400 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



Lit. (Doctor of Letters) was conferred 

 upon him by the Board of Public Educa- 

 tion in recognition of the "long service 

 and eminent ability of James INIonroe 

 Willard and the fact that he stands at the 

 head of the educational corps in the tram- 

 ing of young ladies in the public schools 

 of this district, conferring upon him an 

 honorary degree worthy of his literary and 

 scholastic attainments, and for the honor- 

 able distinction he has attained in his years 

 of service in the public schools of the First 

 School District of Pennsylvania." 



Dr. Willard has always, been actively in- 

 terested in educational matters. He was a 

 charter member of the Teachers' Institute 

 of Philadelphia, and president of the same 

 for two years, 1887-88. He was also one 

 of the organizers of the Educational Club 

 of Philadelphia, and its president for the 

 first five years, 1892-96. He was vice-pres- 

 ident of the Association of Colleges and 

 Preparatory Schools of the Middle States 

 and Maryland for one year, 1903. He was 

 also instrumental in forming the Philadel- 

 phia Teachers' Association, and was corre- 

 sponding secretary of that body for two 

 years. He is also a member of the Publig 

 Education Association of Philadelphia, and 

 maintains his interest in Bucks county, as 

 shown by his membership in its Historical 

 Society. 



THE PARSONS FAMILY. The Par- 

 sons family of Falls township, Bucks coun- 

 ty, Pennsylvania, is descended from Isaac 

 Parsons, born November 12, 1748, in Penn- 

 sylvania, and supposed to be the son of 

 Abraham and Johanna Parsons, of Lowei 

 Dublin, Philadelphia county, and mentioned 

 in the will of the latter in 1779. He set- 

 tled in Penns Manor, Bucks county, prior 

 to the revolutionary war and later sold his 

 Manor farm and purchased one in the upper 

 part of Falls township between Morrisville 

 and Fallsington. He was a member of St. 

 James Episcopal Church of Bristol, Bucks 

 county, and is buried in the old graveyard 

 connected with that church beside his sec- 

 ond wife, Elizabeth. His tombstone re- 

 cords the fact that he was born November 

 12, 1748, and died September 26, 1818. His 

 first wife was a Stillwell and his second 

 Elizabeth Brodnax, born May 20, 1755, died 

 June IS, 1827. His children by his two 

 wives were : Abraham, who died at about 

 the same time as his father in Falls town- 

 ship ; Rachel, born June 3, 1773, died De- 

 cember 22, 1831, married Israel Bailey; 

 Mary, died- November 26, 1871, married 

 John Martin ; John ; Amos ; Sarah, who 

 married Lemuel Crozer ; and Isaac. The 

 last two were children of the second mar- 

 riage. Elizabeth (Brodnax) Parsons is 

 supposed to have been a daughter of 

 Robert Brodnax, an early settler in Ben- 

 salem township. The land purchased by 

 Isaac Parsons in Upper Falls about 1790 

 is still occupied by his grandson, Alfred 

 M. Parsons. 



Isaac Parsons, son of Isaac and Eliza- 

 beth (Brodnax) Parsons, was born in Falls 

 township, July 3, 1794, and died there Au- 

 gust 21, 1851. lie inherited the homestead 

 of his father and lived there the greater 

 part of his life, but was for a time en- 

 gaged in mercantile pursuits. He married, 

 April 5, 1821, Lydia Ann Anderson, born 

 in New Jersey, July 18, 1801, died July 

 19, 1901, one day over one hundred years 

 old. She belonged to one of the oldest 

 families in New Jersey, whose pioneer an- 

 cestor is supposed to be Alexander Ander- 

 son, who came from East Lothian, Scot- 

 land, and settled in Monmouth county. 

 New Jersey, about 1674, but her first known 

 ancestor of whom we have any authentic 

 record was Enoch Anderson, who was 

 one of the early settlers on the site of 

 Trenton, and one of the founders of the 

 First Presbyterian Church of that city. He 

 took an active part in the affairs of the 

 colony and held a number of positions of 

 trust. He died in 1741, leaving children: 

 John; Enoch, born 1697, died 1756; Elia- 

 kim; Jeremiah; Joshua; Catharme ; Sa- 

 rah; Rachel; Elizabeth and Mary. His son 

 Eliakim became a large landowner in Hope- 

 w^ell township, now Mercer county, and 

 died there in 1782, at a very advanced age. 

 He married Rebecca Ely, daughter of 

 George and Jane (Pettit) Ely, and had 

 children: Rebecca, Catherine, Sarah, Ely 

 and George. Of these Sarah married her 

 lirst cousin, Josiah Anderson, son of Jere- 

 miah Anderson, above mentioned, and had 

 children: Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Skirm; 

 George ; Joseph ; Joshua ; Achsah ; Samuel ; 

 Catharine ; Dagworthy ; Rebecca. Joseph 

 Anderson, son of Josiah and Sarah, mar- 

 ried Sarah Norton, daughter of Joshua 

 Norton, of New Jersey, and lived for a 

 time in Bucks county, where his daughter, 

 Lydia Ann, married Isaac Parsons, Jr. The 

 children of Isaac and Lydia Ann (Ander- 

 son) Parsons were: i. Elwood, born 

 April 5, 1822, died October 13, 1891 ; mar- 

 ried, March 26, 1851, Mercy Ann Taylor, 

 of Morrisville, and had children : Anna K^., 

 >\Iary T., Lydia A. and Ella. He was a 

 farmer in Falls, later near Bordentown, 

 New Jersey, and for several years engaged 

 in the lumber business with his brothers 

 Joseph C. and David Taylor at Morris- 

 ville. He was one of the prominent busi- 

 ness men of that community, a director of 

 First National Bank of Trenton, the Bucks 

 County Contributionship and the Trenton 

 Bridge Company. 2. Charles A., born 

 June 30, 1831, a more particular account 

 of whom is given below. 3. Alfred M., 

 born February 25, 1834, still living on the 

 old homestead in Falls; married in 1856, 

 Josephine Harnian and has children : Ed- 

 ward B., Caroline, Anna H., and Gertrude. 

 4. Sarah A., married Joseph Robbins. 5. 

 Hilary A., marriejj William S. Mull. 6. 

 Elizabeth. 7. Emma, married James New- 

 bold. 8. Rose P., widow of John E. Case. 

 Charles A. Parsons, son of Isaac and 

 Lydia Ann (Anderson) Parsons, born in 

 Falls township, Bucks county, Pennsylvan- 



