HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



725 



(McNair) Torbcrt were the parents of 

 eleven children: Absalom died in in- 

 fancy; Martha, married George Bennett; 

 Hannah, married John Craven; Ann, 

 married Isaac Vanartsdalen; Alice, never 

 married; James McNair, who married 

 Mary Simpson, and for his second wife 

 Elizabeth Dalby; Elizabeth, who mar- 

 ried Thomas L. Wynkoop; Samuel, who 

 never married; John Keith, see forward; 

 Charles, who married Phebe Lanning; 

 and Margaret, unmarried. 



John Keith Torbert,- son of James and 

 Margaret (McNair) Torbert, was born in 

 Upper Makefield in 1802, and died there 

 March 20, 1875. He lived on the old 

 homestead called "Sylvan Retreat," that 

 had been the property of his ancestors 

 since early colonial times. His was a 

 quiet retired life in scenes that he loved. 

 Deeply interested in all that pertained to 

 the community in which he lived, he gave 

 glad service as ruling elder in the Sole- 

 bury Presbyterian church, as had his 

 ancestors for two generations, both pa- 

 ternal and maternal. He was also a pio- 

 neer in Sunday school work, and deeply 

 interested in all educational work. He 

 served for over a quarter of a century as 

 president of the local school board. He 

 married Euphemia Van Artsdalen Car- 

 ver, daughter of Job and Maria (Van 

 Artsdalen) Carver, and a descendant of 

 William Carver, who settled in Byberry 

 in 1682. John Keith and Euphemia 

 (Carver) .Torbert were the parents of 

 the following children: Henry M. Tor- 

 bert, rector of St. Stephen's church, Bos- 

 ton, Massachusetts; Maria V. K. Tor- 

 bert, of Newtown, who was for fourteen 

 years principal of St. Mary's College, 

 Dallas, Texas ; Margaret ]\IcNair Tor- 

 bert, of Newtown; William Keith Torbert, 

 deceased ; and Alfred Carver Torbert, 

 treasurer of the Galveston and Santa 

 Fe Railroad Compan3\ at Galveston, 

 Texas. Alfred C. Torbert married 

 Rosanna Labatt, of Galveston, May 7, 

 1891. and they have four children: John 

 Keith, Emilv Constance. IMargaret Mc- 

 Nair, and Alfred Carver. 



The Torbert family and the families 

 with whom they intermarried, the 

 Keiths, McNair or Macnair, Burley or 

 Burleigh, were of the sturdy Scotch- 

 Irish Presbyterian stock, strongly im- 

 bued with a love of home, clan and land, 

 which had its real root in the love of re- 

 ligious liberty, which inspired a love of 

 the country where freedom of conscience 

 was recognized and made them among 

 the most patriotic of citizens. They 

 clung tenaciously to the Scotch Presby- 

 terian faith-, and were devout supporters 

 of the Newtown and Solebury Presby- 

 tefian churches, one or more of the fam- 

 ily in each generation serving as elders. 

 The later generations intermarried with 

 the Holland families of Wynkoop. Slack 

 and others, who like them were devout 

 ■supporters of the church and stood for 



integrity and the best interests of the 

 county in which they lived, and those of 

 the familj' who removed beyond our bor- 

 deres were pioneers of Christianity, and 

 became eminent in the affairs of the sec- 

 tions where they located. 



OLIVER MYERS, a farmer and com- 

 mission merchant living in Plumstead 

 township, - represents a family of Ger- 

 man lineage that was established in 

 Bucks county more than a century ago. 

 The first representative of the name in 

 this country settled near what is now 

 called Sumneytown, in Montgomery 

 county. John Myers, the great-grand- 

 father of Oliver Myers, was z. resident 

 of Bedminster township, where he re- 

 mained until his death. His paternal 

 grandfather, Henry F. Myers, lived and 

 died in Plumstead township. In early 

 life he learned the mason's trade, which 

 he followed for a number of years and 

 eventually gave his attention to farming. 

 He was a member of the Mennonite 

 church. He married Miss Elizabeth 

 Fretz, who was likewise a native of 

 Bucks county and of German lineage. 

 They became the parents of the follow- 

 ing named: Henry; William, married 

 Elizabeth Myers; John, married Rachel 

 Myers; Joseph F., married Barbara 

 Fretz; Reuben, married Hannah High; 

 Catherine, deceased; Barbara, married 

 Abram Nash; and Annie, the wife of 



William Fretz. .''"^ mX-^^' 



Henry F. Myers, '. ^son^ o f Oliver Myers, 

 was born in Plumstead township, August 

 12, 1817. He was reared upon his 

 father's farm and in his youth learned 

 the mason's trade, to which he de- 

 voted his energies for seven j'ears. He 

 then began farming, which he followea 

 for forty years, being one of the ener- 

 getic, enterprising and highly respected 

 agriculturists of his locality. As his 

 financial resources increased he made 

 judicious investments in real estate, be- 

 coming the owner of three valuable 

 farms. September 19, 1845, he married 

 Miss Anna Krout, a daughter of John 

 and Elizabeth (Wisler) Krout. They 

 became the parents of seven children: 

 Oliver ; John, married Sarah Myers ; 

 Leidy married Sally Shelly; Nathan, died 

 at the age of nineteen years; Susanna, 

 wife of John K. Landus; Amanda, died 

 at the age of eight years; and Elizabeth, 

 wife of Abram L. Myers. 

 f Oliver Myers, son of Henry F. and 

 Anna (Krout) Myers, was born in Plum- 

 stead township Bucks county. He obtained 

 a common school education and in his youth 

 assisted his father in the improvement 

 and cultivation of the old home farm, re- 

 maining under the parental roof until 

 twenty-four years of age. In 1869 he 

 purchased the farm upon which he now 

 resides, and has since given his atten- 



