430 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



Darby; Hannah, Mary, John, and Sarah, 

 John being born lo mo. 30, 1690. 



James Bradshaw, son of John, married 

 about 1740, Ruth Lowther, daughter of 

 William and Martha Lowther, of Bucking- 

 ham, Bucks county, who had brought a cer- 

 Aiticate from Abington Meeting, a few years 

 previously and settled near Mechanicsville, 

 in Buckingham. James Bradshaw pur- 

 chased of his father-in-law in 1741 a por- 

 tion of the Lowther homestead, and at 

 Lowth6r's death in 1750 purchased the bal- 

 ance of the 150 acre farm, and resided there- 

 on until his death in 1776. James and 

 Ruth (Lowther) Bradshaw were the par- 

 ents of twelve children, seven sons : John, 

 William, James, David, Amos, Joel, George, 

 -and five daughters: Rachel, married Isaac 

 Child ; Sarah, married David Gilbert ; Ruth 

 married Watson Welding; Mary, married 

 Isaac Kinsey; and Martha. William, sec- 

 ond son of James and Ruth, settled m 

 Plumstead, where he became a large land- 

 .holder. He was twice married, first on 4 

 mo. 19, 1769, to Sarah Preston, and second 

 to Mary Shaw of Plumstead, 12 mo. 22, 



1774- 



William Bradshaw, Jr., was born m 

 Plumstead township on the old homestead 

 purchased by his father soon after his first 

 marriage, and lived and died there. He 

 married Rachel Lewis, and had a number 

 of children, among whom was Samuel, the 

 father of the subject of this sketch, who 

 was born in 1814. He married Martha Wal- 

 ton, daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Ar- 

 mitage) Walton, the former a native of 

 Buckingham, and the latter of Sojebury 

 township. Martha was born in Lancaster 

 county, Pennsylvania, October 12, 181 2. 



Samuel Bradshaw and wife removed to 

 Fulton county, Illinois, about 1855, and re- 

 mained there about four years, returning to 

 Plumstead township in 1859, where he 

 died the following spring at the age of 

 forty-five years. He was a justice of the 

 peace in Plumstead for fifteen years, and 

 followed surveying, conveyancing and civil 

 engineering. In early life he had also been 

 a school teacher. His widow died in Sole- 

 bury in 1882. The families of both the la- 

 ther and mother of the subject of this sketch 

 had been members of the Society of Friends 

 since their arrival in this country. His ma- 

 ternal ancestor, Samuel Armitage, brought 

 a certificate from Yorkshire, in 1739, and 

 settled in Solebury township where he has 

 left numerous descendants. 



John W. Bradshaw, from the age of six 

 years, was reared by his grandmother, Ra- 

 chel (Lewis) Bradshaw, in Plumstead 

 township. After the death of his grand- 

 mother, his aunt, Mary Bradshaw, purchased 

 the farm where Mr. Bradshaw lately re- 

 sided, at Peter's Corner, in Solebury town- 

 ship, and he came there to live with her, 

 and conducted the farm for her until her 

 death in 1889, when he purchased the farm 

 and continued to reside there until the 

 autumn of 1904, when he removed to Phila- 

 delphia. On March 17, 1884, he married 



Anna J. Betts, daughter of William and 

 Emily (Walton) Betts, of Solebury, and, 

 having purchased a small lot across the 

 road from the farm, resided there until 

 after his aunt's death. He is a Republican 

 in politics, and in religion a Friend. He is 

 a member of Doylestown Lodge No. 245, 

 F. and A. M., and of Paunnacussing Lodge 

 No. 221, K of P., at Carversville. Mr. and 

 Mrs. Bradshaw are the parents of three 

 children : J. Watson, Emily, and William, 

 all of whom are filling responsible clerical 

 positions in Philadelphia. Another son, 

 George, died in infancy. 



DAVID VAN HART. Among the de- 

 scendants of the old settlers of Bucks coun- 

 ty must be numbered David Van Hart. 

 The great-grandfather of Mr. Van Hart 

 was a native of Holland, who settled in 

 Falls township prior to the revolution. His 

 son, Jacob Van Hart, was a farmer and 

 shoemaker, and married Mary, daughter of 

 Daniel Richardson, a pioneer, who lived 

 near Dolington. Their family consisted of 

 fifteen children. 



Charles Van Hart, son of Jacob and 

 Mary (Richardson) Van Hart, mentioned 

 above, was born October 9, 1821, in New- 

 town township, and later settled in L'pper 

 Makefield township, where he engaged in 

 farming. Politically he is a Democrat. He 

 married Eliza Tomlinson, and they were 

 the parents of seven children, six of whom 

 are living: Jacob, lives in Upper MaKe- 

 field ; Mary, married Edward Lake, of 

 Philadelphia ; Eliza, wife of Winfield Pool, 

 of Wycombe ; David, mentioned at length 

 hereinafter ; John, lives in Lower Make- 

 field township ; and Catherine, a widow, and 

 resides in Yardleyville. After the death of 

 his wife, Mr. Van Hart married Jane 

 Jackson. 



David Van Hart, son of Charles and 

 Eliza (Tomlinson) Van Hart, was born 

 August 15, 1846, in Bucks county, and was 

 educated in the common schools. At the 

 age of nineteen he began to work for the 

 farmers, and after some years entered the 

 service of a farmer near Taylorsville, by 

 whom he was employed by the year for 

 four years. He then rented the "Edward 

 Merrick farm," which he cultivated for 

 five years, and moved thence to the Harvey 

 farm, where he spent two 3-ears. His next 

 removal was to Bronwsburg, where for five 

 years he cultivated the Boileau farm, and 

 then spent one year on the Wagner farm. 

 After living for three years on the Horn 

 farm, he took tip his abode in 1889 on the 

 Wynkoop farm, where he has since resided. 

 For nine years he has served on the school 

 board, and for ten years has held the office 

 of tax collector of the township. His politi- 

 cal principles are those of the Republican 

 party. He is a member of the Thompson 

 Memorial Presbyterian church, in which 

 for the last twenty-one years he has held 

 the office of trustee. Mr. Van Hart mar- 



