HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



653 



1839, near Fisher's Ferry, Northumberland 

 county, and from his early boyhood worked 

 for neighboring farmers. When his mother 

 and stepfather purchased a farm in Plum- 

 stead he was called home, and thenceforth 

 assisted in the farm work until the time 

 of his marriage, when he became a tenant 

 farmer. At the end of seven years he 

 bought a farm in Plumstead, which he 

 cultivated for three years. He then sold 

 the property and went to Maryland, where 

 he engaged in shipping peaches, but, the 

 crops being poor, he returned home after 

 a year's absence and settled at Norris- 

 ville. After a year spent as switch and 

 telephone tender at the bridge he went to 

 Point Pleasant, where he was variously en- 

 gaged for three years. Later he took up his 

 abode in Solebury and spent some years 

 in the commission business, since which 

 time he has been engaged in farming. He 

 is a Republican in politics, and a member 

 of the Presbj-terian church at Carversville. 

 Mr. Clunn married in i860, Charlotte, 

 daughter of William Poulton, of Bucking- 

 ham township, and two children have been 

 born to them : George David b., deceased ; 

 and Mary Alice, who is the wife of George 

 H. Van Horn, a dry goods merchant of 

 Jeannette, Pennsylvania. 



HANNAH G. SHADDINGER. Three 

 generations of the Shaddinger family have 

 occupied the old home in Plumstead town- 

 ship. Andrew Shaddinger, the grandfather 

 of Hannah G. Shaddinger, was born in 

 Bucks county and continued a resident 

 thereof until his death. He was a farmer 

 and drover, dealing in stock and carrying 

 on general agricultural pursuits through- 

 out his entire life. In 1819 he built the 

 house now occupied by Hannah G. Shad- 

 dinger, it being the family home continu- 

 ously since. His children were Abraham ; 

 Henry; Jacob; Barbara, the wife of Hiram 

 Michner; Sarah, who married Epenitos 

 Wismer; Catherine, the wife of Andrew S. 

 Michner ; and Esther Comly Michner. 



Abraham Shaddinger was born on the 

 old family homestead in 1804, and always 

 followed the occupation to which he w-as 

 reared. He early learned to be a good 

 judge of the value of cattle, and was well 

 known as a drover as well as an agricul- 

 turist. His life was marked by unfalter- 

 ing industry and he continued actively in 

 business until advanced age forced him to 

 retire. His death occurred at Point Pleas- 

 ant in 1896, when he had reached a very 

 venerable age. He married Miss Mary 

 Fretz, and they became the parents of four 

 children : Andrew, of Point Pleasant, who 

 followed the same occupation as his father ;' 

 Henry F., deceased, who was a farmer on 

 the old homestead near Gardenville; 

 Susanna S.. the widow of John D. Walter 

 and a resident of Point Pleasant; and 

 Hannah G. The last named was born on 

 the old homestead, and is of the third gen- 

 eration that has lived in the same house. 



ANDREW J. GIBSON is one of the 

 leading farmers of Upper Maketield 

 township. The founder of the Bucks 

 county branch of the Gibson family came 

 from Ireland in the seventeenth century 

 and settled in Plumstead township, 

 where he took up a large tract of land. 

 James Gibson, the grandfather of An- 

 drew J. Gibson, was a farmer and lived 

 and died in Plumstead. Andrew Gib- 

 son, son of James Gibson mentioned 

 above, was born in 1800, in Plumstead 

 township, and passed his life on the 

 homestead. During the greater part of 

 his life he was a Democrat, although an 

 anti-slavery man, but on the breaking 

 out of the civil war allied himself with 

 the Republican party, to which he ad- 

 hered during the remainder of his life. 

 He married Nancy Ruckman, and they 

 were the parents of seven children, three 

 of whom are still living: Andrew J., men- 

 tioned at length hereinafter; Isabella, 

 who is the widow of William Strimple, 

 of Flemington. New Jersey; and Nancy, 

 who is the widow of the Rev. Samuel 

 Harrison, and resides with her sister in 

 Flemington. Mr. Gibson, the father, died 

 on the homestead in his eightieth year. 

 He belonged to the church of his an- 

 cestors, which was the Presbyterian. 



Andrew J. Gibson, son of Andrew and 

 Nancy (Ruckman) Gibson, was born 

 June IS, 1836, in Plumstead township, 

 and received his education in the com- 

 mon schools. As a young man he was 

 employed as a salesman by a Philadel- 

 phia publishing house, a position which 

 he retained for several years and in 

 which he was very successful. After his 

 marriage he moved to Newtown, where 

 he resided one year, being still employed 

 by the publishing house, and in 1877 re- 

 moved to the farm of his mother-in-law, 

 in Upper Makefield township, giving 

 from that time forth his whole atten- 

 tion to agricultural pursuit's. In 1881 he 

 purchased, in the same township, the 

 farm which has ever since been his 

 home. In politics he is a Prohibitionist. 

 He and his wife are members of the Pres- 

 byteran church. Mr. Gibson married, in 

 1876, Jennie M. Vanartsdalen, and they 

 are the parents of two daughters, both 

 of whom are at home with their father 

 and mother — Nellie and Mary J. Mr. 

 Gibson has now for twelve months suf- 

 fered the great affliction of total blind- 

 ness, his sight having gradually failed 

 during the last nine years. 



The paternal great-grandfather of Mrs. 

 Gibson took up a large tract of land in 

 Northampton township, which was later 

 divided among his three sons, who lived 

 and died on their respective farms. 

 These sons were John, Isaac and Simon. 

 John was the father of two sons, Francis 

 and John, between whom he divided his 

 farm. John removed to Richboro a short 

 time prior to his death. Francis mar- 

 ried Mary J., daughter of Adrian Cornell, 



