BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



455 



business capacities were superior. He j 

 Wiis for many years a lueinljcr of the 

 Provincial Council, and fre((uently re- i 

 presented Cliester County in the As- ! 

 senil)ly. His wife was Eleanor, the 

 sister of Daniel Williamson. His only 

 children were Mary, who was married 

 to Richard Woodward, Deborah, who 

 was married to William West, uncle of 

 the tjreat painter, and Hannah, married 

 to Robert Williarasou. Harlholomew 

 died in 1720, and his wife in 1727. 



County Palatine of Chester, Enj^land, 

 fi.xed his residence in Upper Provi- 

 dence. He was an early settler, but it 

 does not appear that he was one of the 

 earliest. He was married in 17ul, "ac- 

 cording to the good order of Friends," 

 to Sarah, daughter of W' illiam and Ann 

 Garrett of Darby (now Upper Darby). 

 Their children were John, Thomas, 

 Randal, Samuel, and Jonathan. He 

 was living in Upper Providence as late 

 as it:u. 



CoBNKLissEN, Jan, was a settler at | 

 Amesland as early as 1676. It was 

 for his demented son that the Upland i 

 Court ordered a block-house to be i 

 built. He probably was a Dutchman. 



Ckosby, Richard, came from London, 

 and arrived at Chester about as early 

 as the first visit of the Proprietary. He 

 had purchased laud before he left Eng- 

 land, part of which he located in Mid- 

 dletown township. After residing for 

 some time at or near Chester he re- 

 moved to the Middletown land, where 

 he was residing when he purchased 

 h\ud in Ridley. He was not a Quaker, 

 and on that account much less is known 

 of him. He probably belonged to the 

 national church. He was a man of 

 some business qualifications, and ap- 

 peared to increase his estate. 



The Crosbys are descendants of Sir 

 John Crosby of London, a member of 

 Parliament, alderman, and sheriff of 

 that city in 1471, who was knighted by 

 Edward IV, and who was one of the 

 wealthiest men of his day. The Eng- 

 lish branch of the family is nearly or 

 quite extinct. That of America is 

 numerous, and embraces many persons 

 of highly respectable standing. 



Crosby, John, son of the above 

 Richard, was a man of ability, and ex- 

 hibited considerable energy in business 

 affairs. He was a Justice of the Court, 

 and one year represented Chester 

 County in the Provincial Assembly. 

 He resided in Ridley, and at the time 

 of his decease in 1750, was half owner 

 of s. forge, which he devised to his son 

 Richard. This is doubtless the forge 

 mentioned by Peter Kalm, the Swedish 

 naturalist, and noticed in the general 

 narrative of this work. 



Croxton, Randal, from Chormelv. 



Darlington, Abraham, the son of 

 Job and Mary Darlington of Damhall, 

 a small township in Chesiiire, England, 

 with his brother John, both very young, 

 emigrated to America in the early, part 

 of last century. Their uncle, John 

 Neild, had previously emigrated and 

 settled in Aston township, and it is 

 supposed that it was upon his invita- 

 tion that the two young Darlingtons 

 came to this country. This gentleman 

 having recently married the widow of 

 John Dutton, a large landholder of 

 Aston, was in comfortable circum- 

 stances, and it may reasonably be sup- 

 posed that the two youths, for a time, 

 made their home with him. John, 

 however, soon removed to Maryland, 

 but Abraham continued to reside in 

 Aston, or possibly he may have re- 

 moved to Chester, and for a short time 

 carried on the business of a saddler in 

 that town, having served an appren- 

 ticeship to that trade before he left 

 England. In 1712 Abraham was mar- 

 ried to Deborah, the daughter of 

 Joseph Carter, who did not long sur- 

 vive her marriage, for in 1716 we find 

 him contracting a second marriage 

 with Elizabeth, the daughter of Tho- 

 mas and Elizabeth Hillborn of Bucks 

 County. He soon became a landowner 

 in Aston, and continued to reside there 

 till 172.3. when he removed to Birming- 

 ham, where he had purchased a farm 

 on the Brandywine, beyond the limits 

 of Delaware County. 



Though a Quaker by convincement, 

 he never became a very active member 

 in the business affairs of the Society. 

 In 1722 he was appointed one of three 

 I '• Appraisers for the County of Chester,' 

 whose duty it was to set a value on all 

 property taken in execution; and in 

 , 1724, in pursuance of a then recent act 

 , of Assembly, he received the appoint- 

 ment of •• Searcher and Sealer of Leather.'' 



