HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



379- 



employing a number of men. He has 

 always taken an active interest in local 

 affairs, and has served continuously in 

 the borough council for nineteen years, 

 being re-elected in February, 1905, for 

 the seventh term of three years each. 

 During nearly the whole of this period 

 he has been one of the most active mem- 

 bers of the board, serving continuously 

 on the street and water committees. 



He married, in 1876, Anna Shive, 

 daughter of Levi Shive, of Doylestown, 

 and they are the parents of two children: 

 Carrie, wife of A. Harry Clayton, local 

 editor of the "Daily Republican," and 

 George Lorah. Mr. Wilson and his fam- 

 il}^ are members of the Methodist Epis- 

 copal church. He is a member of 

 Doylestown Lodge No. 94, L O. O. F., 

 of Dovlestown Council No. 166, A. O. 

 U. A. M. and No. 214, L O. R. M., of 

 Doylestown. He is a Son of Veterans of 

 Doylestown, a charter member of the 

 Roj-al Arcanum. 



THE CHAPMAN FAMILY. The 

 pioneer ancestor of the Chapman family 

 was John Chapman, whp was born at 

 Stanhope, or Stanehaugh, in the county 

 of Durham, England, about the year 

 1635. He was a son of John Chapman, 

 of Froslerty, Durham, and the Parish 

 records show that the family had been 

 residents in that locality for several 

 generations and that some of their de- 

 scendants continue to reside there. John 

 Chapman was an earlj' convert to the 

 principles of George Fox, and as early 

 as 1656, suffered imprisonment and other 

 persecutions for his religious principles. 

 In 1660 he was confined in York Castle 

 for eight weeks for refusing to take a 

 prescribed oath, together with other 

 Friends, and at several periods there- 

 after had goods seized for the payment 

 of fines imposed for attending non-con- 

 formist meetings. He was twice mar- 

 ried, first on 10 mo. 14, 1665, by which 

 marriage he had one daughter, Ann, 

 born 4 mo. 21, 1667, but who died g mo. 

 15, 1668. His wife died 8 mo. 2, 1668, and 

 he was married a second time 4 mo. 12, 

 1670. to Jane Sadler, of Lagenby. To this 

 marriage was born seven children, five 

 at Stanhope and two in Bucks county- 

 On June 2T. 1684, John Chapman and 

 Jane his wife and their five children 

 set out from Stanhaugh, in Durham, tak- 

 ing wnth them a certificate from the 

 Friends Meeting at that place to Friends 

 in America, and took passage on the ship 

 "Shield" at New Castle, on the river 

 Tyne, for Penn's colony in America. On 

 the I2th of September they encountered 

 a storm off the capes of Virginia, which 

 almost entirely dismantled their ship, 

 and they were for two days at the mercy 

 of the waves, but on the 15th of Septem- 

 ber effected a landing on the shores of 



Maryland. After a few weeks stay in 

 Maryland they proceeded up the Dela- 

 ware to Bucks county, arriving at the 

 house of Phineas Pemberton, near tht 

 Falls, in the latter part of October. Prev- 

 ious to leaving England, John Chapman 

 had purchased 500 acres of land to be 

 laid out in Pennsylvania, and it was laid 

 out to him in the present township of 

 Wrightstown, then the frontier of the 

 little Quaker settlement on the Dela- 

 ware, and still an absolute wilderness. 

 Here the family removed in 10 mo., 1684, 

 and erected the first house that far north 

 in the county of Bucks. John Chapman 

 died in 5 mo. (July), 1694, and Jane, his- 

 wife, in 9 mo., 1699, and both were buried 

 in an old burying ground near Penns 

 Park. Friends Meeting was held at the 

 house of John Chapman for some time- 

 prior to the erection of the first IMeet- 

 ing House on his land. The children of 

 John and Jane (Sadler) Chapman were: 



I. Mara, born at Stanhope, 2 mo. 12,. 

 1671, married 2 mo. 28, 1697, John Croas- 

 dale, who died 10 mo. 14, 1706, leaving 

 three children: Ruth, Agnes and Thomas. 

 She married (second) John Wildman 

 and had two daughters: Mercy and 

 Elizabeth, and has left numerous de- 

 scendants. 2. Jane Chapman, born lo 

 mo. 19, 1672. 3. Ann Chapman, born 3 

 mo. 19, 1676, married John Parsons, of 

 Wrightstown, in 1717, and died 10 mo. 9^ 

 1732, without children. She was an 

 eminent preacher among Friends and 

 travelled extensively in this country and 

 abroad. 4. John Chapman, born 11 mo. 



II, 1678, was surveyor for Bucks county 

 for many years, making nearly all the 

 early surveys, and was also a justice. He 

 married, November 10, 1739,. Ruth, 

 daughter of John and Mary Wilkinson, 

 and had one son, John, who was for 

 many years a justice and a member of 

 assembly. 5. Ruth Chapman, born 5 mo. 

 9. 1682. 6 and 7. Abraham and Joseph 

 Chapman, twins, were the only children 

 born to John and Jane Chapman in 

 Bucks county. They were born at 

 Wrightstown, 12 mo. 12, 1685. Joseph 

 married ]\Iary Worth, of Stony Brook, 

 NeWjersey, who died 5 mo. 24, 1727. Of 

 her six children only three lived to ma- 

 turity, and her only surviving son Isaac 

 died in 1779 without issue. Joseph mar- 

 ried again in 1730, Mary Wilkinson, 

 daughter of John, who died in 1744, leav- 

 ing no surviving issue. Abraham Chap- 

 man, son of John and Jane, born 12 mo. 

 12, 1685, died 2 mo. 2^, 1755. He was a 

 member of Colonial Assembly from' 

 1723 to 1752, and a justice from 1738 

 until 1752. His son, Benjamin, was a 

 member of Assembly in 1758-9, and was 

 succeeded by his brother Abraham, who 

 served for five years, when Benjamin' 

 was again returned and served until the 

 breaking out of the Revolution. Abra- 

 ham Chapman. Sr., was married in 1715- 

 to Susan Olden, daughter of Williami 



