450 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



latter, as well as her maternal great-grand- 

 father, was a provincial councillor. Will- 

 iam and Sarah Simcock Magill were the 

 parents of eight children, of whom John, 

 the second son, born September 27, 1740, 

 was the great-great-grandfather of the sub- 

 ject of this sketch. He was a farmer m 

 Solebury and died there March il, 1814- 

 He married in 1765, Amy Whitson, daugn- 

 ter of David and Clcmence (Powell) 

 Whitson, both natives of Long Island, and 

 they were the parents of six children, of 

 whom Jacob, born November 2, 1766, died 

 January 14, 1847, was the great-grandfath- 

 er of Edward W. Magill. He was also a 

 farmer in Solebury, .-ind a member of the 

 Society of Friends. He married Rebecca 

 Paxson, of Solebury, and they were the 

 parents of Jonathan P. iNIagill, a promi- 

 nent Friend and Abolitionist, whose house 

 was for many years a station of the under- 

 ground railroad, through which many slaves 

 found their way to freedom. Jonathan P. 

 Magill married Mary Watson, daughter of 

 David and Rachel (Twining) Watson, 

 granddaughter of Joseph and Rachel 

 (Croasdale) Watson, great-granddaughter 

 of Mark and Ann (Sotcher) Watson, and 

 great-great-granddaughter of Thomas Wat- 

 son and John Sotcher, both of whom, as 

 well as Mark Watson, were for many years 

 members of colonial assembly and other- 

 wise closely associated with colonial af- 

 fairs in' the time of Penn. The children 01 

 Jonathan P. and IMary (Watson) Magill 

 were: Sarah T. ; Edward H., the distin- 

 guished ex-president of Swarthmore Col- 

 lege; Watson P.; Rebecca; Catharine M. ; 

 Rachel, the late wife of John S. Williams 

 of Solebury, and Matilda R., wife of 

 Charles S. Atkinson, of Solebury. 



Watson P. :Magill, son of Jonathan and 

 Mary; was born in Solebury and spent the 

 greater pai-t of his life there. He took 

 an active part in politics, was a pioneer in 

 the organization of the Rtpublican party, 

 being president of the fir-t association of 

 that party in Solebury ami New Hope, anJ 

 continued to fill that pos-tion for a numbd 

 of years. In 1854 he was elected to the 

 state legislature and served one term. In 

 1862 he raised a company of one hundred 

 and three men, of ^vhich he was commis- 

 sioned captain, and which was musters! 

 into the Seventeenth Regiment Pennsyl- 

 vania Militia at Harrisburg, and during the 

 battle of Antietam, in September, 1862, was 

 stationed at Hagerstown, Maryland. Again 

 in 1863, just prior to the battle of Gettys- 

 burg, he responded to his country's call 

 with his company, which was incorporated 

 in the Thirty-first Regiment Pennsylvania 

 Volunteers, as Company D. In 1868 Mr. 

 Magill was a presidential elector on the 

 Grant ticket. In 1875 he was appointed 

 United States assistant internal revenue as- 

 sessor for the fifth district, which he held 

 for four years. In July, 1879 he was ap- 

 pointed United States ganger and inspec- 

 tor for the first district of Pennsylvania 



and held that position until December, 

 1885. The later years of his life were main- 

 ly spent in Philadelphia. He married Sep- 

 tember, 185 1, Mary W Harvey, daughter 

 of Eli and Rachel (Hollingsworth) Har- 

 vey of Deleware county, Pennsylvania, and 

 they were the parents of two children — 

 Chalkley H., a prominent veterinarian and 

 business man of Philadelphia, and Edward 

 W. Magill, Esq., the subject of this sketch. 

 Mrs. Magill died and Watson P. Magill 

 married (second) in 1882, Elizabeth H. 

 Moore, daughter of Francis W. and Mary 

 (Kelley) Moore, of Philadelphia, but for- 

 merly of Bucks county. 



Edward W. Magill took up the study of 

 law with Orlando Harvey, of Chester, 

 Pennsylvania, in September, 1877, and in 

 September, 1880, was admitted to the Dela- 

 ware county bar. He entered the law 

 department of the University of Penn- 

 sylvania in the fall of 1879, graduating 

 in June, 1881, and the same year was ad- 

 mitted to the Philadelphia bar. In 1880, 

 after being admitted to the Delaware county 

 bar, he took up his residence in Philadelphia, 

 and became connected with Carroll R. Will- 

 iams, a son of John S. Williams, of Solebury 

 township, Bucks county, and formed the firm 

 of jMagill & Williams, which continued until 

 January i, 1891. Mr. Magill then formed a 

 partnership with Robert Alexander, Esq., 

 who at an early age was a teacher in the 

 Carversville Academy, Bucks county, and 

 had become one of the leading members of 

 the Philadelphia bar. This partnership under 

 the firm name of Alexander & Magill, con- 

 tinued until the death of JMr. Alexander in 

 December, 1903, since which time Air. 

 Magill, who is an eminently successful law- 

 yer, has continued in the practice of his 

 profession alone. Mr: Magill married, June 

 14, 1888, Carrie Altemus, daughter of Francis 

 and IMartha Altemus, and a member of Phil- 

 adelphia P>iends' Meeting. To them has 

 been born one son, Watson H. Magill. Mr. 

 Magill resides with his family at Oak Lane, 

 in the Forty-second ward, Philadelphia, 

 and has a summer residence in Solebury 

 township, near New Hope, Bucks county, 

 the homestead of his grandfather, Jonathan 

 Magill, and his father, Watson P, IMagill. 



PHILIP FACKENTHAL, founder of 

 this family in Bucks county, was born in 

 the Palatinate and immigrated to Amer- 

 ica, landing at Philadelphia from the ship 

 "Robert and Alice," September 24. 1742. He 

 settled in Springfield. The name of his 

 wife was Elizabeth, but whether married 

 when he arrived we do not know. On May 

 I9> 1753; he purchased one hundred and 

 twenty-three acres of James Galbraith, near 

 the Haycock line, where he settled down 

 to farming, and died there 1765. He was 

 the father of five children: Michael, the 

 eldest son, born May 22,, 1756; Henry, 

 Mary, Catharine and Elizabeth. Michael, 



