HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY 



573 



one years, ten months and seventeen days. 

 They were the parents of two children, the 

 daughter being Susie Shaddinger, who 

 was born August 4, 1883, and died on die 

 23d of February, 1885. 



Henry R. Shaddinger, the son, was born 

 in New Britain township, May 23, 1881, and 

 pursued his education in the schools of the 

 neighborhood. He entered upon his busi- 

 ness career as a clerk in the generad mer- 

 cantile store of Kulp Brothers at Perkasie, 

 which position he abandoned in order to 

 enter business life on his own account at 

 Blooming Glen in February, 1904. In con- 

 nection with Herleigh Apple he purchased 

 the general mercantile establishment of 

 Christopher S. Gulick, and under the firm 

 name of Apple & Shaddinger they are now 

 conducting the largest business of the kind 

 in Hilltown township. They have a care- 

 fully selected line of general merchandise, 

 and their business policy commends them to 

 the patronage of the public, for it is in har- 

 mony with high commercial ethics. Mr. 

 Shaddinger was married March 20, 1904, to 

 Miss Emma Hunsicker, a daughter of Isaac 

 and Mary (Detwiler) Hunsicker, at Bloom- 

 ing Glen, where they make their home. Mr. 

 Shaddinger is a member of the Mennonite 

 church, gives his political support to the 

 Republican party, and is deeply and help- 

 fully interested in public affairs relating to 

 the welfare and progress of his home com- 

 munity and native county. 



CHARLES S. BALDERSTON was born 

 in Solebury township, November 30, 1854, 

 on the farm where he now resides. The 

 family is of Holland lineage, and the an- 

 cestry is traced back to John Balderston, 

 who emigrated from Holland to Englana 

 about the time the Prince of Orange went 

 to that country to become King William 

 III in 1688. He settled in Norwich, Eng- 

 land, in company with his wife, Lydia 

 Scarf, and their children, John Bartholo- 

 mew and Mary. 



(II) John Balderston, son of the pro- 

 genitor, was born in 1702, and was trainea 

 to the weaving of silk and worsted. He 

 remained in England until about twenty-five 

 years of age, when in the year 1727 he emi- 

 grated to America as a redemptioner. He 

 located in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 

 where he followed weaving as a livelihood. 

 After residing for some time at North 

 Wales he removed to Upper Makefield, and 

 finally settled in Solebury township, where 

 his remaining days were passed, his death 

 occurring in 1782. He had wedded Hannah 

 Cooper, a daughter of Jonathan and Sarah 

 Cooper, of Upper Makefield township, and 

 to John and Hannah Balderston were born 

 seven sons and four daughters, as follows : 

 John, Jonathan, Bartholomew, Timothy, 

 Jacob, Hannah, Isaiah, Sarah, Mordecia, 

 Lydia and Mary, all of whom reached ma- 



ture years and reared families with the 

 exception of Mary. 



(III) John, son of John and Hannah 

 (Cooper) Balderston, was born January 

 15, 1740, in Bucks county, and wedded De- 

 borah Watson, daughter of Mark and Ann 

 Watson, of Fallsington, Bucks county. Their 

 marriage, which occurred October 21, 1767, 

 was blessed with five children: Mtrab, 

 Hanah, John W., Mark and Ann. The fa- 

 ther of these children died April 26, 1821. 



(IV) John W. Balderston, son of John 

 and Deborah (Watson) Balderston, was 

 born on the old family homestead in Sole- 

 bury township, March 24, 1775. He there 

 resided for some time and subsequent to 

 his marriage removed to Fallsington, where 

 he made his home upon a farm until 1821. 

 He then returned to the old homestead in 

 Solebury township, becoming the owner of 

 that property, on which he continued to re- 

 side until his death on the 26th of Febru- 

 ary, 1842. He was married November 19, 

 1800, to Elizabeth, daughter of William ana 

 Hannah Buckman, of Newton township, 

 and their children were John D., William, 

 Abner, Oliver, Deborah, Hannah and 

 Martha. 



(V) Oliver Balderston, son of John W. 

 and Elizabeth (Buckman) Balderston, was 

 born in Fallsington, Bucks county in 1812 

 and followed farming as a life work. He 

 wedded Mary P. Shaw, who died in 1881, 

 by whom he had four children, of whom 

 three are living : John W., now a resident 

 of Oklahoma; Elizabeth B., the wife of 

 Jesse B. Fell, of Solebury township ; and 

 Charles S. Balderston, whose name intro- 

 duces this record. 



The title to the Balderston tract of land 

 dates back to the time when it passed by 

 warrant from William Penn to Richard 

 Thatcher, May 4, 1682. That transfer 

 covered one thousand acres which was after- 

 ward divided among the children of 

 Thatcher, three hundred and fifty acres go- 

 ing to his sons, Bartholomew and Joseph 

 Thatcher. It was this tract which after 

 having passed through several ownerships 

 was purchased by John Balderston, June 

 21, 1766, he buying it from the heirs ot 

 William Chadwick. The tract of three 

 hundred and fifty acres, after being handed 

 down from father to son, has been sub- 

 divided until the patrimony of Oliver Bal- 

 derston covered a farm of one hundred and 

 twenty-eight acres, constituting that upon 

 which Charles S. Balderston now resides. 

 The portion of the farm on which stood 

 the original buildings — one hundred and 

 forty-two acres — was transferred to Joshua 

 Ely. A part of the old residence built by 

 John Balderston on taking possession of 

 the place in 1766, is still standing, but the 

 house has recently been remodeled. Oliver 

 Balderston spent his life upon the farm now 

 occupied by his son Charles, living there 

 from his ninth year until his death, Febru- 

 ary ^, 1895. The Balderstnns have all been 

 members of the Friends Meeting, and have 



