HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



48: 



two years, 1835-36, when Mr. Large re- 

 tired from the hrm, but one year later 

 bought the entire interest of Mr. Kelly 

 and conducted the paper with good suc- 

 cess until March 14, 1841, when he sold 

 out to Samuel S. Fretz. He then pur- 

 chased a farm in Upper Buckingham, 

 and followed farming for the next fif- 

 teen years. In 1857 he became one of the 

 banking firm of J. Hart & Co., of 

 Doylestovvn, and retained his interest 

 therein until about 1864. During the fif- 

 ties he purchased the farm wdiereon the 

 subject of this sketch now resides, on 

 the Buckingham and Doylestown turn- 

 pike, known as Chestnut Grove Farm, 

 and erected the present handsome and 

 commodious buildings, and took up his 

 residence there, where he died. May 20, 

 1893, in his eighty-first year. William 

 M. Large w^as a man of more than or- 

 <iinary intellectual ability, and a prom- 

 inent and successful man in the com- 

 munity. He was a model farmer and 

 successful business man. He married, 2 

 mo. 17, 1841, Anne, daughter of Joseph 

 and Mary (White) Watson, of Bucking- 

 ham, of one of the oldest families in 

 Buckingham. She died in 1889, aged 

 seventy-six years. The children of Will- 

 iam M. and Anne (Watson) Large 

 w^re: Mary L., deceased, who was the 

 -wife of Louis Buckman, of Doylestown; 

 Henry Clay; and Watson, deceased. Mr. 

 Large and his family were members of 

 Buckingham I\Ion|;hly Meeting of 

 Priends. 



The subject of this sketch was reared 

 on the farm and was a student in the 

 common schools and at the Hughesian 

 Free School, and later attended a priv- 

 ate school at Doylestown. He has al- 

 ways been a farmer, and takes great 

 pride in the home farm, which he ac- 

 quired at his father's death. In politics 

 he is a Republican, but has never sought 

 or held public office. He is a member 

 of Buckingham Friends Meeting. H. 

 Clay Large was married, February 12, 

 1880, to Lavinia, daughter of Frederick 

 and Rachel (Dubree) Pearson, of Sole- 

 bury, Bucks county, who has borne him 

 five children, all of-whom are living at 

 home, viz.: Mary B., Josephine C, Will- 

 iam M., Rachel and Anna W. 



EDWIN HEMMERLY. Among the 

 enterprising and prosperous farmers of 

 Buckingham is the subject of this 

 sketch. He w^as born in Springfield 

 township, Bucks county, son of John and 

 Catharine (Wimmer) Hemmerly, both 

 of German extraction, descendants of 

 ■early German settlers in Upper Bucks or 

 Lehigh county. 



John Hemmerly w^as born in either 

 Lehigh county or near the line of that 

 county, in Springfield township. Bucks 

 ■county, about the year 1807. He was a 



blacksmith and followed that vocation in 

 Springfield township for many years and 

 up to within a few years of his death. He 

 was one of the first in that section to 

 manufacture the old "Bull" plow, and 

 did a large and profitable business. He 

 married (first) Catharine Wimmer, who 

 died in 1849. The marriage resulted in 

 the birth of eight children, of whom 

 four survive: Levi, of South Bethlehem; 

 Edwin H., the subject of this sketch; 

 John, of Luzerne county; and Amanda, 

 widow of Levi Overholt, living at Hel- 

 lertown, Northampton county. The 

 father married (second) Barbara Hottle, 

 and had by her four sons and one daugh- 

 ter, of whom only one survives. Jacob 

 Hemmerly. an upholsterer of Philadel- 

 phia. A few years prior to his death 

 John Hemmerly retired from business 

 and removed to Bethlehem, and two 

 years later took up his residence with his 

 daughter Matilda, now deceased, in 

 South Bethlehem, where he died at the 

 age of eighty-three years. In early life 

 Mr. Hemmerly was a Democrat m poli- 

 tics, but at the organization of the Re- 

 publican party in 1856 he became a mem- 

 ber of that party, and voted the ticket 

 for the remainder of his life. In re- 

 ligion he was a Mennonite. 



The subject of this sketch spent his 

 bovhood daj'S among the farmers of 

 Springfield township, after his mother's 

 death, and received a limited education 

 at the public schools. On December 22, 

 i860, he married Eliza Landis, daughter 

 of David and Lydia (Jacoby) Landis, of 

 New Britain township, but raised in 

 Springfield township, and began life as 

 a farmer. In 1862 he enlisted in Com- 

 pany F. One Hundred and Seventy- 

 Fourth Regiment, .Pennsylvania Volun- 

 teers, and served nine months, the term 

 of his enlistment. In 1864 he enlisted 

 in the Second New Jersey Cavalry Reg- 

 iment, and served to the close of the 

 war. Returning home he again engaged 

 in farming. In 1873 he purchased hi; 

 present farm of fifty acres, and has re- 

 sided thereon ever since. In ponticJ 

 jNIr. Hemmerly is a Republican, h.^.s 

 served his township as supervisor tor 

 four years, and in .1902 was the candi- 

 date for county commissioner, but was 

 defeated. He is a member of the Lu- 

 theran church, and belongs to the Grand 

 Army of the Republic, being a member 

 of General Robert L. Bodine Post, No. 

 306, at Doylestown. 



To Mr. and Mrs. Hemmerly have been 

 born eight children, five of whom sur- 

 vive: Emma, wife of David Cyrus Boyer, 

 of Durham. Bucks county: Lydia, wife of 

 Linford Raike, of Doylestown: Clinton, 

 a carpenter and builder at Oak Lane, 

 Pennsylvania; David, superintendent of 

 a large mercantile establishment in Phil- 

 adelphia: and Cora E., residing at home. 

 A daughter, Amanda, who was a teacher, 

 died at the age of twenty-one years. 



