HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



465 



deep religious feeling, and finally entered 

 the ministry of the Baptist church. In 

 1838 he was elected pastor of the Bap- 

 tist church at New Britain, Bucks coun- 

 ty, and located at Doylestown. He was 

 an earnest and forceful extempore speak- 

 er, and an energetic worker for the ad- 

 vancement of his church. He continued 

 as pastor of the New Britain congrega- 

 tion until January i, 1845, meanwhile 

 preaching occasionally at Doylestowni 

 and other points. From 1845 until i860 

 he conducted a store at his residence at 

 the corner of State and Main streets, 

 Doylestown, where he sold books, drugs, 

 and general merchandise, and preached 

 occasionally at Doylestown and other 

 places. In 1846 he started a subscription 

 to build a Baptist church in Doylestown, 

 and several hundred dollars were col- 

 lected for that purpose, and a lot pur- 

 chased on State street where Mrs. Frank 

 Mann now lives, and work begun on the 

 proposed building in 1850. By reason of 

 inability to collect sufficient funds, how- 

 ever, the building was never finished, and 

 the lot was finally sold, and the proceeds 

 went towards the erection of the present 

 Baptist church of Doylestown. One of 

 Mr. Nightingale's admirers recently 

 spoke of him as the "Zachary Taylor of 

 the Baptist Ministry," on account of his 

 "rough and ready" methods; selecting 

 his text he proceeded to expound the 

 doctrine of Christianity, clearly and for- 

 cibly, regardless of the foibles of his 

 congregation, and his discourse lacked 

 the suavity and persuasive eloquence that 

 later characterized pulpit oratory. Most 

 of the later years of Mr. Nightingale's 

 life were spent in Philadelphia, though 

 he was a frequent visitor in Doylestown, 

 where members of his family continued 

 to reside. He died in Philadelphia, 

 March 3, 1881. He married in Phila- 

 delphia, June 8, 18I4, Emma, daughter of 

 Thomas and Sarah Billington of that 

 city, who was born February 25, 1798. 

 The children of Rev. Samuel and Emma 

 Billington Nightingale were: Thomas 

 West, born in Philadelphia, February 27, 

 1815, died in Baltimore, July 20, i8ig; 

 Samuel, born in Baltimore, November 2, 

 1818, died in infancy; Matilda, born July 

 21, 1820, died at Doylestown in 1840. and 

 was buried at New Britain; William B., 

 born 1822, died 1825; Henry B., born at 

 Baltimore, June 21, 1825,- died at Rose- 

 mont. New Jersey, September 10, 1873; 

 Ann Eliza, born November 22, 1827, died 

 at Peekskill, New York, in 1890, married 

 (first) Judge Richard Jones, of Phila- 

 delphia (who was consul at Cairo, Egypt, 

 during Buchanan's administration), and 

 (second) Charles B. Tatham (of the firm 

 of Tatham Brothers, New York, Phila- 

 delphia and London); and Mary Delia, 

 born October 3, 1829, died March 30, 

 1903, married in 1875, Richard Keen 

 Kuhn, of Doylestown. 

 30-3 



Dr. Henry B. Nightingale, son of Rev. 

 Samuel Nightingale, born in Baltimore, 

 June 21, 1825, was liberally educated in 

 the public schools and at private schools 

 in Doylestown, where his parents located 

 when he was thirteen years of age, being 

 for some time a pupil of Dr. W. S. Hen- 

 drici He entered Jefferson Medical Col- 

 lege at Philadelphia in 1848, and grad- 

 uated in 1850. In the following year he 

 located at Rosemont, Hunterdon county, 

 New Jersey, and commenced the practice 

 of his profession. In the autumn of 

 1853, his health failing, he went to Flor- 

 ida for the winter, and on his return lo- 

 cated at Houghville, later known as "The 

 Turk," one mile south of Doylestown, 

 where he practiced his profession until 

 the spring of 1858, when he returned to 

 Rosemont and resumed his practice 

 there. Becoming interested in politics, 

 he purchased the "Hunterdon County 

 Democrat," a paper published at Flem- 

 ington, in 1866, and conducted it for one 

 year, when he sold it and took up the 

 practice of his profession at Flemington. 

 In 1870 he removed to Croton, New Jer- 

 sey, but returned to Flemington the fol- 

 lowing year. In the spring of 1873 he 

 again removed to Rosemont, where he 

 was stricken with paralysis on Septem- 

 ber 8, 1873, while hitching his horse pre- 

 paratory to visiting a patient, and died 

 two days later, without regaining con- 

 sciousness. Dr. Nightingale became 

 prominent in the practice of his profes- 

 sion in New Jersey. He was for many 

 years a member of the District Medical 

 Society, its president in 1862, and its 

 secretary from 1862 to 1867, and was re- 

 porter to the State Medical Society for 

 many years. He held many positions of 

 trust, and enjoyed the esteem and con- 

 fidence of a large circle of friends. At 

 the organization of the militia of Hunter- 

 don county in 1861-2, he was commis- 

 sioned by Governor Olden as an aide to 

 Brigadier-General Sergeant. 



Dr. Nightingale was a past master Mason, 

 a member of Amwell Lodge, No. 12, and 

 on his removal to Flemington he became 

 associated with Darcy Lodge, No. 37, 

 and was honorably dismissed to organ- 

 ize Orpheus Lodge at Stockton, New 

 Jersey. He was also a member of Lam- 

 bertville Chapter, R. A. M., and was dis- 

 missed to Flemington Chapter. In 1868 

 he became a member of the Baptist 

 church of Flemington, and was one of 

 its most active and earnest members. 

 He was a man of fine social qualities and 

 generous impulses, and was highly es- 

 teemed in the community in which he 

 lived. Both Amwell and Darcy Lodges, 

 F. and A. M., adopted resolutions ex- 

 pressive of their loss in the death of Dr. 

 Nightingale; from those adopted by the 

 latter Lodge we quote the following as 

 indicative of the esteem in which the 

 Doctor was held: "Past Master Night- 



