644 



HISTORY OF BUCKS' COUNTY. 



was a wealthy slaveholder, and was also 

 the owner of the iron forges at the place 

 in New Jersey now called The Forge. By 

 her marriage Mrs. Bishop had live chil- 

 dren, of whom three are living: Jacob, 

 of Philadelpnia; Rachel J., the wife of 

 Thomas McAlvan, or. Hunterdon county, 

 New Jersey; and John II. 



The military record of Dr. Bishop's an- 

 cestors is one of which the family have 

 every reason to be proud. His great-grand- 

 father Huff was a soldier of the revolu- 

 tion, his grandfather Bishop of the w-ar of 

 1812, while Dr. Bishop, his brother Jacob, 

 his uncle Griffith Jordan, his cousin Lewis 

 Moore and other mei'^'bers of the family 

 were in the civil war. Lewis Moore was 

 wounded in the famous cavalry charge at 

 Gettysburg, and die! soon after being sent 

 home. Two other members of the family 

 who went to the front and were never heard 

 from after the war, undoubtedly gave their 

 lives in defense of the Union. 



Dr. Bishop, son of Samuel H. and Mary 

 (Walter) -Bishop, was born in Warr'.ni 

 county, New jersey, on the loth of 

 February, 1847. He Was reared under the 

 parental roof and acquired his education 

 in the common schools and under private 

 tutors. In 1863, when sixteen years of age, 

 he enlisted under Captain George Hart as 

 a member of Company F, Thirty-first 

 Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served m 

 that command during the emergency call. 

 In 1864 he' enlisted again under the call 

 for men for one hundred days, becoming 

 a member of Company .E, One Hundred 

 and Ninety-sixth (Fifth Union League) 

 Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer:*, 

 which command was detailed for guard 

 duty. Following his discharge from the 

 army, Dr. Bishop took up the trade of 

 harness-making, with which he was con- 

 nected two years, and then, desiring to en- 

 ter professional life, he began the study of 

 dentistry under Dr. A. M. Fell, of Doyles- 

 town, and, having mastered the principles 

 of the science as well as its practicaLwork- 

 ing, he entered upon , active practice in 

 Upper Dublin, where he remained for two 

 years. He also spent two years as a. den- 

 tal practitioner in Quakertown, and dur- 

 ing this period he also took up the study 

 of medicine. In 1874 he removed to Car- 

 versville, where he continued the practice 

 of dentistry and his medical studies. In 

 1877 he was graduated from the Philadel- 

 phia Eclectic College of Medicine, and en- 

 tered upon the practice of medicine and 

 surgery in connection with dentistry. Later 

 he took a course in the Georgia Eclectic 

 College of Medicine, from which he was 

 graduated in 1881. He yet continues an 

 active practitioner along both professional 

 lines for which he has prepared by thor- 

 ough training and in which he has pro- 

 moted his efficiency by practical effort, and 

 he is today one of the able representatives 

 of both the medical and dental fraternities 

 and has gained a large and remunerative 

 practice in Solebury. 



Dr. Bishop was married on the tirst 

 of June, 1870, to Miss Mary E. Smith, a 

 daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann (Jam- 

 ison) Smith, of Carversville, Pennsylvania, 

 the former now deceased. Dr. and Mrs. 

 Bishops have five children : Annie S., the 

 wife of William S. Bartelman. of Philadel- 

 phia ; Dora May, at home ; Walter S., of 

 Plumstead township; W. H. Pancoast, a 

 druggist, of Philadelphia; and Katie J., 

 wife of Horace Helyer, of Mechanicsville, 

 Bucks county. Dr. Bishop votes with the 

 Democracy. He is a member of the Knights 

 of Pythias fraternity, and of Bodine Post, 

 No. 306, G. A. R., of Doylestown. He has 

 never sought or desired public office for, 

 though never remiss in citizenship, he pre- 

 fers to give undivided attention to his pro- 

 fessional duties, and the demands made for 

 his services leave him little leisure time. 



WILLIAM C. MERSHON. The ^ler- 

 shon family is of French descent, and was 

 established in America in colonial days. 

 Daniel S. Mershon, the grandfather of 

 William C. Mershon, was born in Trenton, 

 New Jersey, and in early life removed to 

 Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he se- 

 cured a tract of land and began farming, 

 thus providing for his family throughout his 

 entire business career. In early life he had 

 followed the river to some extent, but dur- 

 ing many years gave his attention exclus- 

 ively to agricultural pursuits. He wedded 

 Mary Smith, a native of this county, and of 

 Dutch descent. They became the parents of 

 six children. 



Joab C. Mershon, the fourth member of 

 this family, was born in Trenton, New Jer- 

 sey, and was very young when brought by 

 his parents to Bucks county. Here he was 

 reared to farm life, acquiring a common- 

 school education, and, when not occupied 

 with the duties of the school room, giving 

 his attention to the work of the fields. That 

 occupation he made his life work, becoming 

 the owner of one hundred and ninety-six 

 acres of land in one farm, and fifty acres in 

 a second farm. He thus prospered, as the 

 years passed by, and gained a valuable prop- 

 erty which returned to him a good annual 

 income in rich harvests. His political al- 

 legiance was given to the Republican party, 

 and he served as supervisor of Falls town- 

 ship. Fraternally he was connected with the 

 Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 

 1S50 he married Miss Rosanna Richardson, 

 a daughter of Jeremiah Richardson, and to 

 them were born four children : Sarah C, 

 the wife of John W. Brooks : Mary S.. the 

 wife of George E. Brooks; William C, of 

 this review ; and D. Smith, who married 

 Anna Crozer, and is living in Morrisville, 

 Pennsylvania. Joab C. Mershon died May 

 7, 1902, at the age of seventy-six years, sur- 

 viving his wife, who died ]\Iay 11, 1897, 

 aged sixty-nine years. 



William C. ]\Iershon was born on Biles 

 Island, October 19. 1S56, and the common 



