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HARVEY H. GILLAM

HARVEY H. GILLAM, of Langhorne, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, was born in Philadelphia, July 23, 1846, and is a son of Harvey and Hannah H. (HUNT) GILLAM.  His paternal ancestor, Lucas GILLAM, son of Lucas and Lydia GILLAM, was born in Bristol township about the year 1715.  His father and mother both dying when he was a small child, he was, according to the custom of that time, bound out by direction of the orphans’ court of Bucks county and learned the trade of a cooper, which he followed in early life in Middletown township.  He was also a farmer, having purchased in 1751 one hundred acres in Middletown township.  He married 6 mo. 18, 1748, Ann DUNGAN, daughter and only child of Jeremiah DUNGAN, who was a grandson of Rev. Thomas DUNGAN, who came from Rhode Island to bucks county in 1684 and established the first Baptist church in the county at Cold Spring in Falls township.  Lucas and Ann DUNGAN GILLAM were the parents of ten children: Susannah, wife of Jonathan LINTON, of Northampton; Jeremiah; Lucas Jr.; Simon; Joseph; John; Sarah, wife of Euclides LONGSHORE; Joshua, James and Thomas GILLAM.

          Simon GILLAM, third son and fifth child of Lucas and Ann (DUNGAN) GILLAM, married 12 mo. 11, 1783. Anna PAXSON,

by whom he had four children: Mary, born 10 mo. 22, 1784; William, born 10 mo. 1, 1786, died 12 mo. 31, 1842; Isaac, born 4 mo. 13, 1788; and Anna, born 10 mo. 30, 1794, died 2 mo. 8, 1798. Simon GILLIAM was a prominent man in the community and a preacher among Friends.  He was the owner of four hundred acres of land in Middletown, and lived to a ripe old age.

          William, son of Simon and Anna (PAXSON) GILLAM, was born in Middletown township and died there 12 mo. 31, 1842.  He married 12 mo. 16, 1809, Susanna WOOLSTON, daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth (HARVEY) WOOLSTON, who was born 11 mo. 18, 1787, and died 8 mo. 31, 1860.  The WOOLSTONS were early settlers in Burlington county, New Jersey, from whence Jonathan WOOLSTON, grandfather of the above named Jonathan, removed to Middletown and married Sarah PEARSON in 1707.   William and Susanna WOOLSTON GILLAM were the parents of nine children:  Elizabeth, born 9 mo. 17, 1810; Anna, born 8 mo. 12, 1812; Harvey, born 7 mo. 1, 1814; Jonathan W., born 10 mo. 25, 1816; William, born 11 mo. 15, 1818; Simon, born 11 mo. 24, 1820; Susanna, born 4 mo. 18, 1823; Hannah, born 6 mo. 3, 1825; Mary, born 8 mo. 25, 1827.

          Harvey GILLAM, Sr., was born on the old homestead in Middletown, and on arriving at manhood turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, purchasing a farm two miles east of Langhorne, which he conducted for a few years.  On account of poor health he sold his farm and engaged in merchandising at Langhorne for a few years, and then purchased a farm of thirty acres which he conducted a short time, and then removed to Philadelphia, where he engaged in the wholesale boot and shoe business, later becoming a member of the firm of FARRELL & HERRING, manufacturers of safes, where he remained until his death.  He married Hannah HUNT, of Chester county, Pennsylvania, who died in 1857.  Harvey and Hannah (HUNT) GILLAM were the parents of four children: Mary Wyatt, born 8 mo. 10, 1838, married William ALBERTSON, of Philadelphia; William Henry, born 1 mo. 9, 1841, died in 1871, leaving a daughter, now Mrs. Howard REIFSNYDER; Morris Shallcross, who died in infancy; and Harvey H., born July 23, 1846.  Harvey H. GILLAM and his brother William Henry removed from Philadelphia to the home of their ancestors in Middletown, where they purchased farms.  William Henry died suddenly two years later at the age of thirty years.

          Harvey H. GILLAM was reared in Philadelphia, and received his education at the Friends’ Central School.  In 1869 he purchased a farm of one hundred and fifty acres in Middletown, which he conducted until 1888, when he rented it and removed to Langhorne, and has since followed the vocation of a real estate and general business agent.  He has been a justice of the peace for fifteen years, and has transacted a large amount of public business, filling many positions of trust in connection with the settlement of estates, etc.  He was one of the promoters of the Langhorne, Newtown and Bristol Street Railway, and one of its directors for a number of years; and is a director of the Farmers’ National Bank of Bucks county of Bristol, and of the Langhorne Building and Load Association.  He is a member of Bristol Lodge no. 25, F. and A. M. Religiously he is a member of the Society of Friends, and politically a Republican.  He was married October 2, 1873, to Mary MITCHELL, a daughter of Pierson and Caroline (BURTON) MITCHELL, of Langhorne.

          Pierson MITCHELL was a son of John Allen and Tacie (STACKHOUSE) MITCHELL, of Langhorne, an account of whose early ancestry is given elsewhere in this work.  He was born in Middletown, August 29, 1822, on the old homestead, which he inherited at his father’s death, and lived thereon for a time, subsequently removing to Langhorne, where he died April 1, 1894.  He received a superior education and was a school teacher in Middletown before attaining his majority.  He later took up the study of medicine with his uncle, Dr. Gove MITCHELL, but abandoned it on account of poor health, and returned to the farm.  A few years later he studied and mastered surveying, and took up that business in connection with conveyancing and real estate and general business agency.  He was a justice of the peace for thirty years, and prided himself in never sending a case to court out of the many suits that were entered before him, being always able to induce the litigants to settle their cases out of court.  He settled a great number of estates and filled a great number of positions of trust.  He was for over thirty years a director of the Farmers’ National Bank of Bucks county, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all who knew him.  He was a member of Middletown Monthly Meeting of Friends.  (See sketch of Allen Robert Mitchell.) He married in 1850 Caroline BURTON, daughter of Anthony and Mary (HEADLY) BURTON, representatives of two old and highly respected families of lower Bucks.  Caroline (BURTON) MITCHELL died May 16, 1890.  Their only child was Mrs. GILLAM.

          Harvey H. and Mary  (MITCHELL) GILLAM are the parents of two children; Caroline Mitchell, born July 21, 1874, married October 11, 1904, Malachi WHITE, of Langhorne, a representative of an old family in the vicinity; and Mary Wyatt, born March 4, 1879, who resides at home.

Test taken from page 540 to 541 of: 

Davis, William W. H., A.M., History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III

Transcribed July 2006 by Joan Lollis as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project,

Published July 2006 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb