HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



649 



sale drj' goods and wooden and willow 

 ware business in the city of Philadel- 

 phia, which he conducted up to 1878, in 

 which year he and his brother opened a 

 general store at Edgewood, Bucks county, 

 which they conducted successfully for six- 

 teen years and then disposed of it at an 

 advantageous price. In 1894 ^Ir. Wildman 

 moved to the borough of Langhorne, where 

 he is now enjoying the fruits of his earlier 

 activities, and the respect of his fellow citi- 

 zens. For six years he served the borough 

 as councilman, one year of which he was 

 president of the council, and at the present 

 time (1905) is serving in the capacity of 

 borough auditor. During his residence in 

 Edgewood, INIr. Wildman served as post- 

 master of that village for sixteen years, 

 being first appointed by President Ruther- 

 ford B. IJayes. INIr. Wildman adheres to 

 the tenets of the Friends' religion, and is a 

 stanch adherent of the principles of Repub- 

 licanism. On June 18, 1863, Mr. Wildman 

 enlisted as private for three months in 

 Company B. Thirty-second Regiment, Penn- 

 sylvania Alilitia, later was promoted cor- 

 poral, and received his discharge at Phila- 

 delphia, August I, 1863. The company was 

 under the command of Captain Charles S. 

 Jones, and the regiment under Colonel 

 Smith. 



Mr. Wildman was twice married. His 

 first marriage, in 1871, was to Elizabeth 

 Wellington Hawkins, of Philadelphia, by 

 whom he had one child, Elizabeth Hawkins, 

 born in 1872, who died in infancy. i\Irs. 

 Wildman died in 1872. His second mar- 

 riage, in 1879, was to Caroline Yerkes, 

 daughter of Adolphus and Harriet (Rem- 

 sen) Yerkes, the former named having been 

 a son of Jacob and Mary (Banes) Yerkes, 

 and the latter a daughter of Jacob and Eliza- 

 beth (Severns) Remsen. 



WILLIAM R. STAVELEY, M. D., who 

 in the years of an active practice was re- 

 garded as one of the most prominent and 

 skilled physicians and surgeons of Bucks 

 county, was born in Philadelphia, Penn- 

 sylvania, his parents being William 

 and Margaret (Sheed) Staveley. The 

 deed which William Staveley had in 

 his possession at the time of his 

 death indicates the early connection of the 

 family with colonial interests of America. 

 This deed for seven hundred acres of land 

 about 1682 was granted by "Charles, abso- 

 lute lord and proprietor of the province of 

 Maryland and Lord Baron of Baltimore," 

 and a part of the original tract is still 

 in possession of the Staveley family. Repre- 

 sentatives of the name through successive 

 generations continued residents of Mary- 

 land. 



William Staveley, father of Dr. Staveley, 

 was born in Shrewsbury parish. Kent coun- 

 ty, Maryland. He remained in the state 

 of his nativity until fifteen years of age, 

 when he went to Philadelphia and there 



learned the printer's trade as an apprentice 

 under Thomas J. Stiles, publisher of the 

 "True American." He afterward entered 

 the service of John H. Cunningham, and, 

 becoming the purchaser of Mr. Cunning- 

 ham's interest in 1823, conducted a small 

 printing business at Third and Dock streets 

 until his property was purchased by Stephen 

 Girard. His next location was on Pear 

 street, near St. Paul's church, and there 

 his business was gradually developed and 

 enlarged. In October, 1823, he began the 

 publication of the "Philadelphia Re- 

 corder," after called the "Episcopal 

 Record," and successively the "Episcopal 

 Register and Church." His connection 

 with this religious journal brought him 

 into contact with many of the most 

 prominent clergy and laymen of the 

 Episcopal church, and his business relations 

 proved frequently the foundation of life- 

 long friendships. He was a believer in the 

 Episcopal faith and long held membership 

 with that denomination. Soon after he 

 began the publication of the "Philadelphia 

 Recorder" he also published and circulated 

 throughout the United States a cheap edi- 

 tion of the Book of Common Prayer, and, 

 following the liberation of the Spanish- 

 American colonies, he enjoyed an extensive 

 and remunerative printing trade in the 

 Spanish language for the IMexican and Col- 

 ombian governments. Admitting James 

 jMcCalla to a partnership, the firm style of 

 Staveley & McCalla was assumed, and the 

 house became one of the most prominent of 

 the country in connection with religious 

 publications, and the printing of convention 

 journals, reports, tracts, etc. His connec- 

 tion with the publishing business continued 

 until 1854, although some years prior to 

 this time he had become a resident of Bucks 

 county. In 1838 he had purchased a coun- 

 try home in Solebury township, and there 

 continued .to reside up to the time of his 

 death, which occurred on the 22d of March, 

 1877. He had throughout the entire period 

 of his residence in Bucks county exerted a 

 strong and beneficial influence for its de- 

 velopment along moral lines. He was most 

 active and earnest in his effort in behalf 

 of the church, and for fifteen years served 

 as vestryman and Sunday-school superin- 

 tendent at Old Swedes church. He was 

 also deeply interested in the Church of the 

 Ascension, and assisted materiall)^ in re- 

 lieving it from financial embarrassment. He 

 was instrumental in organizing the parish 

 at Doylestown and Centerville, and gave 

 to the latter its parsonage, rie acted as 

 superintendent of the Bucks Coimty Bible 

 Society for manv years, and his influence 

 in behalf of moral advancement was far- 

 reaching and beneficial. He recognized, too, 

 the obligations and duties of citizenship 

 in connection .vith political interests, and 

 espoused with equal earnestness the politi- 

 cal principles which he deemed most bene- 

 ficial to county, state and national govern- 

 ment. In early life he was a Jacksonian 

 Democrat and a most ardent admirer of 



