HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



519 



his profession with success. In religion 

 he is a member of the Church of United 

 Brethren, and politically is a Republican. 

 Dr. Kreiss married, September 11, 1S80, 

 Lizzie Detweiler, daughter of Dr. Isaac and 

 Lizzie (Swartley) Detweiler, and is a de- 

 scendant of early German settlers in Bucks 

 county on both the paternal and maternal 

 side, and they are the parents of three chn- 

 dren : Isaac D., Joseph D., and Sallie D. 

 (.See Isaac Detweiler, in this workj. 



•■■' WILLIAM E. WILSON. The American 

 progenitor of the branch of the Wilson 

 family to which belongs William E. Wil- 

 son, of Mechanicsville, Bucks county, 

 Pennsylvania, came from the county of 

 Cumberland, England, about 1688. The 

 following is an exact copy of the certificate 

 produced by him and recorded upon the 

 books of Chesterfield Monthly Aleetmg, 

 ^ Burlington county. New Jersey : 



Whereas Steeven V\-4l.son of Ilgli^hfields, 

 in ye Parish of BCgham & County of Cum- 

 berland, haveing a purpose in his mynd to 

 goe to Pensilvania to settle himselfe there 

 in some employmt of honest Labour in 

 yt. Country, 



Therefore this is to certifye and alsoe 

 ' to satisfye ""ffriends or any other people 

 there in that Island that may employe ye 

 said Steeven Wilson that he hath not come 

 away or left his owne Country for any 

 misdemeanor or miscarriage or matter of 

 dishonestye of any kind that wee knowe 

 of never since he owned ye Truth but 

 hath walked pretty orderly for severali 

 yeares amongst us, only that it is his owne 

 free w^ill purpose & resolution to settle him- 

 selfe in that Planta:tion -being a single man. 

 John Banches, Richard Richison, 



Philip Burnyeatt, Jerem : Bowman, 

 Christ. Wilson, John Serugham, 



James Dickenson, Jere : Spencer, 

 John Robinson, Peter Hudson, 

 Richard Head, Jon: Spencer. 



The above certificate is without date, 

 but w^e find from other sources that btepii- 

 en Wilson was in the neighborhood prior 

 to 1690. In that year he was one of the 

 carpenters who had charge of the building 

 of the meeting house at Falls, Bucks coun- 

 ty. He married in 6 mo. 1692, Sarah 

 Baker, daughter of Henry Baker, who was 

 born at West Darby, Lancashire England, 8 

 mo. 18, 1672. Henry Baker, father of Sarah 

 Wilson, came to Bucks county in 1684 and 

 became a very prominent man, serving as 

 justice and member of the colonial assem- 

 bly for many years. Stephen Wilson from 

 , the date of his marriage was a member of 

 Falls Meeting in Bucks county, though he 

 continued to reside in New Jersey. He 

 was one of the committee who had charge 

 of the collection of money for the building 

 of Buckingham meeting house in 1705. Dur- 



ing the winter, when the river was impas- 

 sable, permission was given the Friends on 

 the other side to hold their meeting at the 

 house of Stephen Wilson. He died in 

 March, 1707, and his widow married, 8 

 mo. 19, 1708, Isaac Milner. She died in 

 2 mo. 1715. The children of Stephen and 

 Sarah (Baker) Wilson were Stephen, Sa- 

 rah, :Mary, Rebecca, John and Samuel. 



Samuel Wilson, youngest son of Steplien 

 and Sarah, was born March 6, 1706. He 

 married in 1729 Rebecca, daughter of 

 Thomas and Mary (Oliver) Canby, and on 

 June 4, 1730, purchased 310 acres of land 

 in Buckingham, covering the present site 

 of Mechanicsville, a portion of which is 

 still occupied by his great-great-grandson, 

 the subject of this sketch, having been in 

 the family for 175 years. Thomas Canby, 

 above referred to, was a son of Benjamin 

 Canby, of Thorn;^ Yorkshire, and his moth- 

 er was a sister to Henry Baker, above men- 

 tioned, with whom Thomas came to this 

 country in 1684. Like his uncle, he became 

 a very prominent man in the community, 

 serving several terms in the colonial assem- 

 bly, and filling several other positions. He 

 was also a minister among Friends. Sam- 

 uel Wilson lived a long and useful life in 

 Buckingham and reared a family of thir- 

 teen children, the tenth of whom, Stephen, 

 born 7 mo. 2, 1749, married Sarah Black- 

 fan, and remained upon the homestead, a 

 portion of which he inherited at his father's 

 death in 1787. Both he and his wife died 

 in April, 1818. 



Samuel Wilson, fifth of the nine chil- 

 dren of Stephen and Sarah, born 6 mo. 

 5, 1786, became the owner of the home- 

 stead and 222 acres. He married Hannah 

 Longstreth, and had eight children, one 

 of whom, Samuel, born in 1823, was the 

 father of the subject of this sketch. 



Samuel Wilson was reared on the Buck- 

 ingham farm and acquired his education at 

 the old Tyro Hall school, then quite an 

 educational institution. He taught school 

 for several years and was for a short time 

 engaged in the mercantile business at New- 

 town. He also traveled extensively in the 

 interest of a newspaper, part of his route 

 being through the southern states, where 

 he witnessed some stirring scenes just prior 

 to the civil war. In the spring of 1876 

 he began growing seeds for market in a 

 small way, and, the business growing from 

 year to year, he became an extensive seed 

 grower, shipping seed to all parts of the 

 world, and doing a large business for about, 

 twenty years. He died in 1897. He mar- 

 ried in 1852 ]\Iaria Webster, nee Burger, 

 by whom he had the following children : 

 Samuel Howard, a physician at Mechan- 

 icsville; William Edmund, the subject of 

 this sketch; and AI. Elizabeth, who resides 

 with her brother William. Samuel W 1 

 son was a prominent and esteemed citizen. 

 He was a member of the orthodox branch 

 of the Society of Friends. In politics he 

 was a Republican, but never sought or held 



