latter being Mrs. Cath- 

 erine IMiller. A. J. Miller, Sr. died in 

 1847 and his wife, long surviving him, 

 passed away in 1884. She remained at 

 the old home in Philadelphia through- 

 out that period, and both were buried 

 in one of the cemeteries of that city. 

 They had five children: Samuel H., a 

 merchant, now deceased; Lavina G. ; 

 Mary M., the wife of Joseph Linton; 

 Annie M., the widow of E. D. Wakeling, 

 who was an attorney of Philadelphia; 

 and A. J., of this review. 



A. J. Miller, whose name introduces 

 this record, spent his boyhood days in 

 the manner of most city lads, his time 

 being largely given to his school work 

 as a student in the grammar and high 

 schools of Philadelphia. He thus ob- 

 tained a good education. He was but a 

 young lad when his father died, but the 

 mother kept her children together, care- 

 fully rearing them. When he had at- 

 tained the proper age he was employed 

 as a clerk in his brother's store, and 

 later engaged in he real esate business 

 in Philadelphia, which he continued to 



follow for many years. At length he 

 turned his attention to general merchan- 

 dising at Bethayres, and subsequently 

 expanded the field of his labors by es- 

 tablishing a coal and lumber business 

 in connection with his real estate opera- 

 tions, continuing therein until 1890. He 

 then bought the farm upon which he 

 now resides; it is one of the old historic 

 places of the county, and the house is 

 a commodious three story stone resi- 

 dence, which was occupied at the time 

 of the revolutionary war and is yet in 

 a good state of preservation. Many ad- 

 ditions have since been made and mod- 

 ern improvements added, but one of the 

 old doors yet swings with its latch 

 string that always hung out in the old- 

 en times. In 1774 the Rev. N. Erwin 

 resided here, and ministered to the 

 spiritual wants of the people of the lo- 

 cality for many years as pastor of the 

 Neshaminy Presbyterian church. In 

 1800, however, he built the residence 

 that Joseph Dobbins now occupies and 

 there he remained until his death, his 

 remains being then interred in the Ne- 

 shaminy cemetery. Since taking up his 

 abode upon the farm Mr. Miller has de- 

 voted his entire attention to its further 

 cultivation and improvement, and he 

 annually harvests good crops and mar- 

 kets the products of the gardens. 



A. J. Miller was married to Miss El- 

 len V. Sickel, who was born in Quaker- 

 town, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, June 

 13, 1844. She was a devoted wife and 

 helpmate to him, and was the only 

 daughter of General H. G. Sickel, of 

 national fame. Her mother, who bore 

 the maiden name of Eliza Van Sant, 

 was a daughter of William Van Sant, a 

 representative of one of the oldest fami- 

 lies of Bucks county. Mr. and Mrs. 

 Sickel had but two children: Jane, who 

 became the wife of Joseph Hart; and 

 Eliza, the mother of Mrs. Miller. Gen- 

 eral Sickel was reared in the vicinity of 

 Mechanicsville, and being left an or- 

 phan when quite young was entirely a 

 self-made man. He learned the wheel- 

 wright's and blacksmith's trades, which 

 he followed for many years. He was 

 married at Davisville and later settled 

 at Quakertown, where he followed his 

 pursuits, conducting an extensive busi- 

 ness. About 1846 he removed to Phila- 

 delphia, where he became connected 

 with mercantile interests as a dealer in 

 lamp and gas fixtures, continuing in 

 that line until 1857. He afterward held 

 various public positions by appoint- 

 ments of the governor, and was promi- 

 nent and influential in community and 

 state afifairs. At the tin;ie of the out- 

 break of the civil war Vie raised a com- 

 pany for service in dr-tense of the Union, 

 was made its captam and was promoted 

 from time to tirae, being brevetted ma- 

 jor general at 'the close of the war. He 

 served throur^hout the entire period of 



