602 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



did not know, and a daughter Lctitia. 

 What became of the other two brothers, 

 James and William, is not known ; both 

 are mentioned in the will of Aobert in 

 1781 as indebted to him, and with Jane, 

 daughter of William, are named as 

 residuary legatees in the event of the death 

 , of William, the minor son of Robert. 

 Robert died on his farm in Doylestown 

 township (then Warwick) in April, 1782. 

 He married October 7, 1774, Martha, daugh- 

 ter of William and Martha Doyle, who sur- 

 vived him and married Jacob Troxel. 

 Robert Magill also had sisters Letitia and 

 Margaret, who are mentioned in his will. 

 William Magill, only child of Robert 

 and Martha, was born in Warwick town- 

 ship (now Doylestown) in 1775. His father 

 dying when he was but seven years old, 

 directed that he should be educated and 

 apprenticed to a trade, and he was ap- 

 prenticed to a clockmaker and followed that 

 trade for some years. He spent his boyhood 

 days with his mother and stepfather, and 

 received his tuition from itinerant school- 

 masters of the day and from local teachers, 

 among whom were John Furness, Joseph 

 Meredith, Abraham Chapman, Joshua 

 Jones, Naylor Childs, George Burgess, 

 Robert Sterner and George Burgess. He 

 followed his trade in Doylestown, and later 

 kept a hotel at the corner of State and 

 Main streets, a noted hostelry of the day. 

 He was a captain in the war of- 1812, of the 

 company known as the Bucks County 

 Rangers, and an officer of militia until his 

 death in 1824. His wife was Mary, daugh- 

 ter of Benjamin Morris, who survived him. 

 His children were : Louisa C, William D., 

 Robert M., Benjamin, and Alfred, the 

 father of the subject of this sketch. 



ALFRED MAGILL, was born in Doyles- 

 town and always resided there. He was a 

 school teacher in early life, and later had 

 a marble yard in Doylestown. He died in 

 September, 1854. His wife was Jane S., 

 daughter of John and Martha (Grier) 

 Mann, of Doylestown township. His chil- 

 dren were : Laura, Theodore, Edwardine, 

 Eugene, Charles Howard and Alfreda. 



C. Howard Magill, the subject of this 

 sketch, was born and reared in, Doylestown. 

 He attended school until eighteen years of 

 age, when he entered the express office of 

 Heston and Co. and managed their office 

 until 1879, when he accepted the position 

 of express agent for the P. &. R. Express 

 Company, and has filled that position ever 

 since under that company and its suc- 

 cessors. ,He is a member of Doylestown 

 Lodge, No. 245, F. and A. M., and of Gen- 

 eral Robert L. Bodine Post, G. A. R. In 

 June, 1864, he enlisted in Company E. One 

 Hundred and Ninety-sixth Regiment, Penn- 

 sylvania Volunteers, under Captain C. K. 

 Frankenficld and was at Chicago guarding 

 Confederate prisoners, and later at Fort 

 Delaware. He married in 1873 Anna J. 

 Shemire, of Philadelphia, but has no chil- 

 dren. In politics he is an ardent Republican. 



MICHAEL MARTIN. The farmers of 

 Bucks county find in Michael Martin, of 

 Chalfont, a worthy representative. Mr. 

 Martin is of German descent, his father,. 

 George Martin, having been a native of 

 Wurtembcrg, where he was born September 

 14, 1820. He came as a young man to the 

 United States and settled in Readmg. Dur- 

 ing the civil war he fought bravely in the 

 ranks of the Union army. 



Michael Martin, son of George Martin, 

 was born December 31, 1851, at Cross Keys, 

 Doylestown township, where he obtained his 

 education in the public schools. For some 

 time he followed the carpenter's trade, and 

 for five years was employed in the New 

 Britain gristmill. In 1873 he purchased the 

 Messinger farm, in New Britain township,, 

 and has since been engaged in general farm- 

 ing. The success which has attended his 

 endeavors is the result of long experience, 

 a thorough and practical knowledge of the 

 requirements of his calling, sound judg- 

 ment, and a large amount of executive abil- 

 ity. The confidence reposed in him by his 

 fellow-citizens needs no other proof than 

 is furnished .by the fact that for two years 

 he served as supervisor of the township. 

 Mr. Martin married, December 16, 1871, 

 Annie Howland, and their family consists 

 of the following children : Emeline T., who 

 was born June 9, 1873; George W., born 

 November 19, 1874; William H., born Jan- 

 uary 31, 1877; Amanda, born September 

 30, 1881 ; Ethel, born September 2^, 1883 ; 

 Luther, born October 3, 1888; and Stan- 

 ley, born January 6, 1893. 



Mrs. Martin is a daughter of William 

 H. and Emeline (Zearfoss) Howland, who 

 were the parents of the following chil- 

 dren : Annie, who became the wife of 

 Michael Martin, as mentioned above ; Eu- 

 gene M.; Euphemia; Mary Jane; and 

 Bertha. 



CHARLES MOON was a descendant of 

 two of the oldest families of Pennsylvania. 

 His ancestry in the paternal line can be 

 traced back to James (i) and Joan (Bur- 

 gess) Moon, who resided near Bristol, 

 England, until with their six children they 

 emigrated to America, settling in Falls 

 township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, this 

 being a very early epoch in the develop- 

 ment of the state. Pioneer conditions 

 existed and James Moon bore his share in 

 the substantial improvement and upbuild- 

 ing of his locality. Their son Roger Moon 

 (2) married Ann Nutt, and continued to re- 

 side in Bucks county. James Moon (3) 

 son of Roger and Ann (Nutt) Moon, also 

 a farmer of Bucks county, married Ann 

 Watson, nee Satcher. Moses Moon (4) son 

 of James and Ann Moon, was the grand- 

 father of Charles Moon. He married 

 Rachel Burgess. 



James Moon (5) son of Moses and 

 Rachel (Burgess) Moon, wedded Jane 

 Haines, who comes of equally remote an- 

 cestry, the line of descent being traced 



