HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY 



287 



R., of Egg Harbor; John A., of Atlan- 

 tic City, and Daniel, who has been an 

 employe of John Wanamaker for several 

 years. 



HENRY CRAWFORD PARRY, one 

 of the best known citizens of Langhorne, 

 Bucks county, Pennsylvania, retired 

 business man, president of the People's 

 National Bank, is of Welsh descent. His 

 earliest ancestor in America was Thom- 

 as Parry, who was born in Caernarvon- 

 shire, North Wales, in 1680, and came 

 to Pennsylvania when a young man, 

 married Jane Phillips, in 1715, and set- 

 tled in Moreland, near the present site 

 of Willow Grove. The family of Par- 

 ry is one of the most ancient in the 

 United Kingdom, and their coat-of-arms 

 is registered in Burke's General Arm- 

 ory. 



Thomas Parry, above mentioned, was 

 a grandson of Colonel Geofifrey Parry, 

 of Caernarvonshire, who married Mar- 

 garet Hughes, of Cefn Llanfair, and son 

 of Love Parry, of Wanfour, who was 

 high sherifif of Caernervonshire in 1685, 

 and his wife Ellen, daughter of Hugh 

 Wynn of Penarth. Thomas and Jane 

 (Phillips) Parry were the parents of ten 

 children, eight sons and two daughters. 

 He died in 1751, aged seventy-one years. 

 Philip Parry, born in the "Manor of 

 Moorland," now Moreland township, 

 Montgomery county, 11 mo. 18, 1716, 

 married 2 mo., 1740, Rachel Harker, 

 daughter of Adam Harker, one of the 

 most prominent Friends of his day in 

 Pennsylvania, and settled in Bucking- 

 • ham township, where he purchased 

 March 11, 1746, 170 acres of land near 

 Holicong. He died on this plantation, 

 the late residence of E. Watson Fell, in 

 1784. leaving three sons: John, Philip, 

 and Thomas; and five daughters: Han- 

 nah, Jane, Grace, Rachel and Mary. 



John Parry, son of Philip and Rachel 

 (Harker) Parry, born in Moreland, 9 

 mo. 10, 1743. married 4 mo. 17. 1771, 

 Rachel, daughter of Titus and Elizabeth 

 (Heston) Fell, and granddaughter of 

 Joseph Fell, who came 'from Longlands, 

 in Cumberland. England, in 1705. by his 

 second wife, Elizabeth Doyle, daughter 

 of Edward and Rebecca (Dungan) 

 Doyle. John Parry died in Buckingham 

 II mo. 13. 1807, and his wife Rachel, 2 

 mo. 18, 1818. ' They were the parents 

 of nine children: Elizabeth, who married 

 George Shoemaker;. Joyce, who married 

 Jacob Shoemaker: Mercy: Charity; 

 Tacy: Rachel; and' John, who died un- 

 married; David, who married Elizabeth 

 Ely, and (second) Lydia Richardson, 

 and settled in Drumore. Lancaster coun- 

 ty, and Thomas Fell Parry. _ 



Thomas Fell Parry, youngest child of 

 John and Rachel (Fell) Parry, was born 

 in Buckingham 7 mo. 8. 1791. He mar- 

 ried 12 mo. 17, 1829, IMary, daughter of 



Moses and Rachel (Knowles) Eastburn, 

 of Solebury, who was born 9 mo. 13, 

 1800. Mr. Parry was for many years a 

 resident of Philadelphia, where he was 

 engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 

 1846 he purchased property at Lang- 

 horne and two years later removed to 

 that locality, where he spent the remain- 

 ing years of his long and useful life. He 

 died 3 mo. 27, 1876. His wife, Mary E'., 

 died 6 mo. 5, 1872. Th^y were the par- 

 ents of five children: Rachel, born 9 mo. 

 20, 1830, married Gilbert Shaw : Eliza 

 beth, born 4 mo. 16, 1832, married Wil- 

 son Croasdale; Henry C, born 3 mo. 23, 

 1834; John E., born li mo. 22, 1836, 

 married 2 mo. 14, 1861, Mary Jane Live- 

 zey; Charles, born ii mo, 24, 1839, died 

 12 mo. 19, 1842. 



Henry C. Parry, the subject of this 

 sketch, eldest son of Thomas Fell and 

 Mary (Eastburn) Parry, was born in the 

 city of Philadelphia and received his 

 primary education at private and pub- 

 lic schools in that city. He was fifteen 

 years of age when the family removed 

 to IMiddletown, Bucks county, and then 

 entered Pennington, New Jersey, Semi- 

 nary, where he finished his education. 

 On arriving at manhood he engaged in 

 farming in Middletown township, which 

 vocation he followed successfully for 

 sixteen years. In 18.76 he engaged in the 

 coal and lumber business at Langhorne 

 station, which he conducted for twenty- 

 one years, building up a fine and profi- 

 table business. He sold out the busi- 

 ness in 1887, and has since lived retired. 

 Mr. Parry has always been actively in- 

 terested in the local affairs of his neigh- 

 borhood, and has held many positions 

 of trust. He has served as chief bur- 

 gess of the borough for two terms, and 

 tw^o terms as a member of council. He 

 was for many years a director of the 

 First National Bank of Newtown, has 

 been for eight years a director of the 

 People's National Bank of Langhorne, 

 and was- unanimously elected president 

 of the latter institution in 1899, a posi- 

 tion he still fills. ]\Ir. Parry has been 

 actively interested in the improvements 

 in and around Langhorne, and is one of 

 the solid substantial business men of 

 that section. He and his family are 

 members of the Society of Friends. Po- 

 litically he is a Republican. 



He was married November 13. 1856, 

 to Susan Gillam Blakey, daughter of 

 William Watson and Anna. (Gillam) 

 Blakey, and granddaughter of William 

 and Elizabeth (Watson) Blakey. On the 

 maternal side she is a granddaughter of 

 William and Susanna (Woolston) Gil- 

 lam. and great-granddaughter of Simon 

 and Anna (Paxson) Gillam, and of 

 Jonathan and Elizabeth (Harvey) Wool- 

 store. There of her lineal ancestors 

 were members of the colonial assembly 

 at one time — Thomas Watson, William 

 Paxson and John Sotcher, all of them 



