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CHARLES R. NIGHTINGALE

      CHARLES R. NIGHTINGALE, of Doylestown, justice of the peace, was born in Doylestown township, Bucks county, December 5, 1856, son of Dr. Henry B. and Albina C. (PRICE) NIGHTINGALE.

      Rev. Samuel NIGHTINGALE, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Columbus, Burlington county, New Jersey, December 11, 1792, being a son of Isaac and Ann NIGHTINGALE.  Early in life he removed to Philadelphia, where he was engaged in the wholesale hardware business, and removed to Baltimore, Maryland, about 1818, where he followed the same line of business for some years.  He was a man of more than ordinary mental caliber, and of deep religious feeling, and finally entered the ministry of the Baptist church.  In 1838 he was elected paster of the Baptist church at New Britain, Bucks county, and located at Doylestown.  He was an earnest and forceful extempore speaker, and an energetic worker for the advancement of his church.  He continued as paster of the New Britain congregation until January 1, 1845, meanwhile preaching occasionally at Doylestown and other points.  From 1845 until 1860 he conducted a store at his residence at the corner of State and Main streets, Doylestown, where he sold books, drugs, and general merchandise, and preached occasionally at Doylestown and other places.  In 1846 he started a subscription to build a Baptist church in Doylestown, and several hundred dollars were collected for that purpose, and a lot purchased on State street where Mrs. Frank MANN now lives, and work began on the proposed building in 1850.  By reason of inability to collect sufficient funds, however, the building was never finished, and the lot was finally sold, and the proceeds went towards the erect of the present Baptist church of Doylestown.  One of Mr. NIGHTINGALE's admirers recently spoke of him as the "Zachary TAYLOR of the Baptist Ministry," on account of his "rough and ready" methods: selecting his text he proceeded to expound the doctrine of Christianity, clearly and forcibly, regardless of the foibles of his congregation, and his discourse lacked the suavity and persuasive eloquence that later characterized pulpit oratory.  Most of the later years of Mr. NIGHTINGALE's life were spent in Philadelphia, though he was a frequent visitor in Doylestown, where members of his family continued to reside.  He died in Philadelphia, March 3, 1881.  He married in Philadelphia, June 8, 1814, Emma, daughter of Thomas and Sarah BILLINGTON of that city, who was born February 25, 1798.  The children of Rev. Samuel and Emma (BILLINGTON) NIGHTINGALE were: Thomas West, born in Philadelphia, February 27, 1815, died in Baltimore, July 20, 1819; Samuel, born in Baltimore, November 2, 1818, died in infancy; Matilda, born July 21, 1820, died at Doylestown in 1840, and was buried at New Britain; William B., born 1822, died 1825; Henry B., born at Baltimore, June 21, 1825, died at Rosemont, New Jersey, September 10, 1873; Ann Eliza, born November 22, 1827, died at Peekskill, New York, in 1890, married (first) Judge Richard JONES, of Philadelphia (who was consul at Cairo, Egypt, during BUCHANAN'a administration)., and (second) Charles B. TATHAM (of the firm of Tatham Brothers, New York, Philadelphia and London):  and Mary Della, born October 3, 1829, died March 30, 1903, married in 1875, Richard Keen KUHN, of Doylestown.

      Dr. Henry B. NIGHTINGALE, son of Rev. Samuel NIGHTINGALE born in Baltimore, June 21, 1825, was liberally educated in the public schools and at private schools in Doylestown, where his parents located when he was thirteen years of age, being for some time a pupil of Dr. W. S. HENDRIE.  He entered Jefferson Medical College at Philadlephia in 1848, and graduated in 1850.  In the following year he located at Rosemont, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and commenced the practice of his profession.  In the autumn of 1853, his health failing, he went to Florida for the winter, and on his return located at Houghville, later known as " the Turk." One mile south of Doylestown, where he practiced his profession until the spring of 1858, when he returned to Rosemont and resumed his practice there.  Becoming interested in politics, he purchased the "Hunterdon County Democrat," a paper published at Flemington, in 1866, and conducted it for one year, when he sold it and took up the practice of his profession at Flemington.  In 1870 he removed to Croton, New Jersey, but returned to Flemington the following year.  In the spring of 1873 he again removed to Rosemont, where he was stricken with paralysis on September 8, 1873, while hitching his horse preparatory to visiting a patient, and died two days later, without regaining consciousness.  Dr. NIGHTINGALE became prominent in the practice of his profession in New Jersey.  He was for many years a member of the District Medical Society, its president in 1862, and its secretary from 1862 to 1867, and was reporter to the State Medical Society for many years.  He held many positions of trust, and enjoyed the esteem and confidence of a large circle of friends.  At the organization of the militia of Hunterdon county in 1861-2, he was commissioned by Governor OLDEN as an aide to Brigadier-General Sergeant.

      Dr. NIGHTINGALE was a past master Mason, a member of Amwell Lodge, No. 12, and on his removal to Flemington he became associated with Darcy Lodge, No. 37, and was honorably dismissed to organize Orpheus Lodge at Stockton, New Jersey.  He was also a member of Lambertville Chapter, R. A. M., and was dismissed to Flemington Chapter.  In 1868 he became a member of the Baptist church of Flemington, and was one of its most active and earnest members.  He was a man of fine social qualities and generous impulses, and was highly esteemed in the community in which he lived.  Both Amwell and Darcy Lodges, F. and A. M., adopted resolutions expressive of their loss in the death of Dr. NIGHTINGALE; from those adopted by the latter Lodge we quote the following as indicative of the esteem in which the Doctor was held: "Past Master NIGHTINGALE was a true hearted Mason; a public spirited citizen: a most congenial friend; a kind husband and indulgent father; a considerate, sympathizing, and skillful physician; a man endowed with superior mental powers, and a heart as unselfish as ever beat in human breast." Dr. NIGHTINGALE was married at Doylestown, February 19, 1851 to Albina C., daughter of Samuel G. and Sarah (BETTS) PRICE of Buckingham, who still survives him, living in Doylestown.  The children of this marriage were:

1.  George T., born at Rosemont, January 3, 1852, died July 4, 1856.

2. Henry B., born at Houghville, May 7, 1855, is a prominent physician in Philadelphia, where he has a wife and family.

3. Charles R., the subject of this sketch.

4. Samuel W., born April 19, 1859, was a brass worker in Bellfield's brass works for twenty years, has been a farmer and a traveling salesman for school supplies, and is now (1904) living in Doylestown.

5. Randolph P., born December 12, 1860, spent most of his life in a bookstore at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania; in 1888 he entered Jefferson Medical College but was forced to relinquish his studies on account of ill health in 1890, and was taken to Colorado for his health by his younger brother, John Billington, and died there of phthisis, September, 1890.

6. John Billington, born at Rosemont, New Jersey, September 25, 1862.  At the death of his father, being but eleven years of age, he went to live with his uncle George C. WORSTALL on a farm near Newtown, where he remained until the spring of 1881, when he went into the office of the "Newtown Enterprise" to learn the printer's trade, and was there until 1884, when he went to Kansas with J. Herman BARNSLEY to look after the latter's real estate interests there.  In 1885 he traveled extensively in California and along the Pacific coast, and returned to Kansas City, Missouri, where he entered the employ of Steins Brothers, contractors, and was with them in Missouri and Denver, Colorado, until 1891, when with two companions he started for the Cripple Creek gold fields and spent three years prospecting for gold, for nearly the whole period in hard luck, finally striking a pocket from which they extracted $23,000 in two hours.  In 1896 he was appointed water commissioner by the government, and had charge of the distribution of water for irrigation, and was also under sheriff for Rio Grande county, Colorado, for three years.  The high altitude finally affected his health, and he returned east in 1900 and settled in Doylestown, where he still resides and has been the representative and district manager of the International Correspondence School for nearly two years.  He married at Del Norte, Colorado, December 27, 1894, May SUMNER; three children born to them died in infancy.

7. Edward W. NIGHTINGALE was born at Rosemont, February 22, 1864; married Mary R. DONALDSON, of Doylestown; is now a printer in Philadelphia.

8. Florence NIGHTINGALE, born at Rosemont, New Jersey, October 5, 1868, married L. Dorr BARBIERE; is now living in Doylestown with one daughter, Margery.

The maternal ancestors of the subject of this sketch were early settlers in New Jersey and Pannsylvania.  David PRICE was born in Maidenhead (now Lawrenceville) New Jersey, about 1700, and is supposed to have been the grandson of John PRICE, who came to Philadelphia from Worcester, England, in 1683.  James PRICE, was a landholder at Maidenhead as early as 1698.  David PRICE in 1756 purchased two hundred acres of land in Middletown township, Bucks county, and died there in 1765, leaving sons Nathan and James, and daughters; Rebecca, who married Daniel PRICE, of Kingwood, New Jersey; Eleanor, who married Benjamin STACKHOUSE; Sarah, who died single in Merion in 1767; and Susannah, who married Joseph MAHR, of Northampton county, in 1773.  Nathan PRICE, eldest son of David, resided for some years in Bucks county, and then removed to Hunterdon county, New Jersey, where the remaining years of his life were spent.  He was sheriff of Hunterdon county in 1807-9.  His wife is suppoed (sic) to have been a daughter of Timothy SMITH of Bucks county.  He had sons John, Smith, James and David, and daughters Rebecca, Elizabeth, Sarah and Phebe.  Three of his sons (John, Smith and James) became residents of Bucks county, though John eventually returned to New Jersey, from whence his son George removed to Upper Makefield, Bucks county, where descendants of his still reside.  Smith PRICE, second son of Nathan, born September 11, 1748, settled in Plumstead township, Bucks county, on attaining manhood, and spent the remainder of his life there, dying October 16, 1816.  He was a storekeeper at Fardenville for many years, and was a large landholder in Plumstead township.  He married September 1, 1776, Martha, daughter of Joseph CARVER, of Buckingham, and had by her one son, John, who married Elizabeth KIRK, and has left numerous descendants in middle Bucks.  Martha PRICE died April 11, 1793, and Smith married (second) two years later Hannah (BURROUGHS?), by whom he had six children: Jonathan, born January 25, 1796, died November 21, 1817; Joseph; Samuel G., born March 1, 1799; Dr. Smith M.; Burroughs; and Mary, who married William RICH.

      Samuel G. PRICE, born March 1, 1799, married Sarah, daughter of John and Hannah (KIRK) BETTS, born 11 mo. 16, 1803, and had seven children, viz.: Clementina D., born 1823,died 1904, at Doylestown, unmarried.  Albina C., born 8 mo. 14, 1825, the mother of the subject of this sketch, still living with him in Doylestown: married February 19, 1851.  Dr. Henry B. NIGHTINGALE; J. Randolph, born 1827, died 1876; married Sarah T. WARD, has one son, George W. PRICE, living at Salem, New Jersey; Mary R. born 1829, living in Doylestown, single.  Charlotte T., born 1830, died 1884; married Townsend SPEAKMAN. Huldah Ann, born 1832, died January 1, 1899; married George C. WORSTALL, of Newtown.  Emma Elizabeth, born 1835, died 1882; married Jonathan T. SCHOFIELD.

Charles R. NIGHTINGALE, born in Doylestown township, December 5, 1896, removed with his parents to Rosemont New Jersey, when two years of age.  He was educated at the public schools of that vicinity, supplemented by a course at a seminary at Ringoes, and a term at a private school at Clinton, New Jersey.  He taught school at Ringoes, Croton and other points in Hunterdon county for ten years, and then accepted a position as agent for a wholesale dye house, traveling over Pennsylvania and Maryland. During the nineties he was a salesman for Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co., and the American Book Company, most of the time acting as their general agent for School supplies, and traveling over the states east of the Mississippi river.  In 1900 he was elected a justice of the peace of Doylestown borough, and is located in the Hart Building, where he combines with his official duties a real estate and general business agency.  In politics he is a Democrat, and religiously is a member of the Baptist church.  He is a member of Doylestown Lodge, No. 245, F. and A. M.; Doylestown Chapter, No. 270, R. A. M., of which he is a past high priest; and a member of Aquetong Lodge, No. 193, I. O. O. F. He is unmarried.

Test taken from page 464-467 of:

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

Transcribed November 2003 by Joan Lollis as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html

Published December 2003 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/