HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



311 



Morgan, of Morgan's Hills. Their chil- 

 dren were: George B., born in 1853; 

 William J., in 1857; Arthur P., born in 

 1864, died in 1903; and Lizzie May, born 

 in i86g, marred Chester Seip. 



William J. Heller is indebted to vari- 

 ous institutions of Easton, Pennsyl- 

 vania, for the educational privileges he 

 enjoyed in his youth. Ait&r putting 

 aside his text books he followed various 

 pursuits and became quite widely 

 known because of his artistic talent and 

 ability. In 1886, however, he established 

 his present business, the manufacture of 

 flags, opening the first exclusive flag 

 factory in the United States. His bus- 

 iness has constantly grown in volume 

 and importance, and to-day he manufac- 

 tures nearly one-half of the flags used in 

 this country. While witnessing the 

 decoration of a public school building 

 for a celebration in the year, 1886, the 

 idea occurred to him that the nation's 

 emblem should be seen over school 

 buildings of the country in order to fos- 

 ter a spirit of patriotism among the chil- 

 dren of the land. He began discussing 

 the idea with the prominent educators of 

 America, and. in fact, was the founder 

 of the movement which has embodied 

 his ideas, and deserves great credit for 

 instituting the patriotic rnovement which 

 swept over the country in 1892. He is 

 popular and well known among workers 

 in patriotic circles, and was one of the 

 first active members of the Patriotic 

 League. He has had many honors con- 

 ferred on him by the Woman's Relief 

 Corps, the National Congress of Wo- 

 men, and other national patriotic organ- 

 izations. He is a charter member of the 

 George Washington Memorial Associa- 

 tion, organized to promote the establish- 

 ment of the University of the United 

 States. He is an honorary member of 

 the various leading women's clubs in 

 many parts of the country. He has 

 lectured in many of the principal cities 

 of America upon patriotic occasions. 

 His lecture on "The Evolution of Our 

 National Ensign" is universally known. 

 History has always been a most inter- 

 esting study to him, and he believes in 

 promoting every line of thought that 

 will foster a love of country and its 

 people. He has made a study of local 

 Indian history during his leisure hours, 

 and is now engaged in compiling data 

 for a history of the Forks of the Dela- 

 ware. He is a life member of the His- 

 tori-cal Society' of Pennsylvania, also the 

 Pennsylvania German Society, a mem- 

 ber of the Bucks County Historical So- 

 cieties in this and adjoining states. He 

 takes an active part in public afifairs, and 

 is a member of the board of trade and 

 of the Municipal League of the city of 

 Easton. 



Mr. Heller married. May 5. 1877, Miss 

 Tillie A. Lesher, a daughter of George 

 Lesher, and a lineal descendant of 



George Loesch, of Tulpehocken, Berks 

 county, Pennsylvania, who gave so gen- 

 erously of his means to assist the strug- 

 gling Moravians when they first landed 

 in this country. His memory |s yet per- 

 petuated by the record of his good deeds, 

 preserved in the Moravian archives. Mr. 

 and Mrs. Heller became the parents of 

 three children, two sons and one daugh- 

 ter. The two sons, Ray and Harry, died 

 in early childhood. The daughter, Bes- 

 sie Evelyn Heller, is a lineal descendant 

 of sixteen patriots who gave active 

 service in the revolutionary war, and 

 a great-great-great-granddaughter of 

 Elizabeth Morgan, of Morgan's Hill, 

 through her paternal grandmother. Su- 

 san (Heinlein) Heller, a daughter of 

 George Bay Heinlein, who was the son 

 of James Heinlein and his wife Ann Bay, 

 a daughter of Mrs. Morgan by her first 

 husband Hugh Bay. 



Mrs. Morgan's maiden name was 

 Lizzie Bell, or "pretty Lizzie Bell," as 

 she was known by nearly every one in 

 Philadelphia, where she was born and 

 raised. She was the daughter of Jacob 

 and Ann Bell, residing on Front street, 

 Philadelphia, prior to the revolutionary 

 war. Her parents were orthodox 

 Quakers, and consequently frowned 

 upon a certain young grocer, Hugh Bay, 

 son of Rev. Andrew Bay, a chaplain in 

 the provincial army, who was getting 

 very intimate with Elizabeth, and who 

 was not of their faith. They used mild 

 methods to discourage intimacy, and 

 when, a few years later. Hugh made his 

 appearance dressed in the uniform of a 

 noted artillery company in the revolu- 

 tionary service, he was refused ad- 

 mittance to the Bell domicile, and Eliza- 

 beth was compelled to make closer ap- 

 plication to her studies. All went 

 seemingly well until the British army 

 was reported coming toward Philadel- 

 phia, when its citizens prepared to repel 

 the enemy by gathering all ammunition, 

 collecting old lead and converting it 

 into bullets, etc. Elizabeth, whether 

 through born intuitiveness or from close 

 application to study, at that opportune 

 time developed character that was one 

 remarkable feature in after life. She re- 

 moved the leaden weights from her 

 father's clock and converted them into 

 bullets for her soldier lover, Hugh Bay. 

 This not only caused a flurry in Quaker- 

 dom, but so enraged her father that he 

 forthwith transported her to Europe to 

 finish her studies. After the lapse of 

 four years her father, thinking that she 

 had outlived her infatuation, brought her 

 home. Elizabeth, however, true to her 

 first love, was married to Hugh Bay in 

 the Swede's church, Philadelphia, Au- 

 gust 16, 1781. This act so shocked the 

 orthodox Quaker congregation that they 

 immediately called a special meeting at 

 which a resolution was passed expelling 

 Elizabeth from the congregation for 



