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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



old homestead there 2 mo. i, 1787. He 

 married in 1745 Hannah Dawes, who died 

 in 1796. They were the parents of three 

 children: John, Jesse, and Hannah, who 

 married Jonathan Johnson. John Pick- 

 ering, eldest son of John and Hannah 

 (Dawes) Pickering, was born in Sole- 

 bury 7 mo. 27, 1748, and married in 1771 

 Rachel Duer, of Alakelield, and had the fol- 

 lowing children: Joseph, Benjamin, Phm- 

 eas, William, John, Yenians, Stacy, and 

 Mercy, who married Robert Paist. 



Yemans Pickering, the grandfather of 

 the subject of this sketch, was born on 

 the old homestead in Solebury, that had 

 been the property of his ancestors for a 

 century, on May 12, 1784. He followed 

 the trade of a carpenter in early life, but 

 carried on farming in connection there- 

 with. On his marriage in 1808 he set- 

 tled in Upper Makeheld township, re- 

 moving to Buckingham three years later, 

 where he remained until 1840, when he 

 removed to Lower Makeheld township, 

 where he had purchased a farm, on 

 which he resided until 1861. In the latter 

 year he removed to Newtown borough, 

 where he died a year later. He married 

 in 1808 Rachel Beans, of Upper Make- 

 field, by whom he had eight children: 

 Mary, born 8 mo. 28, 1809; Hannah, born 

 7 mo. 23, 1811, married Job Roberts; 

 Timothy, ' born 7 mo. 7, 1813; Rachel 

 Duer, born 9 mo. 21, 1815; Phineas, born 

 I mo. 12, 1819; Thomas Elwood, born 

 March 4, 1821; Elizabeth, born 9 mo. 29, 

 1823; Henry Y. (Captain), born 4 mo. 20, 



1831. 



Thomas Elwood Pickering was born in 

 Buckingham township, and spent his 

 boyhood days there, acquiring his edu- 

 cation at the Buckingham Friends' 

 school. He learned the carpenter trade 

 with his father, and on arriving at man- 

 hood removed to Philadelphia, where he 

 followed the business of a carpenter and 

 builder until 1856. when he returned to 

 Bucks county, purchasing the farm 

 where the subject of this sketch still re- 

 sides, and devoting his attention to agri- 

 cultural pursuits until his death, on July 

 31, 1869. Like his ancestors for many 

 generations, he was a member of the So- 

 ciety of Friends. He married his cousin, 

 Mercy Paist, daughter of Robert and 

 Mercy (Pickering) Paist. 



Henry Y. Pickering, the subject of 

 this sketch, was the only child of 

 Thomas Elwood and Mercy Pickering, 

 and was but two years of age when his 

 parents removed to the Lower Makefield 

 farm, where he has ever since resided. 

 Until 1892 he devoted his entire atten- 

 tion to farming. Since that time he has 

 leased his farm and devotes his attention 

 to the skle of fertilizers and farm im- 

 plements at Yardley, though continu- 

 ing to reside upon the farm. In poli- 

 tics he is a Republican, and has been a 

 member of the county committee for 

 many years. He has been assessor of 



Lower Makefield township continuously 

 since 1884. He is a member of New- 

 town Lodge, No. 335, K. of P.; Yardley 

 Lodge, No. 159, A. O. U. W.; and of 

 Newtown Castle, No. 121, A. O. K. 01 

 the M. C. He married, December 19, 

 1876, Lizzie W. Taylor, daughter of 

 Jacob H. and Rebecca (Pitman; Taylor. 

 They have no children. 



CHARLES VAN HART. One of the 

 skilled farmers of Upper jNiaketield town- 

 ship is Charles Van Hart. The great- 

 grandfather of Mr. Van Hart emigrated 

 from Holland and settled in Falls town- 

 ship before the revolutionary war. The 

 son of this ancestor, Jacob Van Hart, 

 who was a farmer and shoemaker, mar- 

 ried Mary, daughter of Daniel Richard- 

 son, who was one of the pioneers of the 

 count}' and lived near Dolington. They 

 were the parents of fifteen children, one 

 of whom, Charles Van Hart, was a 

 farmer in Upper Makefield township, and 

 married Eliza Tomlinson. One of their 

 seven children was David, mentioned at 

 length hereinafter. After the death of 

 his wife, Mr. Van Hart married Jane 

 Jackson. 



David Van Hart, son of Charles and 

 Eliza (Tomlinson) Van Hart, was born 

 August IS, 1846, in Bucks county, ob- 

 tained his education in the common 

 schools, and for many years engaged in 

 agricultural pursuits in different parts 

 of the county. He has been a member of 

 the school board for nine years, and for 

 ten years has served as collector of the 

 township. He is a Republican in poli- 

 tics, and for the last twenty-one years 

 has served as one of the trustees of the 

 Thompson Memorial Presbyterian 

 church. He married, in September, 1869, 

 Frances Jackson, of Solebury township, 

 and they are the parents of three sons: 

 Eugene, who lives in Brooklyn, New 

 York; Charles, mentioned at length here- 

 inafter; and Abner, who resides in Nor- 

 ristown, Pennsylvania. 



Charles Van Hart, son of David and 

 Frances (Jackson) Van Hart, was born 

 December 13, 1872. in Upper Makefield 

 township, where he received his educa- 

 tion in the common schools. He rented 

 the Enos Merrick farm, and after re- 

 maining there a year, became manager 

 of the farm of Edward Horn, both these 

 estates being in his native township. He 

 then worked one j-ear for his father, 

 after which he moved to the Charles 

 Twining farm in Newtown township. He 

 remained there two years and then took 

 up his abode on the Slack farm, which 

 he has cultivated for the last four years. 

 For one year he filled the office of tax 

 collector of Newtown township, and he 

 has also served as a member of the elec- 

 tion board. He affiliates with Silvan 

 Lodge, No. 265, L O. O. P., of Newtown. 



