HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



515 



Isaac M. Hunsicker was born and 

 reared on the old homestead in Hilltown, 

 and acquired his education at the public 

 schools of that district. He has always 

 followed farming, and is one of the 

 prominent and successful men of the 

 community. Like his ancestors for many 

 generations he is a member of the Men- 

 nonite church, and politically is a Re- 

 publican. He married, April 13, 1872, 

 Mary Detweiler, daughter of John and 

 Annie (Detweiler) Detweiler, and they 

 are the parents of three children: Sallie, 

 born July 5, 1876, died August li, 1877; 

 Leidy, born August 5, 1878, married De- 

 cember 6, 1902, Delia Moyer, daughter of 

 William C. Moyer; Emma, born June 

 5, 1883, married March 20, 1904, Henry 

 Shaddinger, son of Edward Shaddinger. 



C. WATSON BETTS, postmaster, of 

 New Hope borough, was born in Solebury 

 township, Bucks county, October 2t„ 1864, 

 is the youngest son of William and Emily 

 (Walton) Belts, lifelong residents of Sole- 

 bury township. The paternal ancestor of 

 the Betts family of Bucks county was 

 Richard Betts, who came from England 

 and settled at Ipswich, Essex county, Mas- 

 sachusetts, in 1648, and soon after removed 

 to Newton, Long Island, where he died 

 November 18, 1713, aged one hundred years. 

 He was a member of colonial assembly in 

 1665, and sheriff 1678-1681. By his wife 

 Joanna he had eight children, — two sons, 

 Richard and Thomas ; and five daughters : 

 Joanna, who married John Scudder ; Mary, 

 married Joseph Swezey; Martha, married 

 Philip Ketcham ; Elizabeth, married Joseph 

 Sackett; and Sarah, who married Edward 

 Hunt. 



Thomas, the second son of Richard and 

 Joanna Betts, married in 1683 Mercy White- 

 head, daughter of Major Daniel and Abi- 

 gail (Stevenson) Whitehead, and grand- 

 daughter of Daniel Whitehead, one of the 

 Smithtown purchasers of 1650. Thomas 

 Betts died in 1709, and his widow married 

 in 171 1 Colonel Joseph Sackett. Thomas 

 and Mercy (Whitehead) Betts were the par- 

 ents of nine children, viz : Richard ; 

 Thomas ; Daniel ; Mercy, married Thomas 

 Hazard ; Abigail, married Abraham Spring- 

 stein ; Joanna ; Mary ; Elizabeth, married 

 Robert Comfort ; and Deborah, who mar- 

 ried Gershom Moore. 



Thomas, second son of Thomas and 

 Mercy was born at Newton, Long Island. 

 August 14, 1689, and died at Newtown, 

 Bucks county, Pennsylvania, April. 1747. 

 He married. May 5, 1713, Susannah Steven- 

 son, daughter of Thomas, by whom he had 

 six children ; Ann, born December 14, 

 1714; Thomas, born November i, 1716, died 

 young; John, born September 15, 1718; 

 Stephen, born March 26, 1720: Thomas, 

 born February 18, 1723; and Susannah, 

 born February 18, 1723. After the death 

 of his wife he removed to Chesterfield, 

 Burlington county, New Jersey, where he 



married Susannah Field, and soon after re- 

 moved to Bucks county, Pennsylvania. 

 The children of his second marriage were 

 Patience, Richard, Mercy, Zachariah, Mir- 

 iam, and William. 



Thomas Betts, fifth child of Thomas and 

 Susannah (Stevenson) Betts, was born on 

 Long Island, February 18, 1723, and came 

 with his father to Bucks county. He mar- 

 ried 4 mo. 21, 1744, Sarah Smith, daughter 

 of William and Rebecca (Wilson) Smith, 

 and settled in Buckingham township, one 

 mile north of Pineville, where he died in 

 June, 1783. His wife died in 1804. They 

 were the parents of eleven children, viz :. 

 Thomas, born 8 mo. 3, 1745, died 1777; 

 Sarah, born 4 mo. 14, 1747, married An- 

 thony Hartley; Ann, born 5 mo. i, 1749, 

 married Robert Sample; Rebecca, born 5 

 mo. 18, 1751, married Thomas Rose; Will- 

 iam, born 12 mo. 3, 1752; John, born 5 mo. 

 8, 1755; Susannah, born 12^ mo. 20, 1756, 

 married George Mitchell ; Stephen, born 5 

 mo. 31, 1758; Mary, born 10 mo. 2, 1760, 

 married Isaac Van Horn ; Isaac, born i mo. 

 2, 1763; Zacariah, born 10 mo. 21, 1764. 



Stephen Betts, son of Thomas and Sarah 

 (Smith) Betts, was born in Buckingham, 

 5 mo. 31, 1758. He learned the black- 

 smith trade, and settled in Solebury town- 

 ship, where he followed his trade for a 

 unmber of years, but after middle life de- 

 voted his attention principally to farming. 

 He married, 4 mo. 19, 1786, Hannah Black- 

 fan, daughter of Crispin and Martha 

 (Davis) Blackfan, and in 1795 purchased 

 of his brother-in-law, Edward Blackfan, a 

 portion of the old Blackfan homestead, 

 adjoining a tract of land granted to Will- 

 iam Blackfan, father of Crispin, in 1718, by 

 his cousin, William Penn, William being 

 a son of Edward Blackfan, who married 

 Rebecca Crispin, a sister to the mother of 

 William Penn. This property remained in 

 the Betts family for three generations, a 

 period of over a century. Stephen Betts 

 died on the homestead in 1834, and his 

 widow in 1843. They were the parents of 

 nine children, viz: William, born 1787; 

 Sarah, born 1788, married Samuel Beans; 

 Martha, born 1790, married Jacob B. Smith ; 

 Stephen, born 1792 ; Hannah, born 1.794, 

 married Daniel Smith ; Esther, born 1797, 

 married Jacob Janney ; Anna, born 1799, 

 married Joseph Taylor; Letitia, born 1801, 

 married Joseph E. Reeder; John, born 

 1804, married Sarah C. Malone; and (sec- 

 ond) Beulah Walker. 



William Betts, eldest son of Stephen and 

 Hannah, inherited the homestead and lived 

 thereon until about 1858. He died at the 

 residence of his daughter, Sarah B. Mich- 

 ener, in New Hope, May, 1875. He mar- 

 ried in 1816, Ruth Simpson, born 4 mo. 3. 

 1795. died 3 mo. 16, 1857, daughter of 

 David and Agnes (Wiggins) Simpson, of 

 Solebury, and had by her seven children ; 

 Sarah, married Hugh Michener: William: 

 Samuel : J. Simpson ; Edward, died a -oung 

 man: David, died young; and Stephen. 



William Betts, eldest son of William and 



