640 



HISTORY OP BUCKS COUNTY. 



death of his father, in 1866, he look charge 

 of the home farm and coiuliicled it for liie 

 heirs for eight years. Jn February, kS7,5, 

 he married lieiirielta Smith, daugun.r oi 

 Joseph and Sarah (^TwiningJ Smith, of 

 Buci^ingham, and rented the home farm, 

 whch he conducted as a tenant until his 

 molhcr's death in 1877, when he purchased 

 it and has since made it his home. He 

 also owns the Rush Valley Mills, which 

 are conducted by a tenant. In politics he 

 is a Republican, but has never sought or 

 held other than local office, lie is a mem- 

 ber of Newtown Lodge, No. 205, A. O. U. 

 W. To Air. and JNirs. Slack have been born 

 four children : Emily F., living at home ; 

 Albert, of Kalispell, Montana; J. Thuinas, 

 at home; and Harry, deceased. 



MAHLON CARVER, deceased, of Car- 

 versville, was a representative of one 01 

 tne oldest families in Pennsylvania. He 

 was born and reared in Byberry, where his 

 paternal ancestors, John and' Mary (,Lanej 

 Carver, settled on their arrival from Hert- 

 fordshire, England, in 1682. Four brothers, 

 John, William, Joseph and Jacob Carver, 

 eame together from England and settled in 

 Byberry. Of these William later purchased 

 land in Buckingham, Bucks county, upon 

 which his son William settled and raised a 

 large family of children who have left 

 numerous descendants in central Bucks. 



The subject of this sketch, however, "is a 

 descendant of John Carver,' who mai^ried 

 Mary Lane before leaving England, and 

 settled on 600 acres of land on Poquessing 

 creek, in Byberry. A great portion of the 

 land remained in the family for six gen- 

 erations of John CarVers down to 1864. The 

 first John Carver died in 1714 leaving chil- 

 dren : Mary, born five days after the ar- 

 rival of her parents in Pennsylvania, who 

 married Isaac Knight ; John ; Ann, who 

 married John Duncan and settled in Ben- 

 salem ; James and Richard. 



John, the eldest son of John and Mary 

 (Lane) Carver, inherited a portion of the 

 homestead and lived and died there, his 

 death occurring in 5 mo. 14, 1769. His 

 wife was Isabel Weldon, and by her he had 

 three children, John, Ann and Isaac. Mary 

 married Robert Heaton, and Isaac mar- 

 ried Phebe Walmsley. John Carver, born 

 7 mo. 30, 1717, married Rachel, daughter 

 of Joseph Naylor, of Southampton, Bucks 

 county, and settled on the old homestead, 

 where he died i mo. 15, 1791. His children 

 were John, Samuel, Eli, Mahlon, Mary and 

 Rachel. Of these only Mahlon became a 

 resident of Bucks county. He married Amy, 

 daughter of Joseph Pickering, of Solebury, 

 and followed' the trade of a blacksmith for 

 some years in Byberry, and later kept the 

 Anchor tavern in Wrightstown, removing 

 from there to Morrisville, where he died. 



John, the eldest son of John and Rachel 

 (Naylor) Carver, was born in the old 

 homestead in Byberry 10 mo. 26, 1747, and 



spent his whole life there. He married 

 Mary, daughter of Joseph Buckman ol. 

 Wrightstown. Bucks county, who bore him 

 eight children: Martha; Mary, who mar- 

 ried William Worthington, of Wrights- 

 town; Asenath and Hannah, who marriea 

 respectively John Townsend and Benjamin 

 Kirkbride, and removed to Jefferson coun- 

 ty, New York; Sarah, who married Dr. 

 Josiah D. Banes, of Bucks county; Joseph, 

 who married Esther Wiggins, of Wrights- 

 town ; and Elizabeth, who married Evan 

 Townsend, of Bensalem. 



John, eldest son of John and Mary 

 (Buckman) Carver, was born on the old 

 homestead in Byberry, 2 mo. 28, 1776, and 

 died there 10 mo. 10. 1849. He married 

 Elizabeth Briggs, daughter of John and 

 Letitia (Buckman) Briggs, of Wrights- 

 town, by whom he had four children: 

 John, who married Phebe Tomlinson, and 

 remained on the homestead ; Mahlon, the 

 subject of this sketch; Esther; and Eliza, 

 who married Richard Wilson; all except 

 John became residents of Bucks county. 



Mahlon, second son of John and Elizabeth 

 ( Briggs) Carver, was born September 25, 

 1823, and was reared in Byberry, and con- 

 tinued to reside there until 1867, when he 

 removed to Bucks county. In 1869 he re- 

 moved to his late residence near Carvcrs- 

 viUe where he devoted his attention to agri- 

 cultural pursuits. He married Susanna G. 

 Helwig, daughter of Daniel and Catharine 

 (George) Helwig, of Solebury. Mr. Car- 

 ver died February 25, 1905; his wife is still 

 living in Carversville. 



J. FENNELL BERGER, for many years 

 engaged, in merchandising in Bucks coun- 

 ty, and now following farming in Sole- 

 bury township, was born in this township 

 on the first of November, 1851, his par- 

 ents being Henry and Mary (Ackerman) 

 Berger. The father was born near Kelly's 

 church, in the northern part of Bucks coun- 

 ty, and, losing his father when he was a 

 child, he was reared in a neighboring fam- 

 ily. On reaching early manhood he came 

 to Solebury township, where he appren- 

 ticed himself to the brick and stone 

 mason's trades. After his marriage he lo- 

 cated in Lumberville, where he worked at 

 his trade for many years, being closely con- 

 nected with building operations in that 

 part of the county. He gave his political 

 support to the Republican party, and was 

 for a long period an active member of the 

 Methodist Episcopal church, serving as 

 one of its trustees for a number of years. 

 He died in May, 1902, at the age of eighty- 

 two years. To Henry and Mary Btrger 

 \yere born six children, of whom four are 

 living: J. Fennell; Edward O., who is nv- 

 ing in Solebury township; Elwood R., a 

 resident of Lumberville; and Millard F., 

 who resides at Raven Rock, New Jersey. 



In his early youth J. Fennell Berger at- 

 tended the public schools, but his educa- 



