HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



389 



ried in 1870 M. Jennie Sands, daughter of 

 James and Rachel (Shaw) Sands, of 

 Buckingham, and they have been the pa- 

 rents of four children, one of whom died 

 in infancy. Those who survive are: 

 Adah S., born 1871, now the wife of 

 Stacey Vanderbelt, of Hunterdon 

 county, New Jersey; Stanley C, born 

 April 26, 1873, residing with his parents; 

 and Emma D., born in 1877, now the wife 

 of William Nicholas, a commission mer- 

 chant of New York City, New York. 



COLONEL CHARLES M. BETTS, 

 of Philadelphia, is a son of John and 

 Sarah C. (Malone) Betts, both natives 

 «ind lifelong residents of Bucks county, 

 and a descendant in the eighth genera- 

 tion from Richard Betts, who came from 

 England to Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 

 1648, and soon after to Newtown, Long 

 Island, where he became prominent in 

 public affairs, member of provincial_ as- 

 sembly (1665); commissioner of high- 

 ways; sheriff, (1678-1681), etc. He died 

 November 18, 1713, aged one hundred 

 years. His son Thomas married in 

 1683, Mercy Whitehead, daughter of 

 Major Daniel and Abigail (Stevenson) 

 Whitehead, whose father and grand- 

 father were both members of provincial 

 assembly, etc. Thomas Betts, son of 

 Thomas and Mercy, born at Newtown, 

 Long Island, August 14, 1689, married 

 (first) Susanna Stevenson, and (second) 

 Susannah Field, of New Jersey. He 

 moved first to Burlington county. New 

 Jersey, and later to Newtown, Bucks 

 county, Pennsylvania, where he died in 

 1747. Thomas Betts, fifth child of 

 Thomas and Susanna (Stevenson) 

 Betts, born at Newtown, Long Island, 

 February 18, 1723, came to Bucks county 

 with his parents and later settled in 

 Buckingham township, where he died in 

 June. 1785. He married Sarah, daughter 

 of William and Rebecca (Wilson) Smith, 

 and granddaughter of William Smith and 

 Stephen Wilson, both natives of England, 

 and great-granddaughter of Thomas Croas- 

 dale. who came to Pennsylvania wit^ 

 William Penn in the "Welcome" in 

 1682, and of Henry Baker, one of the 

 most distinguished men of his time in 

 Bucks county. Stephen Betts, eighth 

 child of Thomas and Sarah (Smith) 

 Betts, born in Buckingham, May 31, 1758, 

 settled in Solebury in early life, and 

 died there November ig, 1834. He mar- 

 ried April 19, 1786, Hannah Blackfan, 

 daughter of Crispin and Martha (Davis) 

 Blackfan, granddaughter of William and 

 Eleanor (Wood) Blackfan, and great- 

 granddaughter of Edward and Rebecca 

 (Crispin) Blackfan, the latter being a 

 daughter of Captain William Crispin,, 

 uncle to William Penn, and his first com- 

 missioner of the colony of Pennsyl- 

 vania. 



John Betts, the father of Colonel 

 Charles M. Betts, was the youngest son 

 of Stephen and Hannah, and was born 

 in Solebury, Bucks county, August 10, 

 1804, and in 1836 located in Warminster 

 township, Bucks county, where he died. 

 He married Sarah C. Malone, daughter 

 of John and Rachel Malone, of Bucking- 

 ham, born May 20, 1810, died January 

 27, 1858, and they were the parents of 

 five children, two daughters who died 

 young and three sons, Charles M., Ed- 

 ward T., deceased, and Dr. B. Franklin 

 Betts, of Philadelphia. 



COLONEL CHARLES M. BETTS 

 was born in Warminster, Bucks couney, 

 August 9, 1838, and reared on his father's 

 farm there, attending school at Loller 

 Academy, Hatboro, and later an academy 

 at Burlington, New Jersey. When six- 

 teen years of age he removed to Phila- 

 delphia and accepted a position with the 

 firm of Malone & Taylor, wholesale 

 lumber merchants, with whom he re- 

 mained until the fall of 1861. He was 

 then commissioned by Governor Andrew 

 Curtin as first lieutenant of Company D, 

 Third Regiment, Blue Reserves, organ- 

 ized for the defense of the city. In No- 

 vember of the same year he accepted a 

 position as chief clerk in the quarter- 

 master's department. General W. B. 

 Franklin's division and corps. On the 

 call of President Lincoln for 300,000 

 more troops, after the seven days battle 

 in front of Richmond, Lieutenant Betts 

 felt impelled to take a more active part 

 in the suppression of the rebellion, and 

 resigned his position in the army as a 

 civilian, and in August, 1862, enlisted as 

 a private in the Fifteenth Pennsylvania 

 (Anderson's) Cavalry, then being re- 

 cruited. He served with this regiment 

 until the close of the war, being pro- 

 moted through the several grades as a 

 non-commissioned officer, and in March. 

 1863, was made captain of Company F. 

 The following year he was promoted to 

 major of the regiment, and in the spring 

 of 1865 was advanced to the position of 

 lieutenant-colonel, and commanded the 

 regiment until it was mustered out of 

 service. May 21, 1865, Colonel William 

 J. Palmer, its organizer and commander, 

 having been made brevet brigadier-gen- 

 eral. Colonel Betts was wounded in the 

 left arm in a fight near Gatlinsburg, 

 East Tennessee, with the Cherokee In- 

 dians who had enlisted in the confeder- 

 ate service. He was awarded a medal 

 by Congress for distinguished services 

 in action near Greensboro, North Caro- 

 lina, in April, 1S65. He is a past com- 

 mander of the Medal of Honor Legion, 

 and of Post No. 2, G. A. R., and has 

 been president of the Fifteenth Cavalry 

 Association since its formation in 1873. 



Soon after the close of the war, Col- 

 onel Betts became a member of the firm 

 of Taylor & Betts, wholesale lumber 

 merchants, Philadelphia, which was con- 



