622 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



spected and beloved bj' all with whuni he 

 came in contact, cither in biisinos or so- 

 cial life. He was a stanch Republican in 

 politics, but never sought or held public 

 office, preferring the routine life of a farmer 

 to that of the political arena. 



On June 6, 1850, Mr. Hillborn was mar- 

 ried to Isabella Webster, born December 

 27, 1830, a daughter of Jesse Gilbert and. 

 Sarah (Williams; Webster, and three chil- 

 dren were born to them: John, born July 

 13, 185 1, was educated in the Friends' 

 school, and died April 12, 1896; William, 

 born January 15, 1855, was educated in the 

 Friends' school, married Miriam Croasdale, 

 who died, and two children were born to 

 them, namely, Edith and Marion; Sarah 

 Emma, born August 29, i860, was educated 

 in the Friends' school, and March 4, 1880, 

 became the wife of Herman B. Griffith, 

 of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania ; their 

 children are: Isabella Hillborn, born April 

 25, 1881, and William Herman, born De- 

 cember 29, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Hillborn 

 were brought up in the Friends' faith and 

 never departed therefrom. His death oc- 

 curred September 10, 1880. His widow is 

 still living, residing in her beautiful home 

 in Hulnieville, surrounded by a large cir- 

 cle of friends who are drawn to her by 

 her kindly smile and her many acts of 

 benevolence and words of cheer, peace, the 

 cardinal virtue of her lifelong religious 

 faith, being exemplified in her daily walk 

 and conversation. 



The immigrant ancestor of the Webster 

 family, of which Mrs. Hillborn is a repre- 

 sentative, was John Gilbert Webster, who 

 came from England in 1682 to escape 

 persecution visited upon him and his co- 

 religionists and to make their home in a 

 land where they might worship God after 

 the dictates of their own conscience. The 

 line of descent is traced through David 

 Webster, who married Elizabeth Gilbert, 

 to Jesse Gilbert, who married barah W^ill- 

 iams, the tw-o latter named being the pa- 

 rents of Mrs. Hillborn. Jesse Gilbert Web- 

 ster was bor,n and reared in Montgomery 

 county, settled in Bucks county in 1825. 

 engaged in farming, and during his later 

 years was an auctioneer. He served in 

 the capacity of justice of the peace for fif- 

 teen years, was a school director for a sim- 

 ilar period, and county commissioner one 

 term. He was strongly opposed to slavery, 

 and aided materially in the operation of the 

 "underground railroad." which was the 

 means of escape of many a fugitive slave. 

 His wife. Sarah (Williams) Webster, was 

 a daughter of Terrell Williams, of Frank- 

 ford. Philadelphia county, a descendant of 

 an English ancestry, and she was brought 

 up in the Society of Friends, i hey were 

 the parents of six children : Isabella, Tacy, 

 Pemberton, Hugh B., a sketch of whom 

 appears elsewhere in this work; Elizabeth 

 Emma, and Milton. 



The ancestors of the Gilbert branch of 

 the Webster family were "driven from the 

 west of England by religious persecution, 



they being stanch adherents of the Quaker 

 faith. John Gilhun (ij with his wife 

 Florence and their sons John and Joseph 

 were among those who came to America in 

 1682 and settled in Byberry (now Philadel- 

 phia), separated from Bucks county by 

 Poquessing creek. Joseph Gilbert (2) be- 

 came prominent in the meetings, was an 

 overseer of the Byberry Meeting, and also 

 filled the office of elder for many years. 

 He died in 1765, aged ninety years. Ben- 

 jamin Gilbert (3) came to Richland, Bucks 

 couiity, married Sarah Mason, and had a 

 family of eight children. In 1775 he moved 

 with his family to Penn township, on the 

 frontier, near Mauch Chunk. Here he 

 erected a grist mill and other buildings, 

 living in peace with the Indians. On April 

 25, 1780, the family were alarmed by a 

 party of eleven Indian warriors, and ten 

 of the Gilbert family with five others were 

 taken prisoners by them. The Indians then 

 plundered and burned the buildings, forcing 

 the captives to carry their plunder with 

 them into the woods. They were taken by 

 the Indians from place to place, much of 

 the time suffering from lack of provisions 

 and enduring great privation and hardship, 

 as well as being separated from each other. 

 They were finally released, all save Ben- 

 jamin, who died July 8, 1780, in a boat in 

 which he with his wife Elizabeth and two 

 children were going down the St. Law- 

 rence river to Montreal under the protection 

 of British officers. After leaving Montreal 

 the party crossed the Delaware into Penn- 

 sylvania, and after a journey of five weeks 

 arrived in Byberry, where Elizabeth Gil- 

 bert and her children were received with 

 many rejoicings by their relations and 

 former acquaintances. The fact that such 

 an event as an Indian raid should have 

 occurred in this part of the country within 

 a period of three generations shows how 

 rapidly evolution in all business and social 

 affairs has worked in the uplifting of man- 

 kind. 



AMOS ARMITAGE was born Septem- 

 ber 23, 1881, on the farm in Solebury town- 

 ship upon which he now resides, and which 

 had been owned in turn by his grandfather 

 and his father. The former, Amos Armit- 

 age, Sr., was a cabinet-maker and carpen- 

 ter by trade, and for a number of years 

 lived at Lumberville, where he was con- 

 nected with building operations. Subse- 

 quently, however, he purchased the farm 

 upon which his grandson, Amos Armitage, 

 now resides, and there he spent the later 

 years of his life, devoting his energies to 

 agricultural pursuits. He married Re- 

 becca Hoffman. 



Their son, Samuel Armitage, was born in 

 Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1817, and 

 in early life learned the wheelwright's 

 trade, but his effort has been chiefly given 

 to his agricultural interests. At his fa- 

 ther's death he succeeded to the ownership 

 of the old home property, and continued to 



