C. WATSON BETTS

C. WATSON BETTS, postmaster, of New Hope borough, was born in Solebury township, Bucks County, October 23, 1864, is the youngest son of William and Emily (WALTON) BETTS, lifelong residents of Solebury township.  The paternal ancestor of the BETTS family of Bucks county was Richard BETTS, who came from England and settled at Ipswich, Essex county, Massachusetts, in 1648, and soon after removed to Newton, Long Island, where he died November 18, 1713, aged one hundred years.  He was a member of colonial assembly in 1665, and sheriff 1678-1681.  By his wife Joanna he had eight children-two sons, Richard and Thomas; and five daughters: Joanna, who married John SCUDDER; Mary, married Joseph SWEZEY; Martha, married Philip KETCHAM; Elizabeth, married Joseph SACKETT; and Sarah, who married Edward HUNT.

            Thomas, the second son of Richard and Joanna BETTS, married in 1683 Mercy WHITEHEAD, daughter of Major Daniel and Abigail (STEVENSON) WHITEHEAD, and grand-daughter of Daniel WHITEHEAD, one of the Smithtown purchasers of 1650.  Thomas BETTS died in 1709, and his widow married in 1711 Colonel Joseph SACKETT.  Thomas and Mercy (WHITEHEAD) BETTS were the parents of nine children, viz: Richard; Thomas;; Daniel; Mercy, married Thomas HAZARD; Abigail, married Abraham SPRINGSTEIN; Joanna; Mary; Elizabeth, married Robert COMFORT; and Deborah, who married Gershom MOORE.

            Thomas, second son of Thomas and Mercy was born at Newton, Long Island, August 14, 1689, and died at Newtown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, April, 1747.  He married, May 5, 1713, Susannah STEVENSON, daughter of Thomas, by whom he had six children; Ann, born December 14, 1714; Thomas, born November 1, 1716, died young; John, born September 15, 1718; Stephen, born March 26, 1720; Thomas, born February 18, 1723; and Susannah, born February 18, 1723;  After the death of his wife he removed to Chesterfield, Burlington county, New Jersey, where he married Susannah FIELD, and soon after removed to Bucks county, Pennsylvania.  The children of his second marriage were Patience, Richard, Mercy, Zachariah, Miriam, and William.

            Thomas BETTS, fifth child of Thomas and Susannah (STEVENSON) BETTS, was born on Long Island, February 18, 1723, and came with his father to Bucks county.  He married 4 mo. 21, 1744, Sarah SMITH, daughter of William and Rebecca (WILSON) SMITH, and settled in Buckingham township, one mile north of Pineville, where he died in June, 1783.  His wife died in 1804.  They were the parents of eleven children, viz: Thomas, born 8 mo. 3, 1745, died 1777; Sarah, born 4 mo. 14, 1747, married Anthony HARTLEY; Ann, born 5 mo. 1, 1749, married Robert SAMPLE; Rebecca, born 5 mo. 18, 1751, married Thomas ROSE; William, born 12 mo. 3. 1752; John, born 5 mo. 8, 1755; Susannah, born 12 mo. 20, 1756, married George MITCHELL; Stephen, born 5 mo. 31. 1758; Mary, born 10 mo. 2, 1760, married Isaac VAN HORN; Isaac, born 1 mo. 2, 1763; Zacariah, born 10 mo. 21, 1764.

            Stephen BETTS, son of Thomas and Sarah (SMITH) BETTS, was born in Buckingham, 5 mo. 31, 1758.  He learned the blacksmith trade, and settled in Solebury township, where he followed his trade for a number of years, but after middle life devoted his attention principally to farming.  He married, 4 mo. 19, 1786, Hannah BLACKFAN, daughter of Crispin and Martha (DAVIS) BLACKFAN, and in 1795, purchased of his brother-in-law, Edward BLACKFAN, a portion of the old BLACKFAN homestead, adjoining a tract of land granted to William BLACKFAN, father of Crispin, in 1718, by his cousin, William PENN, William being a son of Edward BLACKFAN, who married Rebecca CRISPIN, a sister to the mother of William PENN.  This property remained in the BETTS family for three generations, a period of over a century.  Stephen BETTS died on the homestead in 1834, and his widow in 1843.  They were the parents of nine children, viz:  William, born 1787; Sarah, born 1788, married Samuel BEANS; Martha, born 1790, married Jacob B. SMITH; Stephen, born 1792; Hannah, born 1794, Married Daniel SMITH; Esther, born 1797, married Jacob JANNEY; Anna, born 1799, married Joseph TAYLOR; Letitia, born 1801, married Joseph E. REEDER; John, born 1804, married Sarah C. MALONE; and (second) Beulah WALKER.

            William BETTS, eldest son of Stephen and Hannah, inherited the homestead and lived thereon until about 1858.  He died at the residence of his daughter, Sarah B. MICHENER, in New Hope, May, 1875.  He married in 1816, Ruth SIMPSON, born 4 mo. 3, 1795, died 3 mo. 16, 1857, daughter of David and Agnes (WIGGINS) SIMPSON, of Solebury, and had by her seven children: Sarah, married Hugh MICHENER; William; Samuel; J. Simpson; Edward, died a young man; David, died young; and Stephen.

William BETTS, Eldest son of William and Ruth (SIMPSON) BETTS, was the father of the subject of this sketch.  He was born January 24, 1824, on the old homestead in Solebury, and spent his whole life there, dying November 28, 1895.  He married Emily WALTON, daughter of Jonathan and Jane WALTON, of Buckingham, where Emily was born February 11, 1835.  She died September 11, 1895, two months prior to her husband.  They were the parents of four children; Edward, deceased; Anna J., wife of John W. BRADSHAW; C. Watson; and Ruth, wife of Edward LIVEZEY.  The family were members of the Society of Friends from the time of their arrival in Bucks county.

            C. WATSON BETTS was born on the old homestead in Solebury, and acquired his education at the public schools.  At the age of eighteen years he apprenticed himself to the miller’s trade under his uncle  J. Simpson BETTS, at New Hope, where he has since resided.  At the end of three years he took charge of the mill, and continued to manage it for his uncle until the death of the latter, in February, 1900, and for his successor Isaac W. HOLCOMBE, until July 2, 1900. On the latter date he was appointed postmaster of New Hope, and resigning his position in the mill, took charge of the office, which he has since filled.  In politics he is a Republican, but has never held other than local elective offices, filling the position of auditor and other local positions, in New Hope borough.  He is a member of Unity Lodge, No. 300, I. O. O. F., of New Hope; and Lone Star Lodge, No. 16, K. of P., Lambertville, New Jersey.  Mr. BETTS married November 24, 1888, Emma E. HOUGH, daughter of John HOUGH, of Solebury.  They are the parents of two children – Alice H., and Emma Francis, who reside at home.

Test taken from page 515 to 516 of: 

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

Transcribed July 2005 by Joan Lollis as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html

Published July 2005 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/