594 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



lie schools afforded him the educational 

 privileges which he enjoyed. To his father 

 he gave the benefit of his services upon 

 the home farm until the time of the father's 

 death, and has since managed the estate, dis- 

 playing excellent business ability in the con- 

 trol of the property and in the further im- 

 provement of the old home farm. He was 

 married February i8, 1903, to Miss Mary 

 Nicholas, a daughter of john and Sophia 

 Nicholas. His fraternal relations are with 

 Danboro Council, No. 187, Knights of the 

 Golden Eagle, and his popularity therein 

 is indicated by the fact that he has bten 

 elected to all of its offices. 



HENRY B. LAPP, of Pricks, is .pro- 

 prietor of one of the leading productive 

 industries of his part of the county, and 

 has worked his way upward from a 

 humble financial position to one of afflu- 

 ence, his success being achieved through 

 determined and honorable purpose and 

 unfaltering diligence. His ancestry is 

 traced back to John Lapp, who was 

 probably a native of Germany and set- 

 tled in New Britain township, Bucks 

 county, Pennsylvania, where he pur- 

 chased two hundred acres of land on the 

 23d of May, 1747. The name of his first 

 wife, the mother of his children, is un- 

 known. He was married again about 

 17S0 to Mary Hockman, of Bedminster 

 township, Bucks county, who survived 

 him. His death occurred in March, 

 1793. His children were John, Jacob, 

 Isaac, Abraham, Mary, Barbara and 

 Christina. 



John Lapp (2) son of John Lapp, Sr., 

 settled on land which he purchased of 

 his father in 1785, and there carried on 

 farming for a number of years, but sold 

 his property in New Britain township in 



1817. 



Abraham Lapp (3) son of John and 

 Catherine Lapp, purchased land in New 

 Britain township in 1802. He first be- 

 came owner of fifty-three acres, after- 

 ward bought one hundred and seven 

 acres, and in 1810 purchased seventeen 

 acres adjoining. He was a weaver by 

 trade, and also gave his attention to the 

 supervision of his agricultural interests. 

 His death occurred in 1855. He married 

 Ann Rosenberger, and they had seven 

 children namely: i. John, who died in 

 New Britain in 1883, married Ann Weiss- 

 ler, and their children were: Eliza, wife 

 Abraham Mover; Maria, wife of Abra- 

 ham High: Jonas W.; John W. ; Samuel 

 W. ; Catherine, wife of Henry Leather- 

 man, of New Britain; Joseph W., who is 

 living near Chalfont; Henry W., a resi- 

 dent of Kansas: and Samuel W., who 

 makes his home in Iowa. 2. Joseph, who 

 died in Warrington, married Sarah 

 Haldeman. and their children are: 

 Rachel, the wife of Elias Shaddinger, of 

 Plumstead; Mary, deceased wife of Will- 



iam Overholt; John H., who is living in 

 New Britain and married Kate Rufe ; Jo- 

 seph, of Philadelphia, who married 

 Ammie Clymer; and Susan, wife of Eli 

 Nice, of Doylestown township, Bucks 

 county. 3. Elizabeth, married David 

 Rickert, of Hilltown, and had three chil- 

 dren, and she and her husband are now 

 deceased. 4. Abraham, now deceased, 

 lived for a time on the old homestead, 

 and afterward in Hilltown. He married 

 Christiana Godshalk, and they had two 

 children : Tobias deceased ; and Sarah 

 Ann, the wife of Joseph L. Kulp, of Bed- 

 minster. After the death of his first 

 wife, Abraham Lapp married Annie 

 Moyer. 5. Samuel, lived and died in New 

 Britain. 6. Jacob is the father of Henry 

 B. Lapp, whose name introduces this 

 review. 7. Henry, married Barbara Wis- 

 ler, resided for a time in New Britain, 

 afterward removed to Bedminster and 

 died in Doylestown township in Au- 

 gust, 1S89, while his wife died in Sep- 

 tember, 1894. They had two children; 

 Joseph Lapp, Jr., who was born in Bed- 

 minster township in 1855 and is now liv- 

 ing in Doylestown township. He mar- 

 ried Sally Godshalk. Samuel married 

 Sallie Swartley, and resides in Warring- 

 ton. 



Jacob Lapp (4) son of Abraham Lapp, 

 was born in Hilltown township uctoo'er 

 13, 1813, and in his youth learned the 

 carpenter's trade, which he followed 

 throughout his entire business career. 

 He purchased a property in Blooming 

 Glen, where he lived for many years, and 

 afterward bought a home in Pricks, 

 Bucks county, where he spent his re- 

 maining days, his death occurring Jan- 

 uary 17, 1895. He married Esther Bergy, 

 who was born April 8, 1817, and died in 

 New Britain township, January 4, 1899. 

 Henry B. Lapp (5) was born in Hill- 

 town township, February 20, 1853, in 

 the house in which he is now living, and 

 w-as educated in the public schools of 

 this part of the county. When but nine 

 years of age he was bound out to a 

 farmer in New Britain township, with 

 whom he remained until sixteen j^ears of 

 age, being allowed the privilege of at- 

 tending school for five months during 

 the winter, while throughout the re- 

 mainder of the year he was employed at 

 farm labor. He worked on the farm 

 until he went to learn the harness-mak- 

 ing trade under the direction of Henry 

 Gross, at Danboro, Pennsylvania. When 

 he had completed his apprenticeship he 

 worked as a journeyman in Philadelphia, 

 but during the great financial depression 

 of 1873, when so many business houses 

 throughout the country were closed, he 

 lost his pisition and he spent all his 

 savings while looking for work. Unable 

 to secure employment at his trade, he 

 began husking corn and thus worked 

 until he had saved thirty dollars, when he 

 began business on his own account in a 



